Handling Global Challenges Facing Universities in the Arab World, 6th-7th of February 2017

The first ARELEN Annual International Gathering with the theme “Managing the Global Challenges Facing Universities in the MENA Region” was held in February 2017 at Gulf College, Muscat, Oman. The event consisted of a small exhibition, workshops and presentation and discussion of several papers related to global challenges, ethical internationalization, networking, benchmarking, student voice, building leadership capacity for women in higher education and building capacity to respond to challenges. The event was attended by Vice Chancellors, Deans and Academic Heads from 30 different institutions representing 24 countries. During the event, the Governance Advisory Board meeting was also held. The strategic plan for ARELEN 2017-2021 was discussed. The revised strategic plan contains the vision, mission, objectives and goals as well as the three themes that ARELEN will focus on. ARELEN focuses on cooperation activities between universities in the Arab world and Europe.