Issuu

The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) International | Intercultural | Interdisciplinary

Find us online iafor.org

iaforjapan

iafor

iafor.official

iaformedia

support@iafor.org

Where will your ideas take you next? 2

WCE/WCSS2026

iafor.org

Contents 6

1. Introduction

2. The Democratic Civic University and Community

3. Community Knowledge, Service, and Learning: The Civic Role of Universities

4. Cultivating Democratic Values in the Age of AI

5. The Forum: Insights on International Education from the IAFOR Community

6. Repositioning Study Abroad Within Comprehensive Internationalisation

7. Conclusion

8. Capacity-Building Programme

Key Statistics

WCE/WCSS2026

Executive Summary The Washington Conference on Education (WCE2026), held alongside The Washington Conference on the Social Sciences (WCSS2026), took place in Washington, DC, United States, from April 15-20, 2026. Held in the capital of the world’s most powerful country, Washington, DC is an important historical and cultural centre, where many discussions are had, ideas are shaped, decisions are made, and policies are crafted that impact the world. During these challenging times, many are looking at the United States for leadership and guidance, especially in the area of higher education. However, that leadership has not been evidenced under President Trump’s second administration, which has shown open disdain toward the idea of university independence and academic freedom, and politically interfered in their governance; Vice President JD Vance, then running on the Trump ticket, once stated in 2021 that ‘professors are the enemy’. Various domestic and international policies introduced during the incumbent presidency have made it significantly harder to interact with US educational institutions. At this critical time for higher education, the conference looked at the role of the university, its civic mission, and at its ability to promote democracy, at a time when rising authoritarianism and populist leadership make internationalisation incredibly difficult, and inhibit academic freedom. Professor Ira Harkavy of The University of Pennsylvania, United States, argued that universities must reclaim their civic mission by educating democratic citizens and serving as ‘democratic anchor institutions’ that work collaboratively with communities to address societal challenges (Section 2). Professor Laura R. Bronstein, Ms Luann F. Kida, and Dr Naorah Rimkunas of Binghamton University, United States, together with Mr Cory Bowman and Dr Laura Ogburn of The University of Pennsylvania, United States, explored how University-Assisted Community Schools foster democratic citizenship through sustained university-community partnerships and civic engagement (Section 3.1). Ms Julie Baer of the Institute of International Education, United States, Ms Caroline Donovan White of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, United States, Professor Laura R. Bronstein of Binghamton University, United States, and Professor Susan Piedmont-Palladino of the WashingtonAlexandria Architecture Center, Virginia Tech, United States, examined how internationalisation, service learning, and community partnerships strengthen universities’ civic role in promoting democratic citizenship (Section 3.2). In a featured interview between Professor Anne Boddington, Provost and IAB Chair of IAFOR, Japan, and Professor Susan Piedmont-Palladino, the WAAC’s study-away model was highlighted, demonstrating how immersive, communitybased architectural education prepares students to become agents of civic and community change (Section 3.3). Dr James Pitarresi of Binghamton University, United States, emphasised that the university’s role in the age of AI extends beyond productivity to fostering critical judgment, transparency, and ethical reasoning, arguing that these are essential democratic competencies in an era of increasingly plausible misinformation (Section 4).

WCE/WCSS2026

Moderated by Dr Melina Neophytou of IAFOR, Japan, with Dr Benjamin Huffman of The University of Maryland, United States, serving as respondent, The Forum examined how educators are sustaining internationalisation amid geopolitical fragmentation, with delegates sharing diverse institutional experiences and reaffirming the importance of global engagement and cross-cultural exchange (Section 5). A panel discussion with Ms Dorothea J. Antonio, Ms Caroline Donovan White, and Dr Dale LaFleur of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, United States, alongside Dr Jiangyuan Zhou of James Madison University, United States, argued that study abroad should no longer be treated as a peripheral activity, repositioned instead as a core component of comprehensive internationalisation, requiring institutional leadership, curriculum integration, and equitable access to strengthen global engagement and student outcomes (Section 6). Capacity-building activities complemented the academic programme through a ‘Senior Academic Leadership’ roundtable led by Dr Joseph Haldane, Chairman and CEO of IAFOR, Japan, with Professor Anne Boddington of IAFOR, Japan, and Professor Donald E. Hall of Binghamton University, United States, and a workshop titled ‘Preparing a Grant Application: Achieving Gold Standard Science’ led by Dr James W. McNally of the National Institute on Aging, United States. A behind-the-scenes tour of the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center (WAAC) led by Professor Susan Piedmont-Palladino provided delegates with practical insights into academic leadership and community-engaged education (Section 8). Footnote: This executive summary was generated with the assistance of AI based on the full manuscript and has been reviewed, revised, and approved by the editors.

WCE/WCSS2026

1. Introduction Written by Dr Melina Neophytou, IAFOR, Japan This year marks the 250th anniversary of the United States’ independence. 250 years ago, the American colonies fought for and won independence from British rule, laying the foundations for the nation’s democratic system of government. The United States has been considered by many as a ‘shining city on a hill’ since this victory, a representation of an ideal community and an inspiration for democracy around the world. In recent years, this image has been eroded by local and international policies that have led the United States into a phase of democratic backsliding. In a 2021 speech titled ‘The Universities are the Enemy,’ Vice President JD Vance described professors as the enemy of the state, and said that the government had to aggressively attack universities. Yet, universities and community colleges have long been the backbone of American society, expanding access to education, training, employment opportunities, and healthcare in underserved communities, and strengthening community well-being in turn. Since 2025, the Trump 2.0 administration has cut funding for education intended to help marginalised populations, especially programmes aimed at fostering the arts and humanities. This has also made it significantly harder for the international community to engage with US educational institutions due to travel restrictions, a lack of scholarships, and an undermining of international academic collaboration. International education, research, and local communities have been suffering under the same circumstances. Especially at this time, when the state is unable and unwilling to help these communities, the role of universities becomes even more pertinent and crucial in assisting marginalised populations. Against this backdrop, IAFOR has brought its intellectual caravan to the heart of the United States at a time when its mission of the ‘international, intercultural, interdisciplinary’ is discouraged and hindered in this specific part of the world. The

WCE/WCSS2026

Washington Conference on Education (WCE2026), held alongside The Washington Conference on the Social Sciences (WCSS2026), held in Washington, DC, United States, from April 15-20, 2026, placed higher education, democracy, and the community at the heart of its academic discussions. In his opening speech, IAFOR Chairman & CEO, Dr Joseph Haldane, acknowledged the uncertain and unsettling times we live in, especially for educators engaged in international education. With the seeming absence of US leadership on this global stage that is becoming more multipolar, securitised, and politically contested, international cooperation will increasingly take place within trusted networks shaped by political, economic, and security considerations. ‘This is not a bad thing’, Dr Haldane said, ‘but it’s a new way of thinking that we need to get used to’. This will also redefine global competencies. ‘It won’t be enough to simply speak another language or study abroad. It will mean an ability to navigate contesting narratives, evaluate information critically, engage ethically across various cultures, and operate in a world where knowledge, technology, and politics are increasingly intertwined’, he stated. Within such an environment, international dialogue is often difficult and sometimes dangerous, but necessary. With its global conferences, IAFOR is trying to create this convivial space in which people from different backgrounds and disciplines can come together to discuss and learn from each other. WCE/WCSS2026, which focused on issues of education, democracy, and community, tried to lead by example, bringing an international community together to engage in dialogue, critical thinking, and collaborative attempts to find solutions - all democratic values that work as a testament to education’s civic mission.

IAFOR Chairman & CEO Dr Joseph Haldane delivered the Welcome Address at WCE/WCSS2026

This Conference Report and Intelligence Briefing examines these themes through the conference’s plenary programme, centring around the civic mission of the university (Section 2), university-assisted community engagement (Section 3), cultivating democratic values in the age of AI (Section 4), insights on international education from our own IAFOR community (Section 5), and repositioning study abroad within a comprehensive internationalisation strategy (Section 6).

WCE/WCSS2026

Professor Ira Harkavy, founder and Barbara and Edward Netter Director of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at The University of Pennsylvania, United States

2. The Democratic Civic University and Community Written by Dr Melina Neophytou, IAFOR, Japan

Watch on YouTube

The United States, considered a ‘shining city on a hill’ and a thriving democracy by many, is currently experiencing a phase of democratic backsliding. According to Professor Ira Harkavy, founder and Barbara and Edward Netter Director of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at The University of Pennsylvania, United States, eroding civil rights and trust in state institutions are the result of a series of domestic and international political decisions that are increasingly taken without the consideration of citizens. In his keynote presentation titled ‘Creating the Democratic Civic University Through Local Engagement in a Time of Crisis’, he gave a historical overview of the role and responsibilities of the university in the United States and its relationship to democracy, arguing that in these critical times, ‘the university is the core, key essential institution for democratic development’. According to Professor Harkavy, there are two central purposes of the university which the US has failed to accomplish: (a) education for democratic citizenship and cultivating contributing democratic citizens, and (b) advancing knowledge to improve the human condition, not knowledge for its own sake. He named the reason for this failure as ‘the development of what might be termed the neoliberal university that emphasises economic success as the exclusive purpose in higher education’. British colonial colleges in the United States were founded primarily to serve religious purposes and particular denominations: Harvard, Yale, Presbyterian College, Princeton, and Dartmouth were associated with Congregationalism, William and Mary was Anglican, and Columbia University was the King’s College. Professor Harkavy further stated that The University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1749 by Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, was the first

WCE/WCSS2026

secular university created ‘to develop in young people an inclination that’s moral, join with nobility that’s intellectual to serve mankind, human beings, one’s country, friends, and family, and which ability to serve should be the great aim and end of all learning’. However, this promise to serve society and underserved communities has failed, with the rise of the neoliberal university, which emphasises economic success as the exclusive purpose in higher education. What prompted the creation of the first secular university in the United States with a civic mission in the first place? A series of land reforms and economic development radically changed the mission of the university, an ‘extraordinary development’ in the 19th century, according to Professor Harkavy. Particularly, the Morrill Land-Grant Acts of 1862 and the Second Morrill Act of 1890 enabled farmers and black people, respectively, to attend universities and land-grant colleges. With these new reforms, the focus shifted to providing opportunities for these historically and governmentally excluded populations. ‘It’s a really powerful idea of the life of the farmer and the academic world coming together’, Professor Harkavy stated. Economic developments also supported the development of the university’s civic mission. Johns Hopkins University, for example, was founded out of the roots of economic development in Baltimore that called for more honesty in business, better learning in schools, and ending misery in the community. The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School focused on the issue of working with local populations to improve their well-being and grant them university access. The newest development, which Professor Harkavy’s work builds upon, is the development of University-Assisted Community Schools (UACS), which grew out of the community school movement: the idea of helping and delivering services to immigrants and poor communities through settlement houses. Eventually, these settlement houses grew into UACS, and universities are now seen as what Professor Harkavy called ‘democratic anchor institutions’: resource-rich institutions that help schools and communities, acting as an employer, and bringing job opportunities and know-how. This vision of the university as an anchor brings together several institutions, for example, libraries, medical centres, and cultural centres, to collectively and democratically work with the community to solve problems. According to Professor Harkavy, ‘UACS are one means to realise not in just proclamation but in practice John Dewey and Martin Luther King’s related visions of the neighbourly community and the beloved community’. Continuously repeating throughout his entire presentation that ‘you can’t do these things alone’, Professor Harkavy stated that ‘in this time of crisis, nothing can be more important than bringing people together around the globe. This is not a crisis in one area. It is a crisis throughout the world. And it’s incredibly important that we come together, learn together, share together, and work together. So, thank you to IAFOR for making this possible’. The role of the university in times of polycrisis has been an increasingly prominent theme both in internal discussions within IAFOR and at IAFOR conferences (e.g., ECE/ECLL/ECAH/EGen2024, ACE2024, PCE/PCAH2025, PCE/PCAH2026 [forthcoming]). IAFOR will continue to focus on the role of the university in these challenging times both at conferences and in our research projects.

WCE/WCSS2026

Mr Cory Bowman of The University of Pennsylvania, United States

3. Community Knowledge, Service, and Learning: The Civic Role of Universities Written by Ken Camiling, IAFOR, Japan Higher education institutions play an essential role in community-building. Through outreach initiatives and extension programmes, students can immerse themselves in their immediate and neighbouring communities. These experiences help them gain a deeper understanding of the communities’ profiles, problems, and needs, allowing them to develop empathy towards the members, maintain respect for diversity, advocate for civic responsibility, and become key contributors to sustainability. In line with IAFOR’s four Conference Themes for 2025-2029, particularly the promotion of Global Citizenship and Education for Peace, WCE/WCSS2026 served as a platform to open and expand the discussion on the capacity and responsibility of universities in linking their students to their communities through civic engagement and service learning. From keynote and panel presentations to interview discussions, the delegates were presented with a breadth of notable stories of successful and sustainable university-community collaboration initiatives in the United States.

3.1. University-Assisted Community Schools (UACS): Lessons from the United States

Watch on YouTube

WCE/WCSS2026

Building on Professor Ira Harkavy’s keynote presentation on the universities’ role in promoting democracy and community engagement in a time of crisis, the panel presentation titled, ‘Fostering University and Community Collaboration in Schools: Lessons from the US’, introduced University-Assisted Community Schools (UACS), featured a civic partnership initiative led by the University of Pennsylvania’s Netter Cetter for Community Partnerships and Binghamton University’s CouperOwens Center for Community Schools. Moderated by Professor Laura R. Bronstein of Binghamton University, United States, the discussion highlighted lessons learned by panellists Mr Cory Bowman of The University of Pennsylvania, United States,

Ms Luann F. Kida of Binghamton University, United States, Dr Laura Ogburn of The University of Pennsylvania, United States, and Dr Naorah Rimkunas of Binghamton University, United States, in the implementation of their respective outreach and extension programmes, which serve as potent models for higher education institutions’ promotion of civic engagement. As collectively defined by the panellists, UACS are ‘community schools in which higher education serves as a lead partner across the P–20+ continuum to enhance student success, family engagement, and community well-being’. The P-20+ continuum refers to the lifelong learning educational framework that seamlessly aligns curricular standards from primary to higher education. Espousing a community of experts approach, UACS ‘connect university and community expertise through academic and practice partnerships to address locally identified challenges, strengthening schools while advancing educational practice and broader community outcomes through sustained collaboration and shared problem-solving’.

Clockwise from top left: Professor Laura R. Bronstein, Mr Cory Bowman, Dr Naorah Rimkunas, Dr Laura Ogburn, Ms Luann F. Kida

To better understand the concept of UACS, it is imperative to define a community school. Mr Bowman explained that it is a ‘comprehensive neighbourhood centre’ that promotes democratic citizenship through education infused with real-world community problem-solving, aimed at training individuals to serve as ‘catalysts for community change’. He further clarified that while UACS are technically community schools, the university serves as the lead partner in educating, engaging, activating, and serving students and all members of the community. The community-identified problems are addressed through the lessons learned from the university’s curricular programmes. UACS in the United States are convened by a National Network with Dr Rimkunas serving as its Associate Director. It comprises more than 275 higher education institutions in 100+ districts across 44 states. The Network also publishes a journal which highlights the work of UACS in the country.

WCE/WCSS2026

Notable UACS programmes implemented by the Netter Center for Community Partnerships include thematic initiatives on environmental health improvement, food education and food systems change, capacity-building for STEM educators, sports and fitness, and health partnerships, as well as an initiative by the university’s philosophy department, where the college students are set to promote philosophical thinking to middle school students in the community through “lunch-time philosophy club” activities. However, there are significant challenges that come with the implementation of such an ambitious endeavour. Dr Ogburn explained that the implementation of the UACS at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships requires system-wide collaboration, which includes coordinating with the administration for transport to and from the community-based organisations, brainstorming with the faculty for literature and sample syllabi, hiring undergraduate work-study teaching assistants, securing clearances to work with minors, conducting class visits, among others. At Binghamton University’s Couper-Owens Center for Community Schools, a two-decade-old community school work-focused research centre that is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, community-assisting initiatives stemmed from the students’ mental and emotional health crisis. The primary goal of the project was to engage the school with local health systems in mapping and addressing these concerns. According to Dr Rimkunas, in 2020, the Couper-Owens Center for Community Schools received a replication grant from the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, which served as a catalyst to boost and expand their programmes. The principle of mutual benefit lies at the core of how local UACS operate, according to Ms Kida. An example of this is the Center’s Practice Partnerships programme, where university students who require internship hours would be placed in community schools whose needs match the interns’ skills. In addition, the Center hosts meetings with its regional network to discuss ongoing projects and how collaboration can be further strengthened. The Center also houses the recently inaugurated Family Engagement Institute, which hosts ‘family cafes’ and implements the BUCS LIFE (Binghamton University Community Schools’ Leadership Institute for Family Engagement) curriculum, where all stakeholders gather to discuss student outcomes. She further explained that all these are encompassed in the Center’s Mental Health Partnerships Model, which espouses a tiered approach in utilising human and other resources for effective and progressive development activities. Capacity building is also a tenet of the Couper-Owens Center for Community Schools. Having received two New York State Education Department grants, which funded its Central & Western Community School Technical Assistance Center and the 21st Century Afterschool Technical Assistance Resource Center, the Center continues its efforts to expand the UACS and organise programmes for its Family Engagement Institute. Dr Rimkunas also shared that the initiatives are smoothly woven into the academic curriculum, with undergraduate courses focusing on democracy, community development, and community-engaged research. In addition, she highlighted the multidisciplinary research affiliates of the Center, whose projects cover both local and international settings and contexts. She concluded their team’s sharing with the powerful statement: ‘Students who are civically engaged are more likely to finish their degrees, pursue further higher education and become community leaders.’

WCE/WCSS2026

Ms Caroline Donovan White of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, United States

3.2. Universities as Civic Partners: Towards Democratic Citizenship The civic mission of the university and its ability to assist local communities requires a significant amount of funding. Particularly in state-funded institutions and as a means to justify government funding for academic research, there is an expectation that research funded by the taxpayer makes a tangible difference and contributes to culture, society, environmental sustainability, and national prosperity. The key question for contemporary higher education across the world is how the academic community and the local community interrelate and respond to local and national circumstances, while simultaneously maintaining and enabling international perspectives and experiences.

Watch on YouTube

In a panel titled ‘Campus, Community, and Citizenship’, IAFOR invited representatives from two of the United States’ oldest and most prominent educational institutions associated with international education, the Institute of International Education (IIE) and NAFSA: Association of International Educators, as well as an institution that is the product of the local community and the academic community coming together to show what such a collaboration can create, the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center (WAAC). Moderated by Professor Anne Boddington, IAFOR’s Provost, and joined by previous presenter Professor Laura R. Bronstein of Binghamton University, United States, the panel invited Ms Julie Baer of the Institute of International Education (IIE), United States, Ms Caroline Donovan White of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, United States, and Professor Susan Piedmont-Palladino of the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center, United States, to provide local and international perspectives on the mechanisms and facets of university-community collaborations and the challenges they are facing at their respective institutions. NAFSA: Association of International Educators is an 80-year-old non-profit organisation whose mission is ‘to advance international education and exchange in

WCE/WCSS2026

the pursuit of a more just, peaceful, and equitable world.’ This mission is realised through equipping more than 10,000 higher education-affiliated members across all states with training and resources to advance their profession. Central to these efforts is the fostering of relationships between the campus and the community through service-learning projects and volunteer programmes. Through these, international students serve as ‘civic actors’ who contribute to the campus and community culture by sharing their perspectives from within the spheres they belong to. One major concern around projects like these, according to Ms Donovan White, are naming conventions for outreach initiatives and the message those send to students, funders, and communities alike. For example, the term ‘Volunteer Abroad Experiences’ has been abolished, as it evokes an impression of an act of charity and lacks the genuine connection with the community involved; it gives the idea of a fly-in/fly-out activity. Rather, terms ‘service learning’ and ‘communityengaged learning’ programmes are now being used, reflecting the aim of providing ‘service and engagement’ to the community, ‘with pedagogical practices bound by partnership, reciprocity, and guided reflection’. Ms Donovan White emphasised that service-learning and community engagement should not be ‘supplemental’ to the university’s civic mission; they should be ‘foundational’, integrating learning with social responsibility, forging partnerships instead of unilateral action, and promoting ethical reflection and accountability.

Professor Susan Piedmont-Palladino of the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center, United States

Similarly, the Institute of International Education (IIE) is an organisation founded in 1919 that believes in the idea that ‘when education transcends borders, it opens minds’. Ms Baer, Deputy Director for Research, Evaluation, and Learning for the IIE, stated that if achieved, this enables individuals to not only establish genuine connections but also work on concrete solutions to real-life problems. By working with governments and higher education institutions locally and internationally, the IIE puts forward initiatives that focus on study abroad programmes, student mobility, partnerships, and evidence-based approaches to internationalisation.

WCE/WCSS2026

Ms Julie Baer of the Institute of International Education (IIE), United States

According to Ms Baer, the concern around international education is the lack of acknowledging that each international student has their own ‘distinct experiences and knowledge when interacting daily with their community and campus’. Therefore, the term ‘international student’ or their experiences should not be generalised. She also opened the discussion on the struggles and pressures put on the university in terms of sustaining global engagement and making the community ‘see, feel, and trust’ the value it brings. Hence, Ms Baer proposed a shift in perspective for a broader understanding: ‘local engagement is not peripheral to international education’. There is a need for universities to apply their global expertise to addressing local needs and concerns. She concluded her sharing by calling for more intentionality in working with local communities through immersive experiences. Professor Piedmont-Palladino, Director of the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center (WAAC), mentioned that her institution shares the same philosophy as IAFOR’s ‘international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary’. According to her, the ‘cosmology’ of the term ‘community’ is uniquely perceived and operated in the context of the institution she represents. Administratively under Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture, which is one of the United States’ biggest in the field, the WAAC serves as both a study-away venue and a degree-granting institution. While all universities may be considered a study-away venue, the WAAC differs in a way that it only ‘imports’, not ‘exports’, students into the programme. Students are received from various local and international settings through the National Student Exchange (NSE). Professor Piedmont-Palladino also shared that due to the nature of the programme offerings, nobody in the institution has stayed longer than two years. This unique quality of the WAAC allows its constituents to belong to different spheres of communities, allowing them to gain knowledge and experiences to use as they go out into the world and help solve real-life problems. One of the challenges the WAAC faces is its capacity to help address the needs of the community. While the institution is very much open to listening to the concerns of the community, there needs to be careful consideration and reflection on which ones have a bigger impact on more members. Professor Piedmont-Palladino explained that, unlike more centralised institutions, the unique position of the WAAC allows for ‘some degree of subsidiarity where decision-making is devolved to the lowest, most relevant level’. She illustrated this by citing two projects: a) an international-transnational seminar run by faculty members based in different WCE/WCSS2026

countries, and b) Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping of heat issues in Alexandria, Virginia. Professor Piedmont-Palladino emphasised that the WAAC does not aim to solve city problems; rather, it provides the necessary data to help the community articulate the problem, so they can arrive at more efficient and effective solutions. Professor Bronstein echoed the insights gained from Professor Harkavy’s keynote presentation and the panel presentation on UACS as she introduced how Binghamton University promotes democracy and community engagement with the integration of human-centric artificial intelligence usage. The University of Chicago’s unique schema of levels of community involvement, with the community taking shape from an advisor, to a collaborator, to an equal partner, and ultimately as a leader, serves as an aspiring model for Binghamton University’s College of Community and Public Affairs to lead about 1,000 students engaged in communitybased internships and sustain around 100 faculty-led community-engaged research projects. One of Binghamton University’s flagship community engagement initiatives is the Couper-Owens Center for Community Schools’ Reimagining Schools Research Lab, whose goal is to examine timely issues relevant to academic and non-academic outcomes of community schools implementation. This resonates with the mission of UACS to benefit the students and the university as much as the community. Professor Bronstein explained how the Lab develops community-engaged research by aligning student interests with community partners, collaboratively designing research projects, and delivering evidence-based findings to organisations, illustrated through a recent evaluation of an AI-powered weather education platform. Professor Boddington concluded the panel presentation by sharing how she found the community as a ‘nebulous’ term. While it typically carries a negative connotation, she explained that is not the case, and the nebulosity lies in how the community and community engagement are continuously transformed through different contexts and circumstances, shaped by various theories and philosophies. Hence, a compelling question lies: What is a community, and how should it be engaged?

WCE/WCSS2026

Professor Susan Piedmont-Palladino, Director of the WashingtonAlexandria Architecture Center (WAAC), United States

Watch on YouTube

3.3. ‘Architects’ of Community Change: Insights from Virginia Tech’s Study-Away Programmes During a featured interview titled ‘From Campus to Community: WAAC’s Urban Model of Engagement’, Professor Anne Boddington of IAFOR, Japan and Professor Susan Piedmont-Palladino, Director of the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center (WAAC), United States, elaborated more on the uniqueness of this educational institution, its own building being the product of student, professors, and community collaboration. Professor Piedmont-Palladino explained that the core of the WAAC’s founding principles revolves around ‘formal intentionality and informal evolution and development in change’. Inaugurated with the intent to provide Virginia Tech’s fourth- and fifth-year architecture majors an ‘urban experience’ and opportunity to work with their future employers, the WAAC was built in the old town of Alexandria, four hours away from the university. The initial mission of sending students to the WAAC ‘to use the city as both a classroom and a laboratory’ has expanded to operating as a degree-granting institution that also welcomes architecture majors from other universities. In addition, as students from other educational institutions are brought in, their accompanying professors also lend their expertise and experience to the Center through collaborative teaching. Given that the Center welcomes students from various universities, particularly from abroad, Professor Boddington, who previously taught at the Center herself, highlighted the rich diversity of perspectives and ways of thinking they bring into the community. While this posed a great challenge in designing a responsive and progressive course syllabus, she shared that the Center continued to recalibrate and align its learning standards and pedagogical strategies. Professor PiedmontPalladino added that with the differing ‘cultural expectations and protocols of evaluation’, the faculty constantly negotiated in order to craft programmes that are appropriate for the students. Professor Boddington shared that apart from the academic-related challenges, the study-away students also had to adjust to their dwelling community, which happened to be the university-provided accommodation

WCE/WCSS2026

where all other members of the Center resided. In addition, the students also engaged themselves in a variety of part-time jobs, where they were not only exposed to different vocations, but also to the members of the local community. Owing to Virginia Tech’s architecture pedagogy’s DNA of freedom and responsibility, Professor Piedmont-Palladino explained that students are given the liberty to set the agenda for their own education, and the faculty are empowered to choose what to teach. She mentioned that this is crucial to ensure that the pipeline is continued, where students are encouraged to pursue post-graduate studies at the Center, get licensed in the United States to work, and ultimately serve the community. Professor Piedmont-Palladino concluded by encapsulating the lessons she learned from her leadership at the Center: ‘If you believe in something, you should be clever about it. If it’s unconventional, you should find ways to make the unconventionality fit into the normative operations’. Adding to the conference experience, and in an effort to showcase the WAAC’s example first-hand, IAFOR organised a hard-hat tour to the WAAC to familiarise conference attendees with the centre’s work and impact. More details on the tour can be found in Chapter 8.3.

WCE/WCSS2026

Dr James Pitarresi, Vice Provost for Online and Innovative Education at Binghamton University (SUNY), United States

4. Cultivating Democratic Values in the Age of AI Written by Dr Melina Neophytou, IAFOR, Japan

Watch on YouTube

Democratic values and processes are even more important nowadays, with digital communication and AI skewing our worldview and knowledge. ‘When plausible but unreliable content floods public disclosure, careful reasoning is no longer just an academic skill; it is a civic necessity’, said Dr James Pitarresi, Vice Provost for Online and Innovative Education at Binghamton University (SUNY), United States. In his keynote presentation titled ‘Beyond Productivity: Why the Future of AI in Education Must Be Human-Centric’, instead of focusing on what AI can do for education, he questioned what education is fundamentally for in the age of AI. Picking up from Professor Harkavy’s main point about the civic mission of the university, he illustrated one way in which the university can help cultivate democratic thinking in an age where critical thinking is obscured by plausible, but not true, information. Many educators are expressing concern over the rise of cheating and plagiarism, and the deterioration of critical thinking from students’ misuse of AI. In contrast, Dr Pitarresi claimed that these concerns are too insignificant. There are other, more pressing questions to ask rather than how to police students. ‘Generative AI’s fluency shouldn’t be confused with understanding’, he said. ‘LLMs are producing plausible output, and it may make sense, but how do we know if it’s correct? The key thing to help our students remember is that plausibility does not equal truth’. For him, judgment is critical in the age of AI. Therefore, he suggested that the first of three questions we should be asking is what forms of thinking and judgment matter more now in the AI-age: framing questions, evaluating evidence, comparing interpretations, judgment, detecting ‘confident nonsense’, and reason as democratic citizens, is something educators

WCE/WCSS2026

Watch the interview

Dr James Pitarresi during an interview with IAFOR’s Dr Melina Neophytou

WCE/WCSS2026

should help students with. The second question pertains to how learning and assessment should change: thinking must become visible. According to Dr Pitarresi, we need to be aware of multiple thinking processes that need to become visible: sources and evidence, AI’s thinking, student decisions and reasoning, as well as the instructor’s feedback all contribute to the overall output. This involves multiple thinking processes that need to be recognised and disclosed. The third question is what leadership choices will shape equity, access, and public trust. ‘Guidelines alone are not enough. You need a campus strategy. You need faculty support, student support, and administrative support’, he said. Privacy, transparency, and equal access to resources and tools matter just as much for increasing trust in state institutions as they matter for increasing trust in a university department. ‘When answers become cheap, judgment becomes precious. And right now, we’re in a world where answers are cheap’, Dr Pitarresi concluded. A democratic educational institution is built not only by instilling critical thinking and transparent student behaviour, but also by modelling ‘good behaviour’ at the leadership level.

5. The Forum: Insights on International Education from the IAFOR Community Written by Dr Melina Neophytou, IAFOR, Japan

Watch on YouTube

Academic collaboration, student mobility, and cross-cultural understanding are at the heart of international education. However, ongoing geopolitical tensions have led to increasing political and societal fragmentation. At The 12th Asian Conference on Education & International Development (ACEID2026), Professor Kiichi Fujiwara argued that globalisation is in retreat and a de-globalisation of the mind is taking place. The Forum session at WCE/WCSS2026 titled ‘International Education in a Fragmenting World’ looked at how educators and professionals engage in global education and internationalisation efforts within such an increasingly fragmented political environment. In this one-hour moderated interactive session, delegates were asked to share developments in international education at their institutions, and what they do to further internationalisation efforts and help their students. The session was moderated by IAFOR’s Academic Operations Manager, Dr Melina Neophytou, with Dr Benjamin Huffman, Assistant Clinical Professor within the First-Year Innovation & Research Experience (FIRE) programme at The University of Maryland, United States, serving as the respondent. A separate online Forum session was also held, moderated by IAFOR’s Academic Coordinator, Apipol Sae-Tung, engaging IAFOR’s global membership community virtually. In his opening remarks, Dr Huffman noted that ‘we are living in this paradox where we have global development, international trade, migration, and all these good things. But then we have these political, economic, and social systems that are dividing us’. Recalling his own experiences with study abroad and multiculturalism, he regretted that educational systems no longer prepare students for a borderless world, which it was for him up until a decade ago. To check whether these internationalisation efforts are truly declining in educational institutions, a poll

WCE/WCSS2026

asked participants to choose whether there was increased, decreased, or stable international engagement at their institutions. Surprisingly, and contrary to this narrative, 43% reported increased engagement, 35% reported stable engagement, and only 22% said they were experiencing decreased international engagement. Asked to elaborate on their choices, three participants from the United States painted very different pictures about international education at their institutions, revealing the deep divide between various US states: At Bowie State University, we have a very mixed population. When it comes to international students, their numbers have really grown within our community. Everybody is like family, so we fight very hard to make sure that all the international students are taken care of, and that’s where the stability comes from. Yes, there has been a small change, but I don’t think this change has been significant enough because once the students are here, they don’t try to travel outside of the US because of their visas and things of that nature, so they try to stay here. We have a very stable population. - A delegate from the United States I work at a pre-K through 12th-grade charter school here in Washington, DC. So international engagement looks very different in the K-12 setting. What I’ve seen over the last 10 years in K-12 education regarding international engagement with our population of students who are English language learners, as well as opportunities for our students to go abroad and even do student exchange programmes, is that it is falling off big time, at least in the Northeast United States. We see a lot less ability for our students, particularly middle school and high school students, to have opportunities to go abroad and experience other cultures. In the current climate of the United States, we’re seeing a huge pushback on students who are coming from other countries and whose parents are coming from other countries, coming to US schools, and are now being forcibly removed. So I’m seeing a major decrease in engagement, unfortunately, in the schools that I’m in. I would love to see that trend turn around, because I think opening the borders and opening the world is the way to turn the kids of today into the adults that are going to create the world that we want to see tomorrow. - A delegate from the United States I live in Colorado, and our experience is different from yours in that we have an increase in people from all over the world. In my little district, there are 35,000 students in Northern Colorado, but we have had very few of our students who have left. I believe that many of our students are international, but are here legally. I feel like there’s an impression that if people are here and speak Spanish or any other foreign language, then they’re here illegally. But that is not the case. We have a lot of people in America who are here legally, and they’re here to stay, of course. Just in my little classroom alone, there are students from India, Nepal, Africa, El Salvador, and Mexico. So, we in Colorado are still seeing a huge increase in people from other countries, which, of course, is hard on schools. You can’t possibly provide enough language-learning teachers, people who are professionals at that, to deal with a population of over 90% language learners. I just have a K-8 degree, but I’m their language teacher. They don’t go for English Language Learning services. I have to provide those because there’s no way we could afford that in our district. That is one way in which it impacts our district. - A delegate from the United States

WCE/WCSS2026

Dr Benjamin Huffman, Assistant Clinical Professor within the First-Year Innovation & Research Experience (FIRE) programme at The University of Maryland, United States, served as the respondent for The Forum in Washington DC

The moderator prompted participants to share their opinion on what the contributing factors are to the trends they noticed in international education. Visas, political developments, the pandemic, and overall mindset were mentioned as factors. I work at Tennessee Tech in a red [Republican] state. At our campus, the contributing factor to the decrease in international engagement is the lack of visas for international students to come into the United States. Our international student population has dropped drastically. Almost half of our campus used to be international students. Now, they’re not giving them visas to come in, and so we don’t have money for anything, even though the state knows that. We’re still not getting funding, and the government doesn’t seem to know why all these laws and policies are affecting higher institutions. They recently said professors are the enemy of the state, whatever that’s supposed to mean. So it is affecting students from the local communities who don’t have the opportunity to interact with people from all over the world. We used to get a little funding to help low-income or first-generation students go on these study abroad trips, but the money’s been cut off. So what do I do now? I have to crawl and beg around departments, saying “I really need your help to get at least ten students”. That’s not enough. Most of my students are going to be K-12 teachers. If they don’t know how to even interact with other people, how do we expect them to teach the next generation of kids? This is a big problem. - A delegate from the United States I think the two contributing factors that we see across the board are politics and the pandemic. The United States has always been a top destination, but that percentage of the pie of student mobility is quickly changing. Germany just hit a record high number of students that they’re hosting. They have more programmes in English and opportunities to stay and work. The US government right now is proposing cuts to funding at 68% to the State Department’s international exchange programmes, and zeroing out funding

WCE/WCSS2026

for international and language education at the Department of Education. How will students become curious if there’s no language taught, if there’s no area studies taught? The pandemic I think is also real for US students and their parents. The kids who are getting ready to start college this fall, my son being one of them, were in middle school when the pandemic hit. They spent so much of that formative time at home. And so they weren’t encouraged, if anything, they were discouraged from interaction with other people. I think that’ll take some time to work out. We haven’t seen student mobility get back to its pre-pandemic numbers, and it’s moving slowly, especially for US students and their ability and interest to study abroad and how they’re encouraged to do it. - Caroline Donovan White, Senior Director for Education Abroad Services and Volunteer Engagement at NAFSA: Association of International Educators Maybe not here in the United States, but in Poland, one of the factors contributing to this decreasing trend is the mindset of our students and faculty. Student mobility within the European Union, for example, is quite easy: we have the funding from the European Union, and we don’t need visas. We just need to have the will to go. But what stops many students is the mindset: they are afraid to spend a semester in a different country, they are afraid of a language barrier, they are afraid of administrative bureaucracy at the hosting institution and any problems that might occur with the curricula. The same thing applies to faculty. Faculty members are also a little scared of going abroad. And I think this is the hardest thing to do: changing the mindset of people who, for example, for ten or twenty years, worked at the same place. And now someone comes and tells them they have to do some kind of international mobility, go abroad and do research there. “Why?”, they say, “I didn’t have to do it for the last 20 years. Why are you asking me to do it right now?” So, this will be the hardest thing to change. - A delegate from Poland

WCE/WCSS2026

When asked about what participants do every day to further international education, some cited understanding their students’ backgrounds and cultures, volunteering in the local community as an immigrant, and raising awareness. One delegate shared how they further intercultural understanding in their classroom: I teach in higher education, so a lot of stuff that we do is not as standardised as it is in K-12. This gives me an opportunity to talk about real-world events, what’s happening, and how students see things, based on where they come from. A lot of the students want to tell their story. They want their voices to be heard. However, sometimes we as professionals don’t allow them to express themselves the way they need to. So, I work with them on expressing themselves. I work with them on cultural understanding and accepting everyone in the class. I have people from all around the world in my class, and I allow them to tell their stories: “What is your story, your everyday life here in America, and how can we also see what it is like for you?” So, we put up videos, and I have them examine the videos in a psychological way, so that they can understand the needs of others and how to advocate properly. - A delegate from the United States One participant also shared the challenges they face in their effort to promote international education at their institution: I’m an instructional coach. My job is to teach teachers how to be better at their jobs. And part of that is understanding that not all of your students come from the same background as you… Being a global educator means taking all of that into account. Whether that is a language barrier, whether that’s a disability, whether that is racism in their community, whatever it is that is holding them back and is keeping them stuck, we as educators have to look beyond that… That said, it is a very, very tough pill to swallow for the educators that I’m working with. The vast majority of educators that I work with do not have a formal background in education. Our requirements for hiring teachers are “do you have a bachelor’s degree and do you have a pulse?” A lot of them got into education because it’s their fallback. It’s the career that they were like, “well, I can’t do anything else, so I might as well teach”. And it’s unfortunate, because we need high quality, trained, culturally competent educators. We’re at a crisis point, at least in the United States, where we’re not getting that anymore. So, one of the main challenges we have: when you have that formal training in education, you at least have some semblance of cultural competency that comes out of that. - A delegate from the United States

WCE/WCSS2026

The session closed with a question on what arguments would resonate to justify spending on international education efforts. Ms Donovan White once again shared practical advice on how to convince local politicians in the United States: Previously, I talked about overly focusing on the return on investment (ROI), but sometimes that is what you have to do. Being able to say to your congressman there are this many international students in your district: they don’t vote for you, but this is how many jobs they support and this is how much money they bring to your district. It’s very transactional, but very positive and you can drill down to your school district and say, “without these folks in our community, here’s what we would lose”. It’s not my favorite way of talking about international education, but for the people making these decisions, it is really helpful. Also, finding out what the Congress staff’s own experience with international education is. It always gets them to light up, just like it does to any of you when we talk about it. So, when you can get them warm and fuzzy on that and then present them with some data and facts about their district, that would be convincing. There’s another study on how much more money students make over a certain period of time when they do a programme abroad and then return and join the workforce. I think that can be a pretty effective way to talk about it. - Caroline Donovan White, Senior Director for Education Abroad Services and Volunteer Engagement at NAFSA: Association of International Educators Since the Trump 2.0 administration announced funding cuts to education in early 2025, this has been a question IAFOR has continuously put forth: how do we convince leaders to spend more on education, and especially on the arts and humanities? The Forum session at WCE/WCSS2026 clearly showed that the demand for international education is present, but that people struggle with funding and opportunities. IAFOR will therefore dedicate the Forum sessions at our next three conferences on this topic, starting a series on the role of education and the arts and humanities in troubling times, where communication with funders, taxpayers, and society at large will be examined.

WCE/WCSS2026

From left to right: Ms Caroline Donovan White, Dr Dale LaFleur, and Dr Jiangyuan (JY) Zhou

6. Repositioning Study Abroad Within Comprehensive Internationalisation Written by Dr Melina Neophytou, IAFOR, Japan

Watch on YouTube

‘Comprehensive internationalisation is a strategic approach that aligns global engagement with an institution’s missions, priorities, and core functions’, said Dorothea J. Antonio, Deputy Executive Director for Launch Development at NAFSA, in her opening speech. In a panel titled ‘From the Margins to the Mission: Advancing Comprehensive Internationalisation’ which Ms Antonio moderated, she invited her fellow colleagues from NAFSA: Association of International Educators to discuss how to internationalise a university campus comprehensively. This featured panel comes as a response to challenges educators, faculty members, and students face in their internationalisation efforts, most of which were voiced during the Forum session by members of the IAFOR community. The panel comprised Ms Caroline Donovan White, Senior Director for Education Abroad Services and Volunteer Engagement at NAFSA, Dr Dale LaFleur, Senior Director for Academic Affairs and Internationalization at NAFSA, and Dr Jiangyuan (JY) Zhou, Associate Provost for International Initiatives and Executive Director at the Center for Global Engagement at James Madison University, United States, and a close partner of NAFSA. Study abroad, or student mobility, was placed at the centre of the discussion around comprehensive internationalisation. According to Ms Donovan White, although study abroad is often considered a key part of internationalisation because it is something that can produce a tangible outcome, paradoxically, ‘it is something that has often lived at the edges of what an institution does rather than being essential to the academic purpose’. Explaining that study abroad participation has not returned to pre-pandemic levels due to cost, curriculum, and institutional structures that make it difficult to study abroad, she noted that equity gaps persist, and most students in the United States participate in shorter-term programmes (eight weeks or less) rather than traditional semester or year-long experiences.

WCE/WCSS2026

There are persistent fears and misconceptions among parents and wider society that studying abroad might incur a larger amount of debt, take students longer to graduate, or negatively affect their GPA, Ms Donovan White explained. However, data and research suggest that ‘students who have studied abroad, especially underrepresented and at-risk students, have higher retention and completion rates’ and ‘develop the skills that are valued by employers and are associated with stronger early career earnings alongside deeper intercultural learning and global awareness’, she stated. In response to this, Dr LaFleur argued that comprehensive internationalisation requires institutions to move beyond isolated international activities and instead embed internationalisation efforts across four interconnected areas: engagement, programmes offered, curriculum and faculty development, and partnerships. Reflecting on this, Dr Zhou described the university as the ‘primary architect and bridge builder to bring all those things together’, emphasising its responsibility to advocate for the value of international education, empower faculty to integrate global perspectives into teaching and research, and innovate new models of student mobility and international collaboration in response to changing global circumstances.

Watch the interview

From left to right: Ms Dorothea J. Antonio, Dr Dale LaFleur, Dr Jiangyuan (JY) Zhou

WCE/WCSS2026

Ultimately, the panel concluded that comprehensive internationalisation requires a change of mindset in how student mobility is approached. It should no longer be regarded as a peripheral activity available only to a select group of students, but as an integral component of a university’s internationalisation strategy, a life-changing opportunity for participating students to cultivate intercultural understanding, enhance their employability, and serve the international academic community. Achieving this requires institutional leadership, strategic investment, and a commitment to ensuring that international learning opportunities are accessible, embedded within the curriculum, and aligned with the university’s broader mission.

7. Conclusion Written by Dr Melina Neophytou, IAFOR, Japan The WCE/WCSS2026 conference reinforced the 19th-century American idea that universities are the key institutions that instil democratic values in society, bringing together various stakeholders, offering resources that strengthen underserved communities, and responding to increasingly complex global challenges. The plenary programme at this conference conveyed a clear message that universities must evolve from ivory towers to institutions actively engaged with the communities they serve. In the United States, this is increasingly taking shape through the model of UniversityAssisted Community Schools (UACS), a model which was introduced to the nationally and culturally diverse IAFOR community at the conference as an inspiration for service learning and community engagement in their respective countries. The discussions at the conference demonstrated that internationalisation is far from disappearing. Despite the politically contested and multipolar context in which we currently live, the demand for international research, collaboration, and study abroad programmes is rising; a clear sign that political priorities do not match societal needs and wants. With educators at this conference sharing how they handle setbacks in implementing international education, it is evident that internationalisation is not disappearing but evolving in different ways across institutions and regions. Communities, whether local or international, must find new allies in a world where political institutions fail to serve them. Inter-community collaboration might be the key, but the challenge is defining what a community is, and how we can bring together not only the academic with the physical community, but also the myriad of other communities within our societies. By bringing together scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and institutional leaders from around the world, IAFOR is well positioned to continue facilitating the conversations and collaborations needed to strengthen higher education’s civic mission in the years ahead.

WCE/WCSS2026

From left to right: Professor Donald E. Hall, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Binghamton University, United States

8. Capacity-Building Programme Written by Briar Pelletier, IAFOR, Japan

8.1. Senior Academic Leadership Workshop

Watch on YouTube

The conference offered a roundtable on ‘Senior Academic Leadership’ as part of IAFOR’s capacity-building programme, a session where senior leaders within the IAFOR network could engage in a group discussion regarding senior academic leadership challenges, lessons learned, and effective strategies. Moderated by Dr Joseph Haldane, Chairman and CEO of IAFOR, Japan, the roundtable featured senior academic leaders Professor Anne Boddington, IAFOR, Japan, and Professor Donald E. Hall, Binghamton University, United States, who drew on their decades of experience in senior academic leadership. The roundtable addressed a range of issues that persist when navigating leadership roles in academia at large, including disciplinary marginalisation, collaboration, sexism, and sexual orientation, among others. Both speakers attested that resilience is best implemented in academic leadership roles when one advocates for and builds a network of supporting colleagues.

8.2. Grant Writing Workshop WCE/WCSS2026 also included a Featured Workshop Session in its programme on grant writing strategies, which offered delegates a chance to learn first-hand about writing, submitting, and administering research grants. The workshop titled ‘Preparing a Grant Application: Achieving Gold Standard Science’ was led by Dr James W. McNally of the National Institute on Aging, United States. Dr McNally gave first-hand insights into grant opportunities available within the US National Institutes of Health while also providing a variety of tools applicable to other funding opportunities delegates may explore, including governmental awards, foundation or philanthropic awards, and private business awards. Dr McNally emphasised that all awards, regardless of award type, require different deliverables as well as outcomes. The workshop offered training and guidance on targeting potential grants that align with interdisciplinary research, developing successful grant applications, and correctly proposing budgets to potential funders.

WCE/WCSS2026

8.3. Hard Hat Tour of the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center (WAAC) A defining feature of IAFOR conferences is their engagement with the places in which they are held, pairing international dialogue with opportunities to explore local institutions and initiatives. Delegates were granted a special behind-the-scenes tour of the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center (WAAC), expanding the conference’s featured interview session, ‘From Campus to Community: WAAC’s Urban Model of Engagement’, from a plenary presentation to an on-the-ground tour of a facility that uses the city as a laboratory. This tour offered attendees an opportunity to engage directly with the themes explored during the plenary session and get an in-depth glimpse of an interdisciplinary learning space where education, community engagement, and design practice intersect. The tour was led by Professor Susan Piedmont-Palladino, Director of the WAAC. The WAAC was originally established in 1980 in nearby Alexandria, Virginia, located just outside Washington, DC. The centre serves as an architecture and urban design research and teaching facility within Virginia Tech, and was built with the idea of the city as a living laboratory: using the city itself as a classroom, students and educators learn through direct engagement with the built environment, and the communities that shape it. Students today are still encouraged to engage directly with the issues of public and private space, spatial equity, sustainability, and resilience, problems students can encounter first-hand in Alexandria, which is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the United States. The Alexandria community also helps shape WAAC’s interdisciplinary learning environment, an aim that aligns with IAFOR’s own mission. During the tour, delegates donned hard-hats and were led through the ongoing construction of the WAAC, a direct result of the centre’s design-build approach, where students continuously modify and adapt the campus buildings through the curriculum. The tour proved to be a hit with participants, leading IAFOR to consider developing more content alongside interdisciplinary networks and associations in the future at our event locations. An iteration of this is a featured keynote on the upcoming Innovation Design Engineering Programme within The University of Tokyo’s brand new College of Design, a talk scheduled for our forthcoming Tokyo Summer conference series in May.

WCE/WCSS2026

Key Statistics

WCE/WCSS2026

WCE/WCSS2026 Key Statistics Date of Creation: March 18, 2026

219

47 109

197

79 4%

53% University Faculty 15% Doctoral Student 11% Public Sector/Practitioner

Occupation

11%

53%

8% Other 5% Postgraduate Student

60% Doctoral Degree 36%

Education

60%

36% Masters Degree 4% Bachelors Degree

3% Postdoctoral Fellow/Instructor 15%

3% Private Sector 2% Independent Scholar

1. Teaching Experiences, Pedagogy, Practice & Praxis (14) 2. Education & Difference: Gifted Education, Special Education, Learning Diiffculties & Disability (11) 3. Professional Training, Development & Concerns in Education (10) 4. Higher Education (8) 5. Education, Sustainability & Society: Social Justice, Development & Political Movements (8)

1. United States (43%) 2. Philippines (4%) 3. South Africa (4%) 4. Canada (3.3%) 5. United Kingdom (3%)

43%

8 4%

190 34

WCE/WCSS2026

3.3%

71%

29%

WCE/WCSS2026 Conference Survey Results Date of Creation: July 1, 2026 Your feedback plays a vital role in shaping the future of IAFOR conferences. Guided by the Japanese principle of 'kaizen' — a commitment to continuous, incremental improvement — we strive to enhance the delegate experience. The data presented in this report was collected from 19 respondents out of 219 delegates within 30 days of the conclusion of the event.

Recommendation

Returnees

79%

61%

of delegates would recommend the IAFOR event to a friend or a colleague

of delegates have attended an IAFOR conference before

Pre-Conference Communication & Support Rating Overall Pre-Conference Support

Registration Process

Submission & Review System

4.00

3.89

4.11

Conference Satisfaction

“I thoroughly enjoyed the event and

83%

appreciate the effort that went into organizing such a meaningful, engaging, and informative

of delegates are satisifed or content with the event

conference.”

Conference Experience Rating Overall Conference Experience

Overall Networking Experience

3.68

3.95

Hospitality & Ambience

Welcome Reception

3.74

3.50

Delegates' Motivation for Attending *Percentage based on 57 marked options from 19 responses

32%

18%

Academic Quality Rating Plenary Sessions & Featured Presentations

Parallel Presentations

Contents of the Conference

4.00

4.16

4.00 international | intercultural | interdisciplinary WCE/WCSS2026

The post-conference survey sent to WCE/WCSS2026 attendees included the questions below Before the conference (Q1-Q5): Evaluating submission, registration, and communication processes Q1

Please rate your experience with the submission and review system.

Please rate the quality of the information provided on the website.

Please rate the quality of the information provided in the emails you received.

Please rate the registration process.

How would you rate the overall pre-conference support you received?

Academic Quality (Q6-Q8): Assessing plenary sessions, parallel presentations, and content relevance Q6

Please rate the quality of the plenary sessions and featured presentations.

Please rate the quality of the conference parallel presentations.

Please rate the overall content of the conference (academic quality, relevance, diversity).

Conference Experience (Q9-Q13): Measuring hospitality, networking opportunities, and overall satisfaction Q9

Please rate the conference hospitality and ambience.

Q10 Please rate the opportunities to connect with fellow participants during the conference. Q11 Please rate your overall networking experience at the conference. Q12 Please rate your overall conference experience. Q13 Considering your complete experience at our conference, how likely would you be to recommend us to a friend or a colleague? We have received 19 responses out of 219 delegates. Below is an overview of the results. Overall Score by Attendee Types Questions

Q10

Q11

Q12

Q13

Scales

(1-5)

(1-10)

Avg./5

4.11

3.84

3.89

4.00

4.16

4.00

3.74

3.89

3.95

3.68

7.21

Avg.%

82.11

76.84

77.89

80.00

83.16

80.00

74.74

77.89

78.95

73.68

72.11

Median

4.00

5.00

4.00

9.00

Avg./5

3.83

3.50

3.42

3.83

3.58

3.92

3.67

3.17

3.50

3.67

3.17

6.17

Avg.%

76.67

70.00

68.33

76.67

71.67

78.33

73.33

63.33

70.00

73.33

63.33

61.67

Median

4.00

3.50

4.00

3.50

4.00

3.50

4.00

3.50

6.50

Avg./5

4.57

4.43

4.57

4.00

4.71

4.57

4.71

4.57

4.43

4.57

9.00

Avg.%

91.43

88.57

91.43

80.00

94.29

91.43

94.29

91.43

88.57

91.43

90.00

Median

5.00

4.00

5.00

4.00

5.00

10.00

Overall (n=19)

Onsit (n=12)

Online (n=7)

Hybrid (n=0)

Avg./5 Avg.% Median

Data as of June 02, 2026, 14:00 JST

WCE/WCSS2026

Delegates who attended WCE/WCSS2026 found the overall pre-conference support helpful. They reported receiving adequate information from IAFOR prior to joining the conference, rating the information provided on the website at 3.8 out of 5. The submission system was found to be easy to use by 79% of the respondents. While our email communication was adequate. The survey results showed that this area could be improved, with delegates giving email communications an overall score of 77%. The registration system was of standard procedure, with over 63% percent of the respondents rating it at 3.9 out of 5. The conference performed well in terms of academic content delivery, with an overall score of 80%. The plenary sessions and featured presentations were found to be engaging, receiving an overall 80% satisfaction rating. As for delegates’ presentations, 95% of the respondents found parallel presentations to be well-prepared and informative. IAFOR is a platform for international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary collaborations. Our delegates found the opportunities to connect with fellow participants during the conference to be moderate interaction by 89.5% of the respondents. Delegates attending the conference onsite found the networking experience somewhat effective, reporting a 73% satisfaction rate. Our conference’s hospitality and ambience were acceptable, receiving a 3.7 out of 5 rating from the respondents. In conclusion, our respondents rate the overall conference experience at 3.7 out of 5, yielding a 74% satisfaction rate overall. Delegates were largely satisfied with the conference, and 63% of the respondents reported that they would recommend IAFOR conference participation to their peers. We look forward to building on your feedback to further improve our conferences, and look forward to welcoming delegates old and new to our upcoming conferences.

Individual Responses Sorted by Total Score Q1

Q10

Q11

Q12

Q13

Total

(1-5)

(1-10)

100.00

97.14

95.71

90.00

85.71

81.43

78.57

72.86

70.00

62.86

60.00

58.57

54.29

38.57

Data as of June 02, 2026, 14:00 JST

WCE/WCSS2026

Appendix I. Affiliations by Region Africa

Asia

North America

South America

Egypt

Azerbaijan

Canada

Argentina

Ghana

China

The American University in Cairo Blessed Benfel Ventures

Kenya

Kabete National Polytechnic Mount Kenya University

Malawi

Baku Oxford School National University of Taiwan Shaanxi Normal University

Georgia

Ilia State University Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University

India

Luther College

Morocco

Municipal Council of Idaougmad

Nigeria

Emmanuel Alayande University of Education University of Lagos University of Pompeu Fabra

South Africa

Central University of Technology Durban University of Technology STADIO Higher Education The University of the Free State Tshwane School for Business and Society Tshwane University of Technology University of South Africa University of Zululand

Zimbabwe

University of Zimbabwe

National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration St. George’s College Aruvithura Swami Vivekanand College of Education University of Mumbai

Indonesia

Center for Parliamentary Analysis Nusa Cendana University

Israel

Achva Academic College Levinsky-Wingate Academic College Zefat Academic College

Japan

Aichi Gakuin University Higashi Nippon International University National Federation of Depopulated Municipalities in Japan Tohoku University Tokyo Denki University Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Waseda University

Europe

Jordan

Czech Republic

Maqsut Narikbayev University

The Hashemite University

Charles University

Denmark

Copenhagen University

Kazakhstan Malaysia

Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology

France

Oman

Germany

Philippines

Sciences Po Bordeaux University of Augsburg

Netherlands

Independent Public Policy Advisor

Poland

University of Rzeszów University of Warsaw

Serbia

Institute of European Studies

Spain

Complutense University of Madrid - Harvard University Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Sweden

Sultan Qaboos University Antipolo Institute of Technology/ Mathematics Teachers Association of the Philippines Baliuag University Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology Bicol University Catholic Central School of Tabaco, Albay, Inc. Iligan Medical Center College Schools Division Office of Camarines Sur/ Ateneo de Naga University Tagpros University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines

Saudi Arabia

Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University

Jönköping University & Erik Dahlbergsgymnasiet in Jönköping

Switzerland

EHL Hospitality Business School Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training

United Kingdom

Birmingham City University Bournemouth University Durham University The University of Manchester University of Cambridge University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Singapore

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

South Korea

Incheon National University Korea University Graduate School of International Studies Maebong Elementary School

Taiwan

National Chengchi University National Tsing Hua University National Taiwan University of Arts

Thailand

King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) Udonthani Industrial and Community Education College

Türkiye

Boğaziçi University Mus Alparslan University

United Arab Emirates

Emirates College for Advanced Education Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence Mohamed bin Zayed University of Humanities United Arab Emirates University

Vietnam

Foreign Trade University Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance Thai Nguyen University of Education

WCE/WCSS2026

Archway Community Services Champlain College Memorial University Mount Saint Vincent University NSCAD University Queen’s University University of British Columbia

Mexico

Universidad de las Américas Puebla

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

Brazil PUCPR

Chile

Universidad de las Américas

Guyana

University of Guyana

United States

Alabama State University American University Washington D.C. Arkansas State University Auburn University Baltimore City Community College Bowie State University Calvin University California State University Stanislaus Central Piedmont Community College College of William and Mary Collin College Crow Creek Tribal Schools Dona Ana Community College Drexel University Duke University Elizabeth City State University Evangel University Florida State University George Fox University George Mason University Georgia State University Heritage University Indian Peaks Elementary Independent Researcher Lamar University Liberty University Martin County Schools Marymount University Miami University Michigan State University Middlesex College Minty Educational Services Modesto Junior College, University of the Pacific Montclair State University NAFSA NCC NIH/NIA Northern Arizona University Old Dominion University Penn State University Polk County Public Schools Princeton University Queens College & Graduate Center, The City University of New York Saint Francis Indian School Santa Clara Unified School District Slippery Rock University Susquehanna University Temple University Tennessee Tech University Texas Christian University The Chicago School The Hip Hop Museum The University of Texas at San Antonio University at Buffalo University of Arizona Global Campus University of Idaho University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign University of Iowa Health Care University of Kansas University of Maryland University of Maryland Baltimore County University of Minnesota University of North Carolina at Charlotte University of Pennsylvania University of San Francisco University of South Florida University of Texas at Arlington University of Virginia Utah State University Virginia Military Institute Wake County Public School System Washington University in St Louis School of Public Health Welding Certification Center West Chester University Westcliff University Western New Mexico University Williamsburg James City County Public Schools US Air Force

Oceania Australia

Monash University

WCE/WCSS2026

2026-IV ISSN: 2759-4939 40

WCE/WCSS2026