Background and Aims. The rapid growth in the number of international students has not only made a huge contribution to the local economy and to a multi-cultural society, but has also provided new opportunities to promote community development and integration. In this regard, Chinese students and Chinese communities in the UK offer a good case study highlighting the multiple impacts of global universities in local communities. Sponsored by the ESRC Festival of Social Science and University of Nottingham’s Integrating Global Society Research Priority Group, this workshop aims to examine the changes to Chinese communities in the last decade and their relationship with the internationalisation of higher education, and to foster policy debates about global university and community cohesion. The changes to the Nottingham Chinese community and the experience of Chinese students will be used to stimulate the discussion. Following keynote speeches and the introduction of background information, all delegates will have the chances to share their experience, opinions and policy suggestions. Dissemination of relevant information relating to associated projects and organisations is also welcome.

Event Organisers: 

• School of Contemporary Chinese Studies (SCCS), University of Nottingham
• Nottingham Asian Business Centre , University of Nottingham
• Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University
• Community Partnerships Unit, University of Nottingham
• Nottingham Confucius Institute
• Nottingham City Council
• Nottinghamshire County Council
• Broxtowe Borough Council
• Nottingham Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA)
• Centre for Chinese Migration Studies, part of SCCS, University of Nottingham

Keynote Speakers

• Lord Mayor of Nottingham City, Councillor Merlita Bryan
• Mr. Shen Yang, Ministry Counsellor for Education of the Chinese Embassy in London
• Professor Chris Rudd, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Nottingham Internationalisation of HE and local development in the UK
• Professor Ted Cantle CBE, Founder of Institute of Community Cohesion (iCoCo), International student migration and community cohesion: what are policy implications?
• Mr. Peter Gao, British-Chinese Cultural Society:New generation of Chinese immigration, community development and integration
• A representative from Nottingham Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA): International vision and Intercultural learning in local communities

Preliminary Programme:

10:00 – 10:30 Coffee/Tea and registration

10:30 – 12:00 Opening Ceremony and Keynote Speeches

12:00 -13:30 Lunch associated with short speeches and poster introduction

13:30 – 15:00 Universities in communities: Transition of Chinese communities

15:00 -15:30 Coffee/Tea Break

15:30 -17:00 Universities for community cohesion: What policies need to be changed?

What’s next? We cordially invite all organisations and individuals who are interested in the links between universities and local communities to participate in and contribute to this workshop. Any suggestions about relevant cases, ideas for policy debates (e.g. national migration, local governance, higher education reform and community cohesion policies) are particularly welcome. The attached form is provided for reserving a place for individual or organisational participation, and also for expressing ideas, interests and suggestions. We would be grateful if you could fill this in and return the form to Ms. Wenxue Chen ([email protected]) by 20 October 2013‎. If you have any queries or wish to discuss any of the above, please contact Dr. Bin Wu, event organiser ([email protected])