Updates:

View the list of registrants (Note: This is available to registered attendees only).
View the final program (PDF).

Thank you to everyone who attended this event. Conference proceedings will be available soon!

Conference Theme

Global, Local, or ‘Glocal’: Identity for Higher Education in an International Context

Join us in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Montréal, home to four major international universities and ranked among the world’s top ten cities for students. Addressing globalization in higher education, the conference will focus on strategies to develop planning processes with international standards and depth, serving our "national” members /stakeholders in a broader international context, extend the boundaries and scope of integrated planning, enrich the service we provide by continuously integrating theories, planning knowledge and practices beyond an inward national focus, and exploring and being inspired by world-wide experiences and expertise.

The term ‘Globalization’ refers to

the transnational integration of ideas, world economy, world politics, world trade, communication and technology, culture, world economy of knowledge
interconnection and interdependence of societies and nations
the diffusion of innovation and pursuing the purpose of learning with and from others and of seeking comparative organizational advantage.

Currently a challenge for higher education but also a potentially paradigm changing opportunity, globalization needs to be a core element of integrated planning. Some universities in North America even view the rise of foreign world-class universities as a threat to their own national academic pre-eminence. A strong sense of place (campus, region, country) and an acute sense of uniqueness and institutional accomplishments prevent universities from being truly global and encourage an inclination towards exportation rather than importation of innovative strategies and practices. Refocusing this sense of place and uniqueness to be an advantage is another potential opportunity – for campuses and their cities, region and nations.

The City of Montréal is including higher education in its strategic planning and the SCUP conference will be the forum for kicking off this very critical dialog with the institutions and community. Montréal’s precedent-setting process is of interest to planners in both realms and we encourage participation from every area of institutional and physical planning in this conference, including strategic planning at regional levels and beyond.

Plenary Speakers

	Philip G. Altbach Professor, School of Education, Director, Center for International Higher Education Boston College
	Minakshi Mani Amundsen University Planner Cornell University
	David Dixon Principal, Planning & Urban Design Goody Clancy
	Sylvain Ducas Director, Urban Planning/Economic Development City of Montreal
	Clarence Epstein Director, Special Projects & Cultural Affairs Concordia University-Montreal

	Anthony C. Masi Provost McGill University
	Graham Morrison Syndicate Secretary University of Cambridge
	Jamil Salmi Independent Expert for Education
	Alan Shepard President and Vice Chancellor Concordia University-Montreal

The conference will be held jointly at Concordia University and McGill University.

Concordia University
Concordia University, located in the vibrant and cosmopolitan city of Montréal, Quebec, is one of Canada's most innovative and diverse, comprehensive universities. Concordia is an open and engaged university that encourages more than 46,000 students to become active, critical and global citizens. We are advancing with a big thinking approach to teaching and research that examines societal issues from a broad perspective. The university boasts a unique legacy for supporting and developing individuals and their aspirations to help contribute to the world's wealth of knowledge, bridge communities and make it possible for individuals to grow academically, professionally and personally. Welcoming students and faculty with an enriching academic and social environment, Concordia offers 433 undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees, diplomas and certificates in four Faculties, a School of Graduate Studies, and a School of Extended Learning. In its classrooms, labs, and libraries at its downtown Sir George Williams and west-end Loyola campuses, the Concordia community is resolutely anchored to the real world — open and engaged, compassionate and caring. It is an approach that dates back to the founding of Concordia in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (1896) and Sir George Williams University (1926).

McGill University
With some 300 buildings, more than 37,500 students, 215,000 living alumni and a reputation for excellence that reaches around the globe, McGill has carved out a spot among the world's great universities and offers to its students unparalleled opportunities to enrich their educational experience through hands-on research opportunities, international exchanges, internships, field-study and study-abroad programs. McGill's 21 faculties and professional schools offer degrees in more than 300 fields of study. McGill offers a full range of bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs as well as professional degrees in law, dentistry, business and medicine. The world-renowned Faculty of Medicine has four affiliated teaching hospitals and graduates more than 1,000 health care professionals each year. With almost 20 per cent of its students coming from 160 countries around the globe, McGill has the most internationally diverse student body of any medical-doctoral university in Canada. The ability to balance academic excellence with extracurricular activities is another hallmark of students at McGill. In addition to a rich athletic tradition that includes many Olympians and Rhodes scholars, thousands of McGill students participate in the hundreds of clubs, associations and community groups that enrich Montréal and contribute to a vibrant campus

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