Depok, August 29th 2023. Rector of the Universitas Indonesia (UI), Prof. Ari Kuncoro, S.E., M.A., Ph.D., was present as a speaker in the 2023 ASEAN Higher Education Conference (AHEC) series. On Friday (25/8), at the Padjadjaran University Campus (Unpad), Bandung, in a panel discussion entitled “The Role of Higher Education in Building Resilient Society and Promoting Environmental Sustainability”, Prof. Ari delivered material on “Resilience and Adaptation in Higher Education”.
In his presentation, Prof. Ari alluded to the Covid-19 phenomenon which has massive impacts, including for universities. “Currently, we are still getting the lingering effects of Covid-19. We still experience global and political conflicts, which has an influence on universities throughout the world,” he said.
According to Prof. Ari, after the Covid-19 pandemic, there are many challenges and changes that cannot be predicted, thus more skills are needed to deal with them; skills that are different from 10 years ago. Therefore, every element in higher education, both educators and students, must try to overcome this by elevating the increasingly complex abilities and skills.
He mentioned four strategies for surviving and adapting after the pandemic. The first is improvisation. This is related to the relevance and quality of higher education, which emphasizes the need for improvisation by universities to suppress the inability to adapt. Second, a good research center is needed to produce scientific publications that are useful for education. In this case, Prof. Ari mentioned the importance of collaboration with national and international partners. Apart from these two strategies, participation is also needed in national and global problems, as well as government support in supporting these efforts.
At AHEC 2023, UI participated in panel discussions, as well as taking part in the AHEC 2023 education and innovation exhibition which took place on 23rd–26th of August 2023. The exhibition aimed to showcase the advantages of each university, encouraging the creation of collaboration between each university.
According to the Chief Executive of AHEC 2023, Dr.med. Setiawan, dr., AHEC became a conference event related to higher education in the Southeast Asia region. The aim of holding this conference is to discuss issues, innovations, and developments in the field of higher education in ASEAN countries.
This year, AHEC was held in Bandung with three series of events, namely pre-event, main-event and post-event. The event started on August 23rd by holding a student and alumni forum to produce a commitment declaration. The results of the work from the pre-event activities were compiled by 38 universities in a book form which were then discussed at the conference during the main event to determine the action plan.
The entire AHEC 2023 series was closed with the Green ASEAN Culture Festival, on Saturday (26/8). The festival was an introduction to culture and green nature in the ASEAN region. Setiawan said that the concept of growth is not only science and technology, but also a strong culture from ASEAN. This must be an advantage and uniqueness that must be maintained.
Apart from holding an annual conference, this year, a new idea emerged regarding community within AHEC. “There is an idea of AHEC as a community. The principle of community is that we want to close the gap and reduce disparities between universities in ASEAN. With the existence of a community, the AHEC concept then becomes more focused. It is hoped that this community will expand the idea of collaboration in higher education. “The hope is that this community can grow and not be exclusive, so anyone can feel comfortable,” said Dr.med Setiawan.
