Brussels, 29/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Union should work more closely with Qatar and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in areas of common interest such as education and training, new skills for a changing world and strengthened cultural ties to enhance understanding between their peoples. That was the message that Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth delivered at the 2013 World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), which will continue until 31 October, in Doha, Qatar, on 29 October. Commissioner Vassiliou stated that “Europe must remain open to the world. It is through education and culture that different peoples begin to understand each other and develop closer relationships”. She also said that the Erasmus+ and Creative Europe programmes are more open to countries outside Europe. During her three-day visit, the Commissioner is expected to meet Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, chairman of WISE and President of Hamad Bin Khalifa University, and Dr Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, the Qatari Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, to discuss shared challenges and opportunities for closer cooperation. The discussions will focus on the Commission's new strategy for the internationalisation of higher education and the launch of the Erasmus+ and Creative Europe programmes.
WISE was set up by the Qatar Foundation in 2009 and every year brings together around 1,400 experts, political leaders and education and innovation specialists from around the world. The aim is to enable participants to promote new forms of cooperation and develop innovative solutions to inspire innovative change in the education field. The theme of this year's summit is “Reinventing Education for Life”. Euronews is a key media partner for WISE and will provide comprehensive coverage of the event, as well as help set up the new HD WISE channel on YouTube on 29 October. This channel focuses on innovative trends and best practices in the education field (http://www.youtube.com/WISEQatar ). (IL/transl.fl)