Why International Education Needs a New Philosophy

Twenty Years in International Higher Education

For more than twenty years, I have worked in international higher education. I have created international programmes, developed partnerships between universities, worked with academic and leadership teams, and been involved in institutional transformation.

Throughout these years, one question has stayed with me: what does a university need to become in order to remain open to the world, alive, and capable of continuous development in a rapidly changing world?

Today, this question feels more important than ever.

A Changing Landscape

We live in a world where knowledge no longer belongs to a single university. A student may learn across several educational environments, work with people from different countries, contribute to an international project, use AI as a learning partner, and create an educational journey that does not fit neatly within the boundaries of one institution.

Research increasingly emerges at the intersection of universities, business, technology, professional communities and society. And international education is becoming about much more than moving people across borders. It is becoming a space for connection, exchange, shared learning and co-creation.

A Deeper Question

This living and evolving reality brings us to a deeper question: what is a university in such a world?

Could a university be more than an educational organisation? Could it be a living ecosystem?

A place where people, ideas, knowledge, technologies and communities come together. Where internationalisation is not a separate function, but a natural dimension of university life. Where students are not simply recipients of education, but active members of a community and co-creators of their own learning journeys. Where partnerships are not just agreements between institutions, but living spaces for creating something new together. And where a university itself is capable of learning — observing what is happening around it, rethinking its approaches, experimenting, adapting while staying true to its identity.

The Living University

I call this idea Living University.

For me, it is not a metaphor or a ready-made model that can simply be implemented. It is a philosophy and a way of looking at the university. A university as a living system — connected to its environment, continuously evolving, and creating the future together with its communities.

The Role of Praxis

This is the thinking behind Praxis — a platform for the future of international higher education. I want Praxis to be a space for exploring what international education can become, and what the university itself might become in the years ahead. Not by offering universal recipes. Not by designing yet another “ideal university model”. But by asking better questions, connecting ideas, exploring possibilities and creating new approaches together.