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This paper explores the development of microcredentials (MCs) through a regional lens, considering their implications for lifelong learning and skilled labour mobility in Asia and the Pacific. It also examines recent global initiatives led by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The study reviews recent global initiatives aimed at developing shared definitions and principles for MCs, as led by UNESCO, taking into account the importance of existing initiatives such as the pilot project launched by the Australian government in 2022. The formalization of MCs within national education systems is also examined, with reference to frameworks developed by organizations like the European Union (EU), Australia and the Malaysia Qualifications Agency (MQA, 2020).

The paper underscores the increasing attention from international organizations and governments to the development and recognition of MCs, with significant efforts in countries like Australia and pilot initiatives in New Zealand and Malaysia. However, it also highlights that many MC projects in Asia are still in their early developmental stages, emphasizing the need for further progress and formalization.

This paper offers a unique perspective on the development of MCs in the Asia–Pacific region and their potential role in international education. It explores the prospects for MCs in international education, including student mobility and cross-border online courses. The challenge of integrating MCs into existing systems for recognizing international qualifications is discussed. Overall, the paper contributes to the understanding of MC frameworks as essential tools in the formalization of lifelong learning in the region, supported by the provided citations (OECD, 2021).

The Australian Government has long used its international scholarship programs as an instrument of soft power in international diplomacy. The paper examines an international scholarship program and its role in Australia’s soft power efforts during a period in recent history.

The Australia in the Asian Century White Paper of 2012 is used as a lens to reveal how the Australian Government viewed the role of international scholarship programs in international diplomacy at a specific point in the recent past, and compares it with research revealing what was contemporaneously happening with one key government-funded scholarship program.

This paper is based on a comprehensive case study of the Australian Government’s Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships program (2004–2019). Endeavour was an ambitious and expensive merit-based program with 6,600 recipients in numerous and diffuse sub-categories. The program was complex and cumbersome and lacked clear priorities, particularly in its lack of geographic focus. It missed opportunities to connect with the political zeitgeist, largely due to opaque priorities and inadequate evaluation regimes which focused entirely on outcomes for individual recipients rather than on relationships for Australia.

This research draws on the first academic study of the Endeavour program. Other scholarship programs (for example Australia Awards and the New Colombo Plan) have attracted considerable scholarly interest. The Endeavour research provides an additional counterpoint for studies of Australian scholarship programs and their contribution to international diplomacy. It is timely to consider this in 2024 when Australia is putting a new focus on its investment in international scholarships.

International branch campuses (IBCs) are complex entities and while much has been written about their expansion and development, the literature is largely from an external perspective. There have been few longitudinal studies examining the development of an IBC over time. The purpose of this paper is to review the development of one IBC over an eight-year time period, to identify the key learning points for institutional managers of other IBCs or for institutions intending to establish an IBC.

This paper is a culmination of research, conducted during the eight years when the lead author worked at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC). The author was involved in practical management aspects as well as the research and analysis of IBC development. This paper represents a form of ethnographic research where the author conducted interviews, meetings and discussion groups, observed institutional policies, strategies and operations in action and was in an ideal position to identify and discuss their impacts on institutional performance.

This paper examines key management issues during the early, developing and evolving stages of an IBC and discusses key issues including communication, curriculum, identity and management. Key challenges, procedural issues, managerial responses and strategy will be presented to highlight foundational concerns for IBC development and areas and topics that must be given priority and support.

This paper considers the management of an IBC from the reflective standpoint of an author employed in a senior management position, during a period of significant growth of UNMC. The author provides insights and discussion involving practical experience.

Transnational education (TNE) is evolving. It has moved from a necessity-driven model to a more balanced collaboration between host nation and sending institution. As a result of this shift, the issue of sustainability looms large. As the sector has matured, the primary drive is no longer economic and as a result, integration and relevance to context are promoted and cultivated. Universities are looking for long-term engagement and, therefore, must choose partners wisely.

Sustainability for the long-term success of an institution in a host nation is often measured by the extent to which a higher education institution (HEI) can integrate and demonstrate value. This is perhaps most often demonstrated now by employability. In the face of shifting expectations, student debt, and graduate mobility, attention must be paid to relevance of learning and inherent value of degree. We still understand relatively little about the impact and legacy of TNE, or the role it can play in the employability agenda and this is at the heart of the sustainability debate in international higher education (HE).

The issue of access, while not solved for all, has perhaps been replaced in literature with impact, or indeed, legacy (McNamara & Knight, 2014). What is the value of international HE, and to whom? As institutions look to further their global reach, both as a response to shifting recruitment patterns and visa concerns and in order to pursue new funding opportunities and industry partners, a closer examination of university partnerships, both with other institutions and further afield, is required. New models provide new opportunities but are they simply more efficient and less costly ways of achieving the goal of student recruitment? The questions that should be asked are fundamentally why are universities engaging in international activity and who ultimately benefits?

This chapter will highlight key examples of sustainable partnership models. These cases will serve as a valuable resource for policy makers, universities, and HE practitioners. The chapter will explore examples from different countries and contexts, in order to identify core elements of a university partnership that promote, enhance, and support sustainability and do not rely on traditional models of fixed campus presence.