Global Days 2021 at BFH

Professor Sebastian Wörwag (President of BFH) opened the event, which was held online for the first time using Microsoft Teams and Remo. Professor Ellen Leister (President of the Internationalisation Committee, Head of the International Office SFISM) and Professor Pierre-André Chevalier (President of the Bilingualism and Multilingualism Committee, Engineering and Information Technology lecturer) then introduced their respective committees. 

Professor Gabrielle Hogan-Brun (Vytautas Magnus University) presented a fascinating introduction to the advantages of multilingual proficiency in a competitive business world, discussed the progress that has been made in modern communication technologies and advocated multilingual workforces and multilingual education.

The importance of multilingualism and of intercultural competence in an internationalised (university) environment was explored in greater depth in various discussion groups. These offered participants the opportunity to engage with different aspects of the subject: discussions covered challenges involved in collaboration with China, how everyday multilingualism can be encouraged in institutional settings, recognising and overcoming stereotypes and examining our own global competence. 

There was an opportunity to continue these interdepartmental conversations over virtual networking drinks.