IARU Initiatives > Institutional Collaborations > Global Transformation Initiative
Global Transformation Initiative
Explores how global trends impact universities, helping members adapt and innovate in a changing world.
Background and Purpose
The IARU Global Transformation (GT) Initiative focuses on the rapidly changing nature of our globalized world, which can no longer be understood in terms of a simple North-South divide in either the problems it faces or the delivery of solutions. The Borderland summer course is IARU GT’s signature initiative. Located in the Global South and entering its sixth year, Borderland is now the only truly IARU education offering, bringing together students from across the network to learn and share, as was envisioned at the creation of IARU in 2006. This program exemplifies the great benefits of this alliance, both in terms of the cross institutional research opportunities and the research-led education offering for students. As one of the few field research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students both within IARU and at many partner institutions, Borderland encapsulates several IARU principles. Its thematic focus cuts across 11 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
IARU GT is currently looking into arrangements and collective support structures to build Borderland 2.0, a five-week signature course, to be held annually in June/July, focusing on climate change impact in Oceania. The intention is to launch Borderland 2.0 in 2026.
Vision and Mission Statement
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Professor / ANU
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Role / University
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Role / University
Current delegates include:
Maitrii Aung-Twin -Associate Professor (NUS)
It is a summer course that takes place in Chiang Mai, Thailand, worth 7.5 ECTS points, and is an initiative developed as part of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) network. This year, the course will take place from July 8th to August 2nd.
The Initiative has developed core “Principles for Integrity and Fairness in Research Partnerships” to guide equitable collaborations between universities in the Global North and Global South.
IARU and its various initiatives and groups have several meetings and events throughout the year.
The Initiative has developed core “Principles for Integrity and Fairness in Research Partnerships” to guide equitable collaborations between universities in the Global North and Global South.
Videos of the 2018, 2019, 2023, and 2024 Borderland Summer Schools with session highlights and feedback from students are available here:
2023: ETH Zurich
2022: National University of Singapore
2021: Asia-Africa Conference at the University of Copenhagen
2019: Chang Mai University, Thailand
2018: University of Cambridge
2017: Peking University
2016: University of Cape Town
2015: Launch Meeting, ETH Zurich
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The GT group has remained active in the past few years despite the global COVID-19 pandemic.
In July 2023 the GT group re-launched its signature activity, the Borderland summer school programme in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The programme had been cancelled since 2019 due to the pandemic. The last summer school was held in July 2024.
Apart from regular online meetings, most recently, the GT group held annual in-person business meetings, hosted by ETH Zürich in June 2023 and by the Australian National University in Canberra in November 2024.
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