The University of Portsmouth is participating in a major new cultural exchange between Australia and the United Kingdom, celebrating the diverse and innovative artist communities and cultural sectors of each nation.
A collaboration between the British Council and the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, under the patronage of Her Majesty the Queen, the UK/Australia Season is a unique artistic programme of more than 200 live and digital events, marking the largest ever cultural exchange between the two nations.
Launching in both countries in September 2021, The Season will strengthen and build cultural connections and will include a diverse programme spanning theatre, film, visual arts, dance, design, architecture, music, literature, higher education and a public engagement programme.
The programme includes extensive collaborations between UK and Australian universities, and includes climate research projects, UK-Australia student collaboration on global challenges, panels, keynotes, forums, webinars and publications exploring aspects of the theme 'Who Are We Now?'
Portsmouth is contributing two projects to the Season. The first is a new collaboration between the University's School of Education and Sociology in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Centre for Child and Family Studies.
The programme brings together researchers, advocates, policy makers and service providers to support young children and their families to thrive in a post-COVID world. Building respective research strengths, the programme is designed to deepen understanding of issues affecting children and families and to explore opportunities for further collaboration to enhance children's health, learning and wellbeing.
Our involvement in the Season aligns with our Global Engagement Plan to create a network of strategic global partnerships that significantly enhance our international profile and extend the strength, scale and impact of our international education, research and innovation activities.
The second is a series of public talks and a student-led "Global Goals Jam" co-hosted by the University and Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Western Australia, which brings together staff and students from both institutions to talk about different cultural approaches to identifying and tackling pressing global problems, such as gender equality, good health, eliminating poverty and climate action.
Taking the UN Sustainable Development Goals as the starting point, each event provides the opportunity for staff, students and external participants to learn from and engage with expert speakers, collaborate with others.
The public talks will include academics from both the UK and Australia exploring issues, with the aim of exploring and advancing new ways of thinking on key issues facing society in both countries and beyond.
These events mark the launch of a new series of dual degrees in partnership with ECU, where students will have the benefit of studying complimentary courses of both institutions, studying across two countries and receiving two degrees.
Chris Chang, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement and Student Life) at the University of Portsmouth, said: "These events result from both University's commitment to providing students with a global experience and support their development as global citizens.
"Our involvement in the Season aligns with our Global Engagement Plan that seeks to create a network of strategic global partnerships that significantly enhance our international profile and extend the strength, scale and impact of our international education, research and innovation activities."
The Season will take place in Australia from September 2021 to March 2022 and in the UK from September 2021 to December 2022.
