Ready to explore the programme?
Wednesday November 25
Networking reception
We kick off the symposium at the end of the afternoon with an optional networking reception, open to all participants.
Thursday November 26 | Inspiration & exchange
09:00 - 09:30 | Doors open and coffee
09:30 - 10:00 | Opening plenary & keynote
THUAS & Nuffic
Keynote by Darla Deardorff
Break-out session 1
From Experience to Recognition: Building Shared Understandings of International Learning
Keiko Ikeda & Nannette Ripmeester
- From Grassroots Pilots to a University-Wide COIL Hub: Lessons from Building a Scalable Institutional Framework for COIL VE
Katarzyna Radke & Anna Kwaśniewska - Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: A Strategic Framework for Scaling and Embedding COIL VE in Higher Education
Ainhoa Uribe Otalora & Beatriz Jiménez Luengo - Internationalisation at Home in the Republic of Cyprus: From Ad Hoc COIL and Virtual Exchange Initiatives to Institutional Integration
María Victoria Soulé
How COIL Produces Learning: A Two-Level Account of Core Process and Enabling Conditions
Preeti Suri, Tafadzwa Ruzive, Katherine Wimpenny, Lynette Jacobs & Jos Beelen
This session presents a research-informed account of how COIL produces meaningful intercultural, disciplinary and career-relevant learning. Drawing on evidence from the iKUDU Coiling Careers project in Europe and South Africa, it introduces a framework combining a core process of assumptions, contrast, reflection and adjustment with three enabling conditions: relational support, task authenticity and reflective scaffolding.
Mind the Disciplinary Gap: Towards More Effective COIL-VE Practice
Claudia Bulnes & Eveke de Louw
Engagement with COIL-VE and Internationalisation at Home differs significantly between disciplines. This session explores how educational traditions and professional orientations shape COIL-VE practices and proposes a disciplinary lens for addressing these differences. It considers how greater understanding of disciplinary contexts can support more effective COIL-VE design and interdisciplinary collaboration.
- Designing from the Margins: Redistributing Authority in COIL/VE Partnerships
Eva Haug, Alia Gilbrecht & Maysa Abuzant
Mapping the Dutch COIL/VE Landscape: A National Snapshot
Leanne Jansen-Schreurs, Daan Maljers, Marlie van Dun
What is the current state of COIL and Virtual Exchange across Dutch education? This session shares preliminary findings from a national mapping study across nine institutions. The findings cover scale and reach, institutional embedding, partnership models, staff support, and key barriers and enablers, offering insight into the development and future direction of COIL/VE in the Netherlands.
Misconceptions about Students: Why We Should Listen More - and How
Claudia Diers-Lienke
Why do students have such different experiences of COIL, even when they face the same challenges? This interactive session explores contrasting student perspectives on time-zone clashes, group dynamics and technical problems. By listening to what students actually experience, participants consider what helps students move from frustration to positive engagement and what this means for COIL design and facilitation.
- What Nobody Tells You About COIL: Lessons from Design to Delivery
Nazlina Quadir - How to Shape Equitable South-North COIL Partnerships in Practice? Comparing Insights Across the Ikudu and Become Glocal Consortia
Marloes Ambagts-van Rooijen, Matias Marín Castaño & Seithati Ramonaheng
Break-out session 2
Who Holds the Pen? Power and Professional Development in COIL Partnerships
Eva Haug & Chevon Slambee
- Scaling COIL through Institutional Commitment: The UCV Experience
Beatriz Manrique & Clara Lattanzio - Not Every COIL Needs Co-creation: A Five-Level Framework for Scaling Virtual Exchange in Vocational Education
Daan Maljers - What Makes Community Colleges Great Partners for COIL?
Barbara Leitherer
Designing Reflexivity as a Transversal Competence in COIL: From Pilot Curriculum to Scalable Practice
Pravani Naidoo, Ilzene Douglas, Michelle Engelbrecht, Janka Taborecka, Filip Smutny & Andrea Seberini
This presentation explores how reflexivity can be intentionally embedded in COIL and Internationalisation at Home. Drawing on two iterations of a partnership between the University of the Free State and Matej Bel University, it examines how reflexive learning can support learner agency, cultural humility, interdisciplinary learning and ethical engagement, and considers how these approaches can be applied across different COIL contexts.
- Expert Perspectives on Quality in COIL Virtual Exchange
Reinout Klamer, Divinia Jinthoo & Shannon Sauro When COIL Is Not in the Curriculum: Rethinking Student Commitment, Sustainability and Equity in Global Partnerships
Marieta Jansen van Vuuren, Luce Pretorius & Junior Longweni
This session examines four COIL cases involving South African and European partners where COIL is valued but not formally embedded in the curriculum. It explores how voluntary participation, assessment, recognition, workload, access and institutional support affect engagement and partnership equity, and identifies practical principles for reciprocal, sustainable and context-sensitive COIL partnerships.
Using Mixup for Virtual Exchange: Lessons from ROC Midden Nederland
Asma Hassanin
This session introduces Mixup, an accessible digital platform that connects students from different countries to discuss societal issues such as sustainability, human rights and discrimination. Using examples from ROC Midden Nederland, participants explore how the tool can support virtual exchange and citizenship education, including its use of anonymous multilingual chat and automatic translation.
- Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Learning Through Virtual Exchange
L. Samuels & Mandisa Kamwendo Teaching and Testing in the Age of AI: Reimagining Virtual Assessment
Ingrid Van Rompay-Bartels & Jannemieke Geessink
This presentation explores how assessment in intercultural virtual collaboration can be redesigned in an AI-supported environment, with a focus on oral, process-focused assessment and making students' understanding and reasoning visible.
Beyond Exposure: Rethinking Intercultural Learning in North-South COIL Partnerships
Lize-Mari Mitchell
This session challenges the assumption that intercultural learning develops naturally through contact and collaboration. Drawing on research with educators in South African and European COIL partnerships, it explores how history, power and assumptions about expertise shape intercultural encounters. Participants consider what this means for designing more historically informed, relational and equitable COIL experiences.
Break-out session 3
- From Ambition to Practice: Strengthening Internationalisation at Home through COIL in University Alliances
Leanne Jansen-Schreurs & Pei Pei Vong - DIALOGUE Across Borders: COIL as a Space for Collaborative and Intercultural Learning Across Disciplines and Contexts
Lyudmyla Kruhlenko - From Strategy to Practice: A COIL VE Experience Bridging Business, Technology, and Intercultural Learning
Irenee Dondjio & Ranu Paltantewari
Decolonising Virtual Exchange: Towards more equitable and inclusive international online collaboration
Mirjam Hauck, Ana Beaven, Rita Koris, Sara Pittarello
Global Employability - A COIL Framework Across Disciplines
Petra Hogendoorn-Schweighofer, Elizabeth Frank
This session introduces a transferable COIL Virtual Exchange framework for developing global employability through intercultural collaboration, SDG engagement and digital identity reflection. Based on an evaluated COIL VE module and refined through student feedback, the framework offers a practical approach to learning design, intercultural engagement and assessment that can be adapted across disciplines.
- Assessing Internationalisation at Home Through Institutional and Curriculum Analysis: A Pilot Comparative Study
María Victoria Soulé, Robert G. Valls-Figuera, Judith Borràs Scaling Local Global Think Tank
Debby Gerritsen, Pauline Vromans
Local Global Think Tank (LGTT) prepares students for international contexts through virtual teamwork on global challenges. Combining intercultural learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, project application and reflection, its modular design allows flexible integration into programmes. Following successful delivery across UvA faculties, this session explores sustainable partnerships, adaptation, university-wide scaling and the challenges involved.
From Projects to Practices: A Structured Approach to Scaling COIL-VE Across Two Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences
Reinout Klamer, Giuliana Scuderi, Marlie van Dun, Jos Beelen, Eveke de Louw
How can COIL move from individual projects to sustainable curriculum practice? This presentation shares the design and first findings of an NRO-funded research project at The Hague University of Applied Sciences and Breda University of Applied Sciences. It explores institutional processes, professionalisation and student evaluation, and considers how networks can support systemic scaling.
- From Coffee to Wine: Using COIL VE to Connect Students with Global Cultural and Business Ecosystems
Alexandre Mabille - Two Phases, One Design: What BIPs Can Reclaim from VE/COIL
Katarzyna Radke, Juan Albá Duran - How to: after pioneering COIL in VET to sustainable embedding: What Support do teachers need?
Daan Maljers
Closing plenary @ Aula
Dinner
Friday 27 November | Deepening & application
09.15 - 10.00 | Plenary opening @ Speakers Corner
Break-out sessions 4
- Designing COIL with Internationalisation at Home in mind
Eva Haug, Rob Kuipers, Eveke de Louw, Zouhair Ben Abdelkarim - From Finland to Ghana: Lessons from Building a COIL Across Five Countries and Three Continents
María Ernestina Salcedo Salinas, Emmanuel Abruquah, Nicholas Imbeah, Nicholas Sinn, Lenneke Schouw
- Beyond the Classroom: Applying COIL Pedagogy to Democratic and Inclusive Project Collaboration
Eva Janebova, Katherine Wimpenny, Kayden Schumacher, Lucy Roberts Designing COIL Virtual Exchange for Foreign Language Learning: The Role of Interest-Based Grouping and Peer Assessment in Developing Intercultural Communicative Competence
Mathilde Cornuel
How can pedagogical choices shape intercultural learning in COIL? This presentation draws on doctoral research involving 45 students learning French and Spanish in Spain and France. It explores the impact of interest-based group formation and structured peer assessment on intercultural interaction, cultural reflection and the development of intercultural communicative competence.
- A New Avenue for Developing Global COIL VE? Leveraging Blended Intensive Programme Funding for Fair Global Partnerships.
Cornelius Hagenmeier, Kristin Ziegner-Llewellin
- When Learning Must Travel: COIL, Multicultural Collaborative Learning, and the Transfer to Global Careers
Keiko Ikeda Designing & Assessing P02 - Developing Cultural Intelligence through COIL: The impact of Diversity Climate and Communication Channels
Joep Hofhuis, Chie Misumi
This session presents findings from a study of 210 students across universities in the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa and Mexico. The research shows that COIL can strengthen cognitive and behavioural cultural intelligence, with outcomes influenced by the diversity climate within teams and the communication tools used. The session explores implications for COIL design and facilitation.
Exploring co-creation pathways for implementation of VE in vocational education - examples from a Ghanaian-Norwegian collaboration
Steinar Mathisen
This session explores how Critical Virtual Exchange can be sustainably implemented in vocational education, drawing on a Ghanaian-Norwegian partnership. Teachers from both schools co-developed an approach to virtual exchange, focusing on practical implementation, planning and reflection. The session considers how flexible approaches and supportive tools can help sustain teacher motivation and collaboration.
Break-out sessions 5
- Story Circles as Reflective Scaffolding in COIL: Supporting Relational Support and Career-Relevant Learning
Preeti Suri, Tafadzwa Ruzive, Katherine Wimpenny, Lynette Jacobs, Jos Beelen - Champions and Counts: The Two Things That Stop COIL/VE Embedding at Institutional and Alliance Scale
Eithne Knappitsch, Reinout Klamer, Sara Pittarello, Eva Haug
COIL in Teacher Education: a good practice and lessons learned
Elise Akkermans, Lieven Faes, Nicole Poulussen
This presentation reflects on a COIL project in teacher education involving students from Belgium, the Netherlands, Indonesia and Japan, with contributions from Ethiopia and Morocco. It explores conditions for meaningful intercultural learning, including preparation, group composition, facilitation, group dynamics and reflection, with particular attention to the facilitator’s role.
- Using eTwinning as the tool for COIL in Initial Teacher Education (ITE)
Frans Kranenburg - Beyond Borders: A Scalable COIL Model for Social Innovation and Community Engagement
Elizabeth Frank, María Gloria Aznar Fernández-Montesinos
Comparing Transatlantic and European COIL Models
Rainer Prasetya, Jaime Dickson
Based on data and feedback from 260 hospitality students across three COIL projects, this session compares US-Dutch and intra-European collaborations. It explores differences in student perspectives and experiences, including time-zone and communication challenges. Participants analyse student cases and consider practical strategies for curriculum design, co-design and embedding virtual exchange in their institutions.
COIL/VE for Staff: Collaborative experiences beyond the classroom
Deborah Chicharro Alcántara, Juan Ignacio Roca Knowles
This session explores how COIL and Virtual Exchange can support the professional development of academic and administrative staff as part of inclusive internationalisation. Through structured international collaboration, staff develop intercultural, digital, linguistic and teamwork competences. The session also examines VE ambassador networks, implementation challenges and approaches to sustainable, staff-driven internationalisation.
- From the office to the classroom: how a COIL for support staff strengthens the global campus
Jessica Sandblom, Treja Wilkens
Group photo @ Speakers Corner
Closing lunch
Make the most of your visit
