The Canada-UK Colloquium
Knowledge, Innovation and Skills for a Global Economy
November 20-22, 2008
Loews Hotel Vogue
Montréal, Canada
The 2008 Canada-UK Colloquium
Set in Montréal, one of the most cosmopolitan cities
in Canada, the 2008 Canada-UK Colloquium will delve into innovation
and lifelong learning and host topic experts and policymakers
from both the United Kingdom and Canada. The Colloquium will
begin on November 20 with a tour of Montréal, where
participants from the United Kingdom may witness firsthand
lifelong learning in action at some of Montréal’s
businesses and institutions. On November 21 and 22, participants
will have the opportunity to engage each other in discussion
at the Loews Hotel Vogue in the heart of downtown Montréal.
Knowledge, Innovation and Skills for a Global Economy
As globalisation accelerates the pace and interconnectedness
of the world economy, citizens of developed countries like
the United Kingdom and Canada must adopt new strategies for
human capital development. Citizens and countries need to
be innovative and enterprising, and they need to have the
knowledge and skills required to develop and market their
innovations and enterprises globally. They also need to increase
productivity through learning and skills in order to remain
competitive. The question Canada and the United Kingdom both
face is: how can the organisations that promote and deliver
knowledge, skills, and lifelong learning best provide citizens
and the country as a whole with what they need to succeed
in the global economy?
The 2008 Canada-UK Colloquium seeks to answer this question.
Against a backdrop of globalisation and the challenges it
brings to social cohesion both within countries and between
countries, participants will discuss the gaps in current knowledge,
skills and commitment to innovation, and how best to fill
them. By bringing together knowledgeable and strategic thinkers
from both the United Kingdom and Canada, the two countries
will be able to share experiences and vision, offering a comparative
perspective and innovative solutions.
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The Colloquium will consist of six discussions. The first
will assess where each country’s relative strengths and weaknesses
are in knowledge, skills, innovation and lifelong learning. Participants
will define how both
countries frame the issue, and identify objectives to be achieved. The
second will examine the advantages and disadvantages of different ways
in which
citizens can access lifelong learning: through the public, private, and
non-profit sectors. The third will identify benchmarks against which to
measure the
success of these education provision methods, as well as any future initiatives
launched to improve upon what we already have. The fourth will deal more
specifically with secondary education, and its role as preparation both
for post-secondary education and for entry into the labour market. The
fifth
will move on to the most pressing questions of post-secondary education:
the issues of how to improve access and how to provide a fertile setting
for innovative research.
The sixth discussion will take the form of discussion groups. This intensive
session will allow participants to more thoroughly develop actionable solutions
to specific issues in knowledge and skills provision. The intimate forum
will bring out the full diversity of opinions and ideas amongst the participants,
and enable the United Kingdom and Canada to more meaningfully share ideas
and practices, and challenge each other to go beyond what has always been
done domestically before.
The Colloquium will result in a published Rapporteur’s
Report, outlining the results of the discussions and the solutions proposed
by participants.
Just as importantly, the Colloquium will also result in lasting
connections between some of the most influential citizens of the United
Kingdom and Canada,
bringing our two countries together in friendship and mutual understanding.
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