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Using a case study approach, this chapter examines two primary changes to global health education prompted and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. First, is the acceleration of digital education into the typical global health classroom. Second, is the integration of transnational networks and partnerships between intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and higher education institutions (HEIs) to create, adapt, and disseminate digital materials in fast-changing information environments. The chapter examines the potential positive and negative impacts of the proliferation of digital content created by IGOs and international NGOs that is being rapidly integrated into use in HEIs for Global Health. The growth of tools and access through these new partnerships may lead to increased access to global health information for professionals. However, these changes may have long-term implications for global health regarding equitable access to culturally appropriate and accurate information. Furthermore, there may be additional implications for equity, as the proliferation of tools may still leave out the most vulnerable that do not have access to digital platforms.

The immersion of global higher education in a competitive, economy-oriented paradigm calls for perspectives on internationalisation that are explicitly aimed at shaping cooperative, sustainable and alternative/decolonial futures. The authors of this chapter recognise the relevance of research perspectives that – epistemologically aligned with critical internationalisation studies – emphasise the dilemmas and contradictions of internationalisation of higher education (IHE). In this chapter, the authors therefore present reflections that confront the hegemonic discourse that portrays the phenomenon of IHE as an unconditional good. The authors dialogue with the idea of promoting a perspective of IHE from and for the Global South – that is, one that instead of suppressing, recognises the epistemic plurality of the world. To do so, the authors assume that any critical efforts to address internationalisation in the context of the Global South can be enriched when explicitly situated within colonial history. The authors argue that looking towards the future of IHE requires a look towards its past. Specifically, the authors bring together four interrelated lines of argument: (i) recognising the university as a historical producer and reproducer of colonial hierarchies; (ii) conceiving the Global South as a field of epistemic challenges; (iii) having a non-myopic view of South–South cooperation; and (iv) spreading the epistemological horizon of internationalisation. Such reflections might contribute to envisioning new horizons for IHE in the Global South and its relation with those who have been relegated to a status of invisibility.

This study investigates how firms’ awareness of sustainability affects the revision of their internationalization strategy. Adopting a resource-based view (RBV) approach, the authors argue that sustainable-oriented firms have a higher propensity to de-internationalize (i.e., to go back to their home country) when confronted with the need to relocate foreign manufacturing subsidiaries, as the shortening of value chains would allow the reduction of transportation emissions and enhanced corporate image as green-oriented entities. Furthermore, the authors explore the role exerted by a stringent regulatory setting in the home country on the likelihood of de-internationalization. The empirical test conducted on a sample of relocations performed across European nations in 2002–2014 reveals that multinational enterprises (MNEs) – regardless of their sustainability orientation – have a higher probability to de-internationalize when their home countries have strict institutional contexts in place.

This chapter examines the internationalisation of public higher education in Brazil using the theoretical triptych of internationalisation as developed by leading scholars in the field: internationalisation at home (IaH), internationalisation abroad (IA), and internationalisation at a distance (IaD). This framework – while rooted in knowledge, systems, and scholarship from researchers and institutions in the Global North – is a constructive tool for categorising and understanding internationalisation at Brazil’s higher education institutions (HEIs) when coupled with an exploration of the history, context, policy, and dynamics of internationalisation efforts. The chapter then summarises and underscores recent and important scholarship by Brazilian researchers and others in the Global South that describes the history of the nation’s internationalisation efforts. It also critiques the powerful influence that Global North-centred objectives and priorities for internationalisation have on the process at Brazilian HEIs. Following a discussion of the theoretical framework and relevant literature, the chapter provides a case study of internationalisation efforts and initiatives of an elite public university, the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG). Content analysis of UFMG’s website and publicly available reports and data demonstrates a high level of institutional internationalisation that has unfolded in recent years, stimulated by federal funding and guided by a strategic framework developed within the Ministry of Education. An analysis of UFMG’s mission, partnerships and programmes finds that the institution serves as an example of internationalisation in Brazil’s public higher education context, as its programmes and initiatives exemplify the overarching objectives of internationalisation in Brazilian higher education.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are participants in and creators of internationalization, which the COVID-19 pandemic significantly interrupted and altered. The research presented here examines ways the COVID-19 pandemic impacted, impacts, and will impact prior, contemporary, and future internationalization in higher education worldwide. The themes of (1) leadership and policy, (2) mobility and experience, and (3) learning technology guide the discussion and suggest provocative questions arising from a review of the chapters in this volume. The authors also propose a framework for examining the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on higher education internationalization, which considers the intersection between time (pre-, peri-, and post-pandemic) and level of activity (micro, meso, and macro).

The very essence of internationalisation, which depends heavily on academic mobility and cross-border interactions, has been adversely affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has been associated with a significant decline in student and staff mobility in South Africa and around the world. Nonetheless, it has also catalysed innovation and inspired new approaches to teaching and learning that have the potential to transform the future of higher education. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions are grappling with a fundamental question that goes beyond the practicalities of internationalisation: How can we re-envision the concept of internationalisation to meet the challenges of the new normal? This question calls for a deeper reflection on the nature of internationalisation itself. How can we ensure that cross-border interactions and exchanges continue to foster a sense of global community and intercultural understanding, even in a world that is physically distanced? This chapter seeks to explore the profound implications of the pandemic on the internationalisation of higher education (IHE) in South Africa. It aims to critically examine the present challenges to internationalisation and the strategies that have been developed to address them in the context of the post-pandemic world. The chapter employs a critical reflection approach through the use of qualitative research, systematic literature review, and document analysis. By utilising these methodologies, it seeks to delve deeper into the implications of the pandemic on the IHE in South Africa.

In the 21st century, placing higher education institutions in the global world has become the norm. Therefore, many higher education institutions in Ghana and across the globe have set out to internationalise or become world-class universities as part of their strategic ambitions. Thus, finding ways to become visible on a global scale and transcend beyond the countries in which they operate has become of major interest to most universities. The authors of this chapter were curious to determine how universities adopt imported organisational templates as a strategic ambition. One should not assume that the semblance of such imported concepts is mere institutional isomorphism stemming from internationalisation and globalisation. The study employed semi-structured interviews and institutional documents as data collection tools among ten (10) university actors in a flagship university in Ghana. The study used postcolonial theory to critically examine the drivers and current practices embedded in dominant hegemonic global discourses, such as internationalisation. The findings revealed that the drivers and reforms underpinning university internationalisation ambition are framed within economic rationalities, producing human capital, self-marketisation to promote visibility, and a quest for global competition couched within global neoliberal ideology. The study recommends the need for university actors to (re)focus and (re)evaluate university internationalisation discourse to ensure a balance between local relevance and global forces.

In recent years, decision-making regarding business growth has attracted the attention of many researchers. Also, considering the importance of scale in startups for their survival and the development of economies, investigating the scalability of startups in emerging markets that are booming, can be useful. Scaling for international business has taken on a new meaning: they must be leaders in both emerging as well as advanced markets; they must be responsive to customers in both departments, which require tremendous innovation and agility; they have to build the competency needed in designing, developing, and marketing the opposite for advanced world markets; and they need to demonstrate rapid decision-making, innovation, and opportunism in delivery to the cost-sensitive underdeveloped markets. As a result, decision-making about the scale of start-ups at the international level plays an important role. The internationalisation of start-up activities is an extremely important and attractive topic among researchers, entrepreneurs, and practitioners. But there is very little research and also projects on the internationalisation of start-up venture activities, particularly after the gain of scaling and exponential growth.

This chapter discusses a paradigm shift in the internationalization of higher education (IHE) in relation to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, redirecting the focus from a “competition” to a “cooperation” orientation in this process. The disruptions caused by the pandemic in physical academic mobility, often equated with IHE, enabled the switch to virtual mobility, including more academics and cooperation in the process of IHE. In order to illustrate and ground the discussion proposed here, this chapter describes a study carried out in a Brazilian public institution, using a mixed methods approach, combining bibliographic and document research techniques with the analysis of notes from staff meetings and class observations. The analysis of notes taken during classes and meetings held through virtual exchanges (VE) and/or a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project, carried out during the pandemic in the university analyzed, contrasted with the bibliographic/document analyses suggests a paradigm shift from academic mobility (for a few students only), with a “competition” orientation with partners mainly from the Global North, to a more inclusive and cooperative process, with different languages and more universities around the world. The authors conclude that virtual and alternative approaches such as VE/COIL can foster the development of more inclusive Internationalization at Home (IaH) processes, with a “cooperation” orientation.