A warm welcome to the eighth annual Thai-UK Education Festival (Edfest), which highlights knowledge sharing in education between the UK and Thailand and across Asia.

This year there is increased emphasis on transnational education and on the role of education in developing workforces for the 21st century. With globalisation, young people are progressively looking beyond their own countries to build their futures, and a modern education needs to prepare them to take advantage of these opportunities.

Our theme for Edfest 2008 is Global Citizens, United Futures. We see global citizens as people.

			who are confident and creative independent thinkers
			who develop themselves through education and lifelong learning
			who speak English and other languages
			who are potentially mobile and may aspire to international education and employment
			who are interested in, and understand, other cultures
			who engage in debate and collaborate with others locally and internationally on key issues facing the world

Similar challenges face people globally, so knowledge sharing and collaborative approaches to those challenges have obvious benefits. For educators and policy makers this means developing effective communication strategies and networks to enable shared solutions, including joint research projects.

The events, workshops and seminars during Edfest will show how educators are already using their creativity and learning across cultures to find new ways to nurture the global citizens we need.    

On behalf of the British Council, I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to support our Edfest. You are helping to create greater mutual understanding and collaboration between the UK and Thailand and other countries in Asia. We hope that all of you will enjoy the events, seminars and workshops we have arranged and that you will find them stimulating. We also hope they will encourage you to work with us, and with others you encounter here, in the future.

John Whitehead
Director Thailand
British Council