From Europe to Asia: Insights into AI, Education, and Sustainable Development at the 2025 International Forums
Reflecting on the conference season, Diana Koroleva noted that autumn traditionally brings together the most important academic and professional discussions in education:
Autumn is always a period of particularly high concentration of key conferences and events in education. In September and October, I had the opportunity to participate in several major educational forums in Europe and Asia.
Artificial Intelligence as a Central Topic in Global Educational Debates
Across all three events, artificial intelligence emerged as the dominant theme, shaping both academic and policy discussions. According to Diana Koroleva, AI has become the focal point of contemporary debates on the future of education:
Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly the key topic of today’s educational conferences—it is around AI that the main professional and academic discussions are currently structured.
She also highlighted important contextual differences between regions, noting that Asian conferences often demonstrate a higher intensity of discussion and a stronger empirical foundation in AI-related educational research:
In my experience, some Asian conferences appear to place a stronger emphasis on intensive discussion and on the presentation of a substantial body of empirical research on AI in education.
CEPE 2025: Ethics, Interdisciplinarity, and AI
At the CEPE 2025 Conference, ‘Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiries,’ in Rome, Diana Koroleva contributed to a broad interdisciplinary dialogue on artificial intelligence and ethics. Unlike education-focused events, CEPE brought together scholars from philosophy, ethics, law, healthcare, public governance, and technology studies.
CEPE is not only about education, it is a wide interdisciplinary discussion on artificial intelligence and the ethics of its use across different sectors. For me, it was especially valuable to move beyond the educational agenda and engage with discussions in healthcare and public administration.
Within the education section of the conference, participants addressed the opportunities offered by AI, as well as its limitations and ethical risks. In her presentation, titled ‘Between Resistance and Adoption: Traditional Educational Institutions in the Age of Artificial Intelligence’, Diana Koroleva examined the logic of both adoption and resistance to AI as a new wave of educational innovation:
We have already observed similar dynamics during the period of digitalisation. However, artificial intelligence is fundamentally different in that it imitates human interaction, which significantly amplifies the ethical dimension.
G20 Education Forum: AI and the Sustainable Development Goals
At the G20 Education Dialogue in Beijing, the focus of discussions was the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is partly because only five years remain until the target date set by UNESCO. The forum brought together scholars from the Tsinghua University, Peking University, and other leading Chinese universities, as well as experts from G20 countries.
My participation in the forum coincided with the publication of a joint article with my colleagues, Nazir Jogezai and Ivan Ivanov, in the International Journal of Educational Management. This article presents empirical research on the opportunities and limitations of using generative artificial intelligence to achieve SDG 4: Quality Education.
APEC Forum: An Ecosystem Approach to Lifelong Learning
At the APEC International Forum on Lifelong Vocational Skills Training, Diana Koroleva presented research on lifelong vocational learning through an ecosystem lens, drawing on the Russian landscape.
Participation in the APEC forum enabled us to showcase the ecosystem-based approach developed by our Laboratory for Educational Innovation Research at the HSE Institute of Education for analysing the education market. Taking an ecosystem perspective on educational processes enables us to consider not only formal institutions, but also technology companies and other stakeholders.
The Innovations in Education Contest, organised by the Laboratory for over 12 years, demonstrates the critical importance of stakeholder engagement in the educational ecosystem:
This experience clearly shows how crucial the interaction between all participants in the educational ecosystem is for understanding the real dynamics of the education services market.
Autumn proved an exceptionally intensive period, rich in key international events that clearly highlighted the main topics of current educational debate, from artificial intelligence and ethics to sustainable development and lifelong learning. The Institute of Education continues to closely follow the dynamics of these crucial topics and their impact on educational policy and practice worldwide.
We congratulate Diana Koroleva on her successful participation in major international conferences and wish her further productive research, inspiring ideas, and new engaging international discussions!