27th March 2013 Seattle, USA
When I was growing up in Canterbury, Kent, a house in our street had the name plate “Dunroamin” hung up on the outside wall. I was only about 8 years old, and hadn’t come across the term before. I thought it was a place in Ireland. But of course it means a state of mind […]
11th March 2013 Toronto, Canada
The second Monday in March is Commonwealth Day, a celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations and a brief reminder of why it’s one of the nicest intergovernmental clubs to belong to. Opportunity through Enterprise is the Commonwealth theme for 2013, an apt choice given the ongoing financial turmoil in wealthy nations and the continuing rise […]
1st March 2013 Washington DC, USA
On Wednesday evening we gave a reception at the British Embassy for scientists, soldiers and senior government officials from the US and the UK. The event was organised around a workshop presided by Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman of King’s College, London and Professor Eli Berman of UC San Diego, with the support of Research Councils […]
1st March 2013 Beirut, Lebanon
Yesterday was our ‘Education, Education, Education’ Day. I met the prizewinners of our competition for English teachers, including an inspirational administrator from Nahr el Bared Palestinian refugee camp, whose winning lesson plan was based on fish and chips. She is helping even those living in extreme desperation to enjoy and unlock English. But the day […]
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25th February 2013 London, UK
Before choosing that slogan for the latest Education UK Exhibition here in Brunei, and the dramatic logo which went with it, we discussed what it meant. Some of us thought it sounded too incendiary. Then some bright spark recalled that the I-Centre had pioneered use of the word “ignite” for their excellent “Business Plan” competition. […]
18th January 2013
This January figures were published showing that Turkish gas imports had hit an all-time high. So the timing of the UK-Turkey Knowledge Partnership Conference at the British Consulate General in Istanbul on 17 January to examine Energy and Resource Efficiency in Manufacturing could not have been better. Turkey is an increasingly important research and manufacturing […]
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20th December 2012 Athens, Greece
In January 2009, the then newly-arrived Ambassador, Dr David Landsman, OBE walked into my room, accompanied by our then Political Counsellor, for a brief discussion about my work. Upon leaving, he asked “what is the single area of work that you think will be most important in the period ahead?” I replied “migration”. I think […]
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30th November 2012 Washington DC, USA
The following is a guest post by James Kariuki, Counsellor and Head of Politics, Economics and Communications Group at the British Embassy in Washington. Educational exchange is one of the most powerful forms of cultural diplomacy. It changes lives—and sometimes it can change history. Had a young Kenyan man not been given the opportunity to […]
26th November 2012 Atlanta, USA
This is the time of year when the winners of two of the most prestigious scholarship awards in the US are announced: the Rhodes scholars and the Marshall scholars. The young Americans named on those lists will next year launch into an experience which will shape their life paths: one to three years of fully […]
16th November 2012
One of the things I know for sure after attempting to learn many languages over many years is that each person learns languages differently. Here in Istanbul there are countless institutions teaching English. Many are excellent. But did you know that there are also some fantastic interactive English language-learning sites on the Internet available free […]