Education Working Group: International Education and Soft Power

Join us online on 10th September from 9.00-10.00am for our September Education Working Group which will focus on the role of international education and soft power, with guest speaker, Evie Aspinall, Director of the British Foreign Policy Group (BFPG).

The new government will be keen to ensure that the UK’s reputation on a global stage becomes part of its toolkit to drive economic and social prosperity. From their commitment to the culture and the arts, to their belief in the strength of the UK’s reputation across sport and education, soft power has a key role to play. British education organisations are crucial to this.

Evie will provide an update on the Governments’ approach to international education and will brief members on the FCDO’s soft power narrative, and the role of international education within this. The British Foreign Policy Group regularly conducts research into UK soft power and co-convenes, along with the British Council, the UK Soft Power Group, the premier group representing non-governmental UK-based soft power assets.

Evie Aspinall is the Director of the British Foreign Policy Group, a non-partisan think tank focused on the intersection between foreign and domestic policy. An expert in public opinion, her research focuses on building domestic consent for the UK's international activities and bringing a diversity of voices into UK foreign policy decision making.

Evie holds a BA from the University of Cambridge and an MSc from King’s College London. Evie has worked at BFPG for four years, having previously worked at UN Women UK and the Future Leaders Network. She has also served as the UK's Head Delegate to the Youth7, the G7’s official youth engagement group and as President of Cambridge University Students’ Union. She is a regular commentator in the media on issues pertinent to UK foreign policy.