Business school Deans and Associate Deans from Europe and North America congregated in Lancaster for their annual meeting.

Members of the International Partnership of Business Schools – made up of 13 leading universities from the UK, Canada, USA, France, Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico and Spain – took part in their Fall Meeting at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS), the first in-person since 2019.

For more than 30 years, IPBS partners have offered undergraduate programmes that grant double degrees, with study in two countries. The meeting brought together Deans and programme directors from either side of the Atlantic, as well as members of the IPBS Student Council for the first time.

It was the first IPBS meeting in Lancaster – a founding IPBS member – since 2016. Members discussed the future development of the double degree programmes, and boosting student mobility between their countries following the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It was wonderful to be able to host our first in-person fall meeting for three years in Lancaster,” said Professor Marwan Izzeldin, Association Dean International at LUMS. “Being in the same room with colleagues from so many leading global business schools is always productive and fruitful, and this year’s event was no different.

“Global education can offer business and management students so much in terms of new perspectives and experiences, and the double degrees we offer through IPBS are a wonderful opportunity to help shape globally-minded, innovative leaders of the future.”

Through IPBS, LUMS students can choose to study for two years in the UK, followed by two with either Brock University, in Ontario, Canada; NEOMA Business School, in Reims, France; ESB Business School, in Reutlingen, Germany; Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, in Piacenza, Italy; Universidad de las Américas Puebla, in Puebla, Mexico; or ICADE Business School in Madrid, Spain.

The next IPBS conference will take place at FGV EAESP in São Paulo, Brazil, in March 2023.