Integration through Education in Latin America: the case of Unila. Findings and impressions of the first visit

Driven by globalization, higher education faces new challenges in regional integration and internationalization. In the search for standardization of higher education, but also of the creation of an integrated citizen identity, the most important South American economic block –the Mercosul- has created a sector called Educational Mercosul (SEM- Setor Educativo do Mercosul) in order to coordinate educational policies in Mercosul countries. Since 2006, the concept of “integration through education” has been established, which seeks to use education as a promoter of integrative consciousness, through the creation of common regional teaching and research environments. The current paper is part of a broader study that aims to investigate the role of higher education in the integration process in South America. It investigates the achievements of the Federal University of Latin America Integration (Unila) as an ambitious institution promoting integration in the region. The main purpose of this paper is to analyses data collected from the first exploratory field research developed in April 2016 in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil.