The short answer is it was a combination of lived experience working with international students for years, and the gradual realisation that our sector could improve on the deal offered to international students. Senior members of our team are education researchers, with an abiding interest in ensuring international education is delivered sustainably and responsibly.

Below is a collection of independent literature detailing many of the difficulties and challenges international students routinely face. It's not so much a critique of international student mobility. Far from it. Many of us have benefitted from international education and the enormous opportunities it presents. But the evidence, both from the academic literature, media reporting (and our own anecdotal experience) tells us we can do better. StudyVillage's approach is evidence-based, springing from the ideas, issues and interventions canvassed in the materials presented below. But Happy, Healthy and Wise moves beyond the research to offer a practical, accessible and effective counterweight to many of the problems and issues highlighted below.