UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education: Reinventing Higher Education for a Sustainable Future

Barcelona will host the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education from 18 to 20 May 2022. This is the first time that the World Conference (held every ten years) will be held outside UNESCO headquarters in Paris. For Barcelona, ​​it will undoubtedly be one of the most important global events of the year 2022.

Over the course of three days, some 1,600 people will meet in person in Barcelona to address the challenges of higher education in the next decade and as part of the UN’s 2030 Agenda. Ministers and senior government officials, leaders and university experts from around the world, business people, diplomatic representatives, representatives of university quality agencies, managers and executives in the field of university management from around the world will be present. of the world, students, etc. Around 8,000 people are also expected to attend the virtual conference.

The Conference will close with the approval of a Barcelona Declaration, which should be a roadmap for higher education systems around the world and with the values ​​of UNESCO.

UNESCO has been entrusted as a strategic partner to organize the World Conference on the Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi), chaired and promoted by the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP). The World Conference has the direct support of the Central Government of the State, the Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona City Council and Barcelona Provincial Council.

As part of the UNESCO World Conference, we will present the GUNi World Report Special Issue “New Visions for Higher Education towards 2030”. The Report will open the debate on the future of higher education institutions (HEIs) in the current decade, provide new and inspiring insights for HEIs, and assist them in the transformation processes to make them more relevant, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and socially responsible. The Report is the first stage of the GUNi International Call for Action 2022-2025: www.guninetwork.org/guni-reports