The importance of the synergies between Science, Technology and Humanities, main focus of the GUNi International Conference
International experts agree on the need for Science and Technology to go hand in hand with the Humanities to face present and future global challenges. This is the main conclusion that has been drawn at the International Conference on Humanities and Higher Education: Generating Synergies between Science, Technology and Humanities, organized by the Global University Network for innovation. It has been held for two days, 19th and 20th November 2018, at CosmoCaixa Museum in Barcelona.
In the words of Rosi Braidotti "after a time of lethargy, the humanities return to the burden because they are deeply necessary”. The Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Humanities of the University of Utrecht has been, along with Arne Jarrick, Carme Torras, Sarah Hunt and Federico Mayor Zaragoza, one of the over thirty international speakers from different areas of knowledge and fields (education, research, public institutions, and organizations) that have participated at the Conference. The main objective of the event has been to open a global debate on the current role of humanities in the social, academic and scientific fields and on its importance to promote a more equitable, responsible and democratic society.
The Conference counted on the participation of over 160 attendees coming from 22 countries around the world. A combination of keynote sessions, workshops and presentation of experiences and cases were bound to make an engaging and interactive GUNi Conference. Presentations, pictures and video of the Conference will be available on the website www.guninetwork.org
This International Conference is conceived as an integral part of the process of elaboration of the 7th GUNi Higher Education in the World Report (HEIW7), which will be published in 2019. The Report will be devoted to the future of the humanities and the relation between science, technology and humanities in the 21st century. The Higher Education in the World (HEIW) is a collective work published as part of the GUNi Series on the Social Commitment of Universities. It is a result of a global and regional analysis of higher education in the world. More than 380 internationally renewed authors from 67 countries have contributed in the GUNi reports. 19.000 copies have been distributed in 130 countries.
The Editorial Team of the HEIW7, comprised of 10 local and international experts, convened its first meeting the day after the Conference at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) headquarters and outlined the first steps of the forthcoming HEIW7.
About GUNi
The Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi) is an international network created in 1999 within the framework of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme, by UNESCO, the United Nations University (UNU) and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-BarcelonaTech (UPC) after UNESCO's World Conference on Higher Education (WCHE) to give continuity to and facilitate the implementation of its main decisions. Since 2014, the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP) hosts its secretariat and presidency. GUNi’s headquarters are located in Barcelona. GUNi is a network that is currently composed of more than 210 members from 78 countries, and which includes the UNESCO Chairs in Higher Education, higher education institutions, research centres, and networks related to innovation and the social commitment of higher education. GUNi has regional offices in Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab States and Europe.
Useful links
- Programme of the GUNi International Conference in pdf
- Members of the International and Local Editoral Team of 7th Higher Education in the World Report
- Presentations, pictures and vídeo soon available here
