Seminar on 'The world beyond 2015: is higher education ready? The role of higher education institutions for the Sustainable Development Goals and the Post-2015 Development Agenda'

Date: 11^th of December

Time: 9:00 – 14:00

Place: St. Pau Art Nouveau Site (map)

The world is living a moment of change. Nations and citizens from all over the world are discussing and redefining the global approach to address the world’s most pressing development challenges. In 2015 the Millennium Development Goals that defined over the last years the global strategy to eradicate poverty come to its end and a new set of Sustainable Development Goals, currently based on 17 objectives, will be put into practice. These goals are not only centred on developing countries but represent a global agenda for sustainable development to which all are obliged to contribute.

The majority of the over five million participants of the United Nations Survey for a better world chose education as the issue that most matters when thinking about themselves and their families and it is widely acknowledged that there is no other process more likely to achieve the post-2015 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals than education.

Through the teaching, research and engagement capacities of universities, higher education is inextricably connected to prospects for development. The interconnectivity and extent of the global challenges that need to be addressed simultaneously call for the development of new curricula based on values. Furthermore, research has to become more inter- and multidisciplinary, relevant and embedded in its context as well as socially responsible.

However, some questions have to be asked in this context: where is higher education considered in the draft of the Post-2015 Development Agenda? Why is the voice of researchers, faculty, students and higher education leaders not sufficiently present in the negotiation process of the new set of development goals? How can higher education institutions position themselves strategically and respond to these new challenges? How can we convert our universities into sustainably oriented institutions with a clearly defined social service mission, becoming more effective in transforming the most advanced technologies into social development, contributing to the sustainable development of our society? How can universities respond within the broader context of social and economic development to building a democratic, equitable and ecologically minded society? How can collaboration among government, civil society, industry and higher education institutions be fostered in order to contribute to social transformation and seek sustainable solutions?

These and other questions will be addressed in the seminar “The world beyond 2015: is higher education ready? The role of higher education institutions for the Sustainable Development Goals and the Post-2015 Development Agenda” jointly organised by the Global University Network for innovation (GUNi) and the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP), in collaboration with the City of Barcelona. The seminar is related to the campaign “The world beyond 2015: is higher education ready?” promoted by the Association of Commonwealth Universities with which it wishes to establish fruitful synergies. The International Association of Universities (IAU) also collaborates with the event. 

Admission is free but registration is required: HERE

You can follow the seminar on Twitter: @GUNi_net, @ACUPcatalunya, @HEbeyond2015, #GUNiipost2015