Date/Time
Date(s) - 16/11/2015 - 18/11/2015
12:00 am
Location
Barcelona
Categories No Categories
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About GUNi
GUNi is an international network created in 1999 and supported by UNESCO, the United Nations University (UNU), and the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP) which hosts its International Secretariat.
GUNi mission is
To strengthen the role of higher education in society contributing to the renewal of the visions, missions and policies of higher education across the world under a vision of public service, relevance and social responsibility.
GUNi objectives are to
- To encourage Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to reorient their roles for broadening their social value and contribution and strengthen their critical stance within society.
- To help bridge the gap between developed and developing countries in the field of higher education, fostering capacity-building and cooperation North-South and South-South.
- To promote the exchange of resources, innovative ideas and experiences, while allowing for collective reflection and co-production of knowledge on higher education emerging issues, innovation, social responsibility and relevance in a global scale.
About the GUNi Report
Higher Education in the World is a collective work published as part of the GUNi Series on the social commitment of universities. It is the result of a global and regional analysis of higher education in the world, with a specific subject chosen for each edition. The Report reflects on the key issues and challenges facing higher education and its institutions in the 21st century. It is currently published in English.
Until now GUNi has published four issues (2006, 2007, 2008, 2011), plus a synthesis (2009) requested by UNESCO for the World Conference on Higher Education held in Paris in 2009. The series include the following titles:
- Higher Education in the World 2006: The Financing of Universities
- Higher Education in the World 2007: Accreditation for Quality Assurance: What is at Stake?
- Higher Education in the World 3. Higher Education: New Challenges and Emerging Roles for Human and Social Development
- Higher Education at a Time of Transformation. New Dynamics for Social Responsibility
- Higher Education in the World 4. Higher Education’s Commitment to Sustainability: from Understanding to Action.
- Higher Education in the World 4. Knowledge, Engagement and Higher Education Contributing to Social Change
More than 320 authors from around 60 countries have contributed in the GUNi Reports. Information about previous editions is available at:
https://www.guninetwork.org/guni.toolbox/guni.report/higher-education-in-the-world-report/
GUNi Action plan for 2015 and 2016
After a strategic analysis and positioning during the last quarter of 2014, in January 2015 the Assembly of ACUP approved the mission of GUNi and the Plan of Action for 2015 and 2016.
During 2015 and 2016, GUNi will focus its activities on the duality and synergy between global engagement (related to the major pressing global problems) and local engagement (driven essentially by local demands for social, cultural and economic development, enhanced quality-of-life and sustainability, including global competitiveness). This activity will be developed following four lines of action, which will usefully feed into HEIW6:
- International experts Working Group. Following the experience of previous HEIW reports, a group of international experts, selected by the HEIW6 Editorial Team, will discuss and analyze the proposed issue. The results of this work will be the main contribution to the HEIW6.
- UNESCO Chairs. Following one of GUNi responsibilities (acting as UNITWIN network and facilitating synergies between UNESCO Chairs devoted to Higher Education) a specific group of UNESCO Chairs will be invited to contribute to the same issue.
- Working Group of experts from Catalan universities. Linked to the hosting character of ACUP and related to the local interest in social and economic engagement of universities, this group will analyze the issue from a local and applied perspective and will focus, especially, on impact measurement. In that sense, it will constitute a laboratory to test different possibilities of measuring and monitoring impact and engagement, both at local and global levels.
- City-HEIs Working Group. As 2/3 of humanity will live in urban areas by 2050, compared with 3% in 1800, 13% in 1900 and 33% in 1950, global society has increasingly taken on urban characteristics. Therefore, cities are an obvious and direct connection between HEIs and society. This group, appropriately led by a city or network of cities, will help define the ways that higher education can contribute not only providing services or knowledge but also participating in the strategic positioning of a city. The results of this Working Group will also be included in HEIW6, according to the criteria of the Editorial Team.
The projects are independent but have a common objective to contribute to a mutual goal: the HEIW6. The Editorial Team will act as the general supervisor of the evolution of the projects and decide on the final contribution of each of the above in the HEIW6.
HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE WORLD 6 REPORT
The present document frames the 6th Higher Education in the World Report (HEIW6) around a comprehensive analysis of the global and local engagement of higher education institutions (HEI).
Towards a Socially Responsible Higher Education Institutions, globally and locally engaged aims to analyze the dual responsibilities of universities at local and global scale, exploring the potential conflict, or intrinsic difficulties, in addressing both local demands of society based on the race for global competitiveness and local and global demands to contribute to a more equitable and sustainable society (at local and global scales).
The Report aims to provide the academic community, policy makers and decision-takers within higher education and wider society with a comprehensive analysis of the characteristics of global and local engagement and with a set of recommendations, examples and good practices from worldwide, about how higher education institutions and HE systems can become more socially responsible globally and locally.
OBJECTIVES OF THE REPORT
The Report aims to provide the academic community, policy makers and decision-takers within higher education and wider society with a comprehensive analysis of the characteristics of global and local engagement and with a set of recommendations about how higher education institutions and HE systems can become more socially responsible globally and locally.
The specific aims of Higher Education in the World 6 are to:
- Explore the potential conflict, or intrinsic challenges, in addressing both societal demands based on the race for global competitiveness and to contribute to a more equitable and sustainable society at local and global level.
- In this regard, the Report aims to analyze the dual responsibilities of HEIs at local and global scale and how to serve and deal with both at the same time. Moreover it will:
- Reflect about how glocal engagement should be included in teaching, learning, research and institutional activities, government and leadership.
- Describe and analyze the current concept of university social engagement and social responsibility in both levels, global and regional.
- Identify how the range of the different social actors are involved in the glocal engagement practices and interact with HEIs.
- Illustrate how HEIs have successfully linked with society at local and global levels, identify and presenting the different experiences, mechanisms and structures and best practices on glocal engagement from worldwide
- Provide recommendations and propose steps for advancing the contribution of higher education to achieve an effective and compatible local and global engagement in practice, helping advance societies and building a more just, equitable and sustainable society.
EDITORIAL TEAM
HEIW6 will be led by GUNi and the Editorial Team, composed of:
John Goddard, Emeritus Professor of Regional Development Studies at Newcastle University UK. He was previously founding Director of the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS). UK.
Budd Hall, Co-Director UNESCO Chair in Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility. University of Victoria, Canada, and guest editor of WRHE5.
Ellen Hazelkorn, Policy Advisor to the Higher Education Authority, and Director, Higher Education Policy Research Unit (HEPRU), Ireland.
Rajesh Tandon, Co-Director UNESCO Chair in Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility. PRIA President, India, and guest editor of WRHE5.
And led by:
Francesc Xavier Grau, GUNi Non-Executive Director and former Rector of the Universitat Rovira I Virgili.
Click here for Agenda_ET_Meeting_16_18_November_2015.pdf