Higher Education in the World 6
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The document discusses a forthcoming report on higher education institutions' responsibilities at both the local and global levels. It notes tensions between serving local competitiveness needs and addressing global challenges like sustainability. The report will explore this issue through expert groups and analyze experiences of universities that successfully fulfill both roles. It aims to provide recommendations for higher education institutions to effectively balance and make compatible their local and global engagement in teaching, research, and service.
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Higher Education in the World 6
- 1. www.guninetwork.org Higher Education in the World 6 Report Towards socially responsible HE institutions, globally and locally engaged UNESCO Chairs Meeting Barcelona, 29th September 2015 #UNESCOChairs #HEIW6
- 2. www.guninetwork.org Higher Education in the World Report 6 Towards socially responsible HE institutions, globally and locally engaged How can/could higher education institutions get involved and have impact on the development of their local and regional society answering to competitiveness demands and, at the same time, in achieving the global agenda of pressing human challenges?
- 3. www.guninetwork.org GUNI’s Main Project 2015-16 Analyse the dual responsibilities of universities at local and global scale Identify best practices and provide recommendations to both the academic community and public officials on how universities can improve and make compatible cultural, social and economic impact at local and global levels, and Explore 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).
- 4. www.guninetwork.org Current Challenges of Higher Education Based on“THE UNIVERSITY OF THE FUTURE: AN ENTREPRENEURIAL STAKEHOLDER LEARNING ORGANISATION?” Allan A Gibb Local / regional demands Global pressing issues Tensions on the (local) Mission of the University Promote upward socialmobility Capturenew sourcesof resources Standout and be noted Motorof economic development Scientific impact Transdisciplinary innovation Open Accessto Knowledge Relationswith Enterprise/ SMEs communitysocial development Global Competition in Partnership Student's univeristy experience Media relationship/involv ement MOOCs and ICTs teachinglearning Entrepre- neurship Improved employability Accessto employment/dual curriculums Approved by UN in September25, 2015
- 5. www.guninetwork.org 5 Universities ? • The focus on regional/national competitiveness = a zero sum game? • What about universities’ global responsibility, to the planet and to humanity? • Is it compatible with the game of world domination? Current Challenges of Higher Education
- 6. www.guninetwork.org 6 Global Impact (Common good of Humanity) Economic (and Social) impact “on mine” (“National” common good) Current Challenges of Higher Education
- 7. www.guninetwork.org The Glocal University 7 Global Impact (Common good of Humanity) Economic (and Social) impact “on mine” (“National” common good) Enterprise/Productive Sector Socioeconomic stakeholders Communication groups National/Regional Policy UN Cooperation Agencies NGOs Globally involved universities Glocal University
- 8. www.guninetwork.org www.guninetwork.org Higher Education in the World Report 6 The global and local approaches to society challenges are the duality that will focus the 6th Report. Universities are identified as key players from both perspectives. They have the singular responsibility of giving adequate answers to both legitimate needs and interests: to contribute to overcoming the global challenges of the world, that are summarized by the UN Goals for Sustainable Development (SDG), and to contribute to the development and competitiveness of their immediate societies. Are the two approaches compatible?
- 9. www.guninetwork.org www.guninetwork.org Higher Education in the World Report 6 The main premise can be decomposed in three elements. First, there is a compromise between the global and local engagement of universities that only universities by themselves can resolve. Second, there is an imbalance on the legitimate demands towards universities that affects its own definition, organization and action. Third, the natural concentration of action in response to the “local” demands, and their pre-eminent role in the competitiveness strategy of nations/regions can lead to a winners-losers scenario (zero-sum competitiveness game), with the possibility of a somehow negative impact on the global issues. Only universities with glocal vision and mission can resolve this potential conflict.
- 10. www.guninetwork.org www.guninetwork.org Higher Education in the World Report 6 Only universities with glocal vision and mission can resolve the potential conflict. Under these hypotheses, GUNi proposes to explore tensions and experiences, challenges and opportunities, limitations and restrictions, and to analyze the key elements that enable HEIs to adequately fulfill their local and global public good responsibilities. HEIW6 will focus on providing practical examples of structures and processes The final objective will be to provide a comprehensive analysis of the characteristics of this global and local engagement and with a set of recommendations
- 11. www.guninetwork.org www.guninetwork.org 11 1. Explicit shared mission Academic freedom guarantees that “Institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good and not to further the interest of either the individual teacher or the institution as a whole (the common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition)”. This means that the first basic element in the definition of any kind of university engagement is that the governance system must enable academia to take part in defining the university’s mission. The overall commitment of universities should be explicit in their mission and vision, and understood and accepted by the academic staff. The Glocal University: building blocks
- 12. www.guninetwork.org www.guninetwork.org 12 2. Engaged leadership and engaged academia The role of leadership is fundamental if bridges are to be built between university and civil society. The intrinsic characteristics of the academic community constitute obstacles and challenges to civic leaders and require universities to set up an internal strategy to promote, measure and recognize the participation of teaching staff in the social role of universities. Even though the engagement of university leaders is a must, it is clearly insufficient if it is not assumed by academia personally. Need for an institutional strategy that allows individual members of the teaching staff to contribute to the university’s social responsibility in a variety of ways above and beyond their regular teaching and research activity. The overall activity of the teaching staff should be measurable and acknowledgeable. The Glocal University: building blocks
- 13. www.guninetwork.org www.guninetwork.org 13 3. Strategic positioning The university has an overall impact on society through a practically infinite set of collective and individual activities. These activities are usually classified as teaching, research, knowledge transfer, service to society, etc., and strategic goals are set for each of them. The main difficulty for complex institutions such as universities lies in the coherence and the coordination of what is conceived sectorially but which has a global effect, full of synergies. The Glocal Vision
- 14. www.guninetwork.org www.guninetwork.org 14 4. Measurement and monitoring “You can’t improve what you can’t measure.” Whereas research impact has been normalized in many scientific areas and dominates the measurement of the outputs of research activity of universities and other knowledge institutions, the impact of teaching is much more elusive and the impact on society of the overall activity of a university even more so. Despite all the difficulties, universities and the knowledge community have to make the effort to monitor the evolution of their impact on society and, even more importantly, communicate to the general public and to the authorities consistently and regularly. The Glocal University: building blocks
- 15. www.guninetwork.org www.guninetwork.org 15 Ultimately, the ideal position is one of total commitment: HE institutions must be key regional institutions. They must seek the development of the neighbouring society through teaching, research and the transfer of knowledge, and engage in the establishment of regional strategy in collaboration with the local authorities, social partners and civic representatives. But they must also aspire to be institutions committed throughout the world that educate open-minded, critical and committed citizens, and which, through their research activity, also help define global lines of action that will lead to a fairer, more sustainable world. The Glocal Vision
- 16. www.guninetwork.org www.guninetwork.org Higher Education in the World Report 6 Towards Socially Responsible Higher Education Institutions, globally and locally engaged The issue will be developed following four lines of action: Level 1: Group of international experts. From the GUNi experts(report 5) and experts on universities and regional development. Level 2: ACUP group of experts. Identification and constitution of a group of experts (around 20). A joint paper on the glocal university in Catalonia Level 3: UNESCO Chairs. Working group that gathers some 10-20 chairs, to share their work in this area. The drafting of a joint positioning document. Level 4: Universities and City. (Pending negotiation with Barcelona City Council - new government team). The cities and universities on the local and global levels. The projects are independent but have a common objective and would contribute to the HEIW6. The editorial team, will act as a general supervisor of the evolution of the projects and will decide on the final contribution of each one in the HEIW6.
- 17. www.guninetwork.org www.guninetwork.org Higher Education in the World Report 6 Towards Socially Responsible Higher Education Institutions, globally and locally engaged The specific aims HEIW6 are to: 1. 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. 2. 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. 3. Reflect about how glocal engagement should be included in teaching, learning, research and institutional activities, government and leadership. 4. Describe and analyze the current concept of university social engagement and social responsibility in both levels, global and regional. 5. Identify differences and similarities within the different world regions, illustrating peculiarities from several countries and providing a territorial view about how HEIs are locally and globally engaged.
- 18. www.guninetwork.org www.guninetwork.org Higher Education in the World Report 6 Towards Socially Responsible Higher Education Institutions, globally and locally engaged The specific aims HEIW6 are to (cont.): 6. Identify how the range of the different social actors are involved in the glocal engagement practices and interact with HEIs. 7. Illustrate how HEIs have 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 8. Provide recommendations on how higher education institutions and systems could in practice sustain this double level of engagement successfully. 9. Propose steps for advancing the contribution of higher education to achieve an effective and compatible local and global engagement, helping advance societies and building a more just, equitable and sustainable society.
- 19. www.guninetwork.org www.guninetwork.org Level 3: UNESCO Chairs working group Towards What is your experience and point of view in regards to Socially Responsible Higher Education Institutions, globally and locally engaged? Can UNESCO Chairs act as a bridge for making compatible the local/global approaches? In which level (locally/globally) UNESCO Chairs activities are mainly engaged? Can UNESCO Chairs help HE institutions in fulfilling its social responsibility? Can UNESCO Chairs experiences and practices at local/global level contribute to avoid this local/global dichotomy?
- 20. www.guninetwork.org Pavelló Sant Leopold (S1) Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau Sant Antoni M. Claret, 167 08025 - Barcelona +34 93.401.70.09 info@guninetwork.org www.guninetwork.org THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Editor's Notes
- Y es que la idea que domina es la de competición GLOBAL. Nos encontramos en medio de un juego de dominio del planeta. Históricamente este dominio se ha ejercido por la fuerza y la tecnología aplicada a la fuerza, por los ejércitos. Hoy sigue siendo así para defender posiciones cuando conviene, pero el verdadero dominio se ejerce económicamente a través del conocimiento y la tecnología aplicados a la economía. ¡Se trata de un juego de RISK con universidades en lugar de ejércitos! Conviene que las universidades nos hagamos, institucionalmente, éstas preguntas: El foco en la competitividad regional/nacional, ¿ no da lugar a un juego de suma cero?, ¿con ganadores y perdedores? ¿Y dónde cabe la responsabilidad global de las universidades, para con el planeta y la humanidad? ¿Es compatible con el juego de la dominación global?
- Las universidades, todas, atendemos a intereses y demandas muy diversos. Las llamadas a las responsabilidades globales, en pro de un bien común de la humanidad, tienen mucha menor entidad y peso en nuestra agenda que las que corresponden a intereses más directamente relacionados con una cierta idea de bien común nacional. Éstos están más relacionados, en nuestra parte del planeta, con la riqueza, el bienestar y la competitividad: ocupar las primeras posiciones mundiales en PIB/cápita es exigente y requiere sobretodo inversión en conocimiento que pueda revertir en innovación. Los desafíos globales tienen más que ver con grandes retos de la humanidad, la mayoría de los cuales nos caen lejos; sólo el de la sostenibilidad energética nos tiene directamente preocupados, como hemos visto en los objetivos de Europa 2020. Los unos van ligados a estructuras fuertes de la universidad: vicerrectorados de ordenación académica, investigación y transferencia. Los otros a estructuras estadísticamente mucho más débiles: vicerrectorados de comunidad universitaria, de responsabilidad social, etc..
- En ninguna medida pretendo reducir, ni mucho menos criticar, la respuesta de las universidades a la demanda social de impacto en la competitividad regional. Pero sí creo que somos las instituciones universitarias las que tenemos el conocimiento, la capacidad, de hacer ésta compatible con la atención a los desafíos globales, a los retos de la humanidad. Y es esta disposición institucional lo que permite en cierto modo equilibrar la balanza, y que la mejora de las condiciones de vida de una nación no se base en la dominación de otra.
- En última instancia, la posición adecuada es la de un compromiso completo: Las universidades deben ser instituciones clave a nivel regional. Deben buscar el desarrollo de la sociedad inmediata a través de la docencia, la investigación y la transferencia de conocimiento, e involucrarse en el establecimiento de la estrategia regional en colaboración con las autoridades locales, los agentes sociales y representantes cívicos. Pero también deben aspirar a ser instituciones comprometidas a nivel mundial que educan a ciudadanos de mente abierta, críticos y comprometidos ellos mismos, y que mediante su actividad de investigación ayudan también a definir líneas de acción mundiales que conduzcan a un mundo más justo y sostenible.
- En última instancia, la posición adecuada es la de un compromiso completo: Las universidades deben ser instituciones clave a nivel regional. Deben buscar el desarrollo de la sociedad inmediata a través de la docencia, la investigación y la transferencia de conocimiento, e involucrarse en el establecimiento de la estrategia regional en colaboración con las autoridades locales, los agentes sociales y representantes cívicos. Pero también deben aspirar a ser instituciones comprometidas a nivel mundial que educan a ciudadanos de mente abierta, críticos y comprometidos ellos mismos, y que mediante su actividad de investigación ayudan también a definir líneas de acción mundiales que conduzcan a un mundo más justo y sostenible.
- En última instancia, la posición adecuada es la de un compromiso completo: Las universidades deben ser instituciones clave a nivel regional. Deben buscar el desarrollo de la sociedad inmediata a través de la docencia, la investigación y la transferencia de conocimiento, e involucrarse en el establecimiento de la estrategia regional en colaboración con las autoridades locales, los agentes sociales y representantes cívicos. Pero también deben aspirar a ser instituciones comprometidas a nivel mundial que educan a ciudadanos de mente abierta, críticos y comprometidos ellos mismos, y que mediante su actividad de investigación ayudan también a definir líneas de acción mundiales que conduzcan a un mundo más justo y sostenible.
- En última instancia, la posición adecuada es la de un compromiso completo: Las universidades deben ser instituciones clave a nivel regional. Deben buscar el desarrollo de la sociedad inmediata a través de la docencia, la investigación y la transferencia de conocimiento, e involucrarse en el establecimiento de la estrategia regional en colaboración con las autoridades locales, los agentes sociales y representantes cívicos. Pero también deben aspirar a ser instituciones comprometidas a nivel mundial que educan a ciudadanos de mente abierta, críticos y comprometidos ellos mismos, y que mediante su actividad de investigación ayudan también a definir líneas de acción mundiales que conduzcan a un mundo más justo y sostenible.
- En última instancia, la posición adecuada es la de un compromiso completo: Las universidades deben ser instituciones clave a nivel regional. Deben buscar el desarrollo de la sociedad inmediata a través de la docencia, la investigación y la transferencia de conocimiento, e involucrarse en el establecimiento de la estrategia regional en colaboración con las autoridades locales, los agentes sociales y representantes cívicos. Pero también deben aspirar a ser instituciones comprometidas a nivel mundial que educan a ciudadanos de mente abierta, críticos y comprometidos ellos mismos, y que mediante su actividad de investigación ayudan también a definir líneas de acción mundiales que conduzcan a un mundo más justo y sostenible.