Presentation of the World Higher Education Conference (WHEC2022)

From left to right, Javier Lafuente, rector of UAB and president of GUNi; Gemma
From left to right, Javier Lafuente, rector of UAB and president of GUNi; Gemma Geis, Catalan minister for Research and Universities; Manuel Castells, minister for Universitats; Stefania Giannini, assistant director-general for Education at UNESCO; Ada Colau, mayor of Barcelona; Núria Marín, president of the Barcelona Provincial Council, and Joan Guàrdia, rector of the UB.

Institucional

The 3rd World Higher Education Conference (WHEC2022) was presented today in the Paranimph of the UB. The Conference will take place in Barcelona from 18th to 20th May 2022, under the motto "Reshaping higher education for a sustainable future". The meeting will treat questions such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education, or how to guarantee an inclusive higher education with relevant and quality programmes, promotion of academic mobility worldwide and the contribution by higher education institutions to the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.

The rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, welcomed the event and in his speech, he defended that "initiatives like this are fundamental for the future of the planet, which will be built from global cities such as Barcelona". The rector stated that "dedicating space and talent to debate on how to improve higher education is a great future investment, in which the universities are and will be a meeting point for all knowledge branches". "A diverse world involves a tolerant and inclusive world, and this means just one thing: education", concluded Joan Guàrdia.

The conference was presented at the UB in an event organized by UNESCO, the Spanish Government, the Catalan Government, the Barcelona Provincial Council, the Barcelona City Council and the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP), since it holds the presidency and technical secretary’s office of the Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi).