The global knowledge community can be justifiably proud of some of the achievements of the last few years. Vast undertakings have attempted to grapple with knotty problems that do not respect national boundaries. Two prominent examples are the work on understanding and combating both climate change and COVID-19. Universities and their knowledge communities are crucial actors in this space and how successfully they engage in such globalised undertakings will affect us all.
Universities are unique institutions with remarkable longevity, their origins date back many thousands of years. Universities pride themselves on global engagement and their ability to cross frontiers. However, they are not global institutions in themselves as they remain tied in complex ways within national boundaries and preoccupations and are themselves buffeted by forces and challenges that are difficult to navigate. What are the challenges and opportunities facing universities and their epistemic communities? How can they better address the building and sharing of knowledge that benefits global development and all of society?
This talk looks at the nature of universities and their international strategic approaches; it considers how knowledge is created and shared through research and higher learning and teaching but also how it is threatened by events in the environment surrounding them and their own strategic or ad hoc decisions. Some ways forward and promising developments will be considered.
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