GLOBAL
UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATIONS FORUM
PRESS STATEMENT
On 17 May in
Barcelona, the Global University Associations Forum
(GUAF) was formally constituted. The Forum brings together representatives of university
associations in Africa, the Americas, the Arab region, Asia and Europe. The
focus of this first physical meeting of Forum members, chaired by EUA and
hosted by University Ramon Llull, was on enabling international collaboration
and exchange in higher education.
At this inaugural
meeting, Forum members shared their experiences of and visions for enabling international
collaboration and exchange. Pathways and mechanisms for fostering collaborative
practices were considered in the context of student and researcher mobility, universities’
contribution to achieving goals set out in the UN Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), associations’ respective continental and regional development
aspirations as well as the influence of geopolitical factors.
Creating and
sustaining frameworks that promote exchange across higher education and
research systems is a pivotal step towards safeguarding the future of our
communities and our planet. Without robust structures for collaboration in
research and education at global scale, society will be ill-equipped to tackle
climate change, protect the environment, pursue the global health of its citizens
and move collectively towards building sustainable societies and circular
economies.
The Forum agreed
on a number of actions for follow-up: It will
·
promote the role
of the higher education sector – and more specifically, its capacity to
facilitate international exchange and collaboration – in working towards the SDGs
and other continental and regional development regimes; to date, the sector’s
role in achieving SDG goals has not been widely acknowledged and does not
feature sufficiently in government strategies;
·
emphasise respect
for fundamental values, such as institutional autonomy and academic freedom, as
critical in building sufficient scope and decision-making power to engage in
international collaboration;
·
commit to sharing resources – including
policies, guidelines and data – on topics of mutual interest among Forum members to
facilitate coherent collective action on key matters at a global level;
·
address the
obstacles inhibiting mobility at institutional and national levels;
·
explore how Forum
member associations can contribute to the establishment of collaborative
(virtual) learning approaches.
About the Global University Associations Forum
The Global
University Associations Forum was conceived in 2020 in response to the disruption
caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to international higher education and research
collaboration. It was established to complement the ongoing exchange and
collaboration initiatives developed by universities, and their national
networks and associations. It will identify pathways for joint action to
further enhance links between university associations and their relationships
with member institutions. In addition, the Forum will advocate for the vital
role of partnerships as a vehicle for pursuing joint actions within and across
regions.
The Global University
Associations Forum is constituted by the following organisations:
Africa
|
Association
of African Universities (AAU)
|
Arab
region
|
Association
of Arab Universities (AArU)
|
China
|
China
Association of Higher Education (CAHE)
|
Europe
|
European
University Association (EUA)
|
India
|
Association
of Indian Universities (AIU)
|
Latin
America & The Caribbean
|
Latin American & The Caribbean
Space for Higher Education (ENLACES)
|
North
America
|
American
Council on Education (ACE) & Universities Canada (UC)
|
Southeast
Asia
|
ASEAN
University Network (AUN)
|
As a collective
voice, the Forum will work towards achieving consensus by engaging in dialogue.
Through joint statement and action, it will contribute to the advancement of
the sector both in regional and global terms.
The next physical
meeting of the Forum will take place in 2023 in ASEAN, under the chairmanship
of AUN. In the interim, members will continue to convene virtually to establish
next steps for implementing priority actions.