Universities for the public good:
rebuilding economic and social development

13–14 JULY 2021

The THE Latin American Universities Summit 2021 examined how the higher education sector across the region can develop strategies to build capacity, adapt to digitisation, increase strategic impact and improve public appreciation of universities’ role in progressing society.

This online summit brought together leaders from across the region and their institutional partners across the world to focus on internationalisation, strengthening the humanities and social sciences, and how universities can reinforce their partnerships with the private sector and reposition themselves as agents for positive change.

Agenda themes:

Universities maximising their impact
The challenge of internationalisation
Building capacity to build impact

The summit also featured the exclusive live reveal of the THE Latin America University Rankings 2021, accompanied by a detailed masterclass examining the latest data.

AGENDA THEMES

Universities maximising their impact

These sessions debated the most effective way of measuring and understanding university impact. Are the current metrics and methodologies able to record what is most meaningful to stakeholders outside the higher education sector?

We examined the role of universities in responding to the public health crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and explored what options are available to universities to improve their public and political engagement at local and national levels.

Is it possible to widen access and focus on local priorities while sustaining research excellence and international impact?

The challenge of internationalisation

These sessions examined the different challenges facing universities in Central and South America as they seek to internationalise, especially in relation to the global disruption created by the pandemic. We asked how non-English language nations can improve their integration into global teaching and research networks.

With demographic growth in the global south, we explored whether the future for research collaboration will be south-south partnerships. And we found out the best practice for developing an international university brand and projecting values to international audiences.

Building capacity to build impact

The final section of the agenda focus on improving institutional capacity for change and action. Is there strategic competition between local needs and the demands of global goals?

We discussed the issue of talent flows within and beyond Latin America – how might the best researchers be encouraged to spend more of their time in the region without becoming isolated from the global circulation of knowledge?

How can universities sustain and encourage the arts, humanities and social sciences in our modern era of the fourth industrial revolution?