The connections between our digital and physical worlds are rapidly evolving. The power of place in those dimensions is facing re-evaluation. Consequently, the modern university’s status and mission are evolving.

The THE World Academic Summit 2021, in partnership with the University of Toronto, welcomed delegates from across the world to examine and focus on the complex interrelationship between universities and the places in which they are located.

Agenda themes:

• Universities’ contribution to place
• Place’s impact on universities
• Has the digital classroom replaced the campus?
• How do global networks complement local success?

The summit also featured the exclusive live reveal of the THE World University Rankings 2022, accompanied by a detailed masterclass examining the latest data.

Accompanying the summit, the Festival of Data was led by the data and insights team behind THE ’s prestigious suite of university rankings – the World University Rankings, Impact Rankings and World Reputation Rankings – to explore the current and future opportunities for the use of data and analytics in higher education. This included an exclusive consultative preview of our future plans for a new methodology for the flagship THE World University Rankings.

Universities’ contribution to place

Universities serve as long-term economic and civic anchors in their local communities. How can host regions best draw on their universities for reinvention and resiliency? Or, to take a contrarian view, do higher education institutions serve to entrench or perpetuate local inequalities?

Cities and urban regions are fertile sites for innovation and entrepreneurship. How can these regions harness the advantages of the universities they host?

Are there implications for the growing megacities in the global south and elsewhere?

What kind of tertiary education institutions do those places really need?

Place's impact on universities

A university’s host region plays a critical role in attracting and retaining students, staff and faculty. Local prosperity, co-location with industry and government, and the engagement of citizens and corporate partners all contribute to a university’s success. At the same time, the pandemic cast the relationship between a university and its host region into a stark light in virtually every jurisdiction.

How can universities build (or rebuild) and develop their regional partnerships?

More generally, how are 21st-century universities shaped by the politics and policies of their host countries and regions?

How can universities better address challenges of indigeneity, colonialism, and the role of peoples who have not historically benefited from universities?

Has the digital classroom replaced the campus?

The pandemic made online classrooms a necessity. Has this diminished the value of traditional, “bricks and mortar” universities?

In many places today, the opposite seems true. Online tools have grown in importance and influence, while paradoxically emphasizing the value of physical place.

How can universities, regardless of resources or geographic location, harness the power of online tools?

How does the digital place complement physical place?

The pandemic underscored the depth and breadth of the digital divide. The opportunity to increase access with remote learning also revealed new challenges. What have universities learned about access?

How do global networks complement local success?

What is the relationship between the local and the global? As many national borders reify, and as immigration, migration, and transnational global challenges emerge, this question is assuming ever-greater importance.

Are research universities beacons of internationalisation?

Or are they playing an unintended role in perpetuating tensions in our globalised world?

Does a university’s location contribute to international partnerships and networks? How did such partnerships and networks flourish or flounder during the pandemic?

Many speculated that an enforced retreat to the digital world would expand international collaboration by reducing or removing barriers. Did that happen? What are the implications for collaboration in the future?

We are delighted to be partnering with New York University (NYU) for the THE World Academic Summit 2022, featuring the reveal of the THE World University Rankings 2023.

Held in New York, US, the summit will focus on the theme of trajectories and examine the role of higher education leaders and policymakers in identifying, adapting to and meeting rising expectations for progress in three different areas: students, institutions, and the wider higher education sector.

Register now to secure the super early bird pricing.

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