For higher education to realize its full transformative potential, its institutions and systems need to be transformed as well. UNESCO convened the third World Higher Education Conference (WHEC2022) in Barcelona in May 2022 as part of a once-a-decade process of multilateral policy dialogue, deliberation, peer learning, and agenda-setting. Drawing from this process and further consultations involving over 15,000 participants, 250 sessions, 1,500 inputs and 250 knowledge products from all world regions, UNESCO has now developed a comprehensive roadmap to transform higher education.
UNESCO’s Transforming higher education: Global collaboration on visioning and action publication advances UNESCO’s vision of higher education as a critical part of the right to quality education throughout life and as a global common good that benefits all. It provides insights into developments and trends; presents a set of seven forward-looking guiding principles to inspire and inform the work of all involved in higher education; and identifies lines of transformation that point the way toward a new social contract for higher education. It is a call to action to help faculty, students, leaders and stakeholders change the sector into the transformative force the world and future generations need.
In the context of converging challenges facing higher education, the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNESCO IESALC) has launched the Higher Education Policy Observatory, building upon the foundations laid by WHEC 2022. This freely accessible online portal has already informed a range of analytical outputs, including regional mappings of higher education systems and policies, as well as policy briefs and global reports such as the forthcoming 2026 Higher Education Trends Report.
This publication launch event will serve as a global platform for policymakers, higher education leaders, faculty, researchers, students, international organizations, civil society and private sector partners to advance knowledge, debate and action that will connect higher education today with the possibilities and opportunities of tomorrow:
- UNESCO will present the WHEC Roadmap Guiding Principles and Lines of Transformation, highlighting their relevance for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 4, and building a new social contract for education.
- UNESCO will also present the Higher Education Policy Observatory, a new freely accessible online tool designed to support evidence-informed policymaking in higher education.
- Key global higher education stakeholders are invited to join the dialogue on policy action and implementation pathways for higher education transformation, considering diverse contexts and priorities across countries, regions and institutional types.
