More than 300 participants?in the Global Forum of University Presidents pledged in a??to ¡°accelerate the development of higher education by fostering greater openness, integration and resilience in our institutions¡±, particularly by promoting social responsibility in ¡°globally chaotic environments¡±.

¡°Covid-19 has only added to a long list of severely disruptive global challenges, like climate change, social inequality, and the threat to international collaboration and exchange,¡± Qiu Yong, Tsinghua University¡¯s president, said at the forum held to mark the institution¡¯s 110th anniversary. ¡°Through this test, we now understand the effort needed to overcome threats of this magnitude. We have proven that even closer collaboration will be needed to overcome future challenges.

¡°Higher education is facing profound challenges that unite now in a different way,¡± he added. ¡°We face global health, access, and mobility challenges, which have required us to find global solutions.¡±

Chen Xu, chair of Tsinghua¡¯s council, said it was ¡°our hope that further action through scientific research, talent cultivation, campus action, student activities, and public engagement will lead to a carbon-neutral world¡±.

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University heads attending from around the world discussed how they were working towards the?United Nations¡¯ sustainable development goals.

Rocky Tuan, president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said that ¡°when it comes to success, it¡¯s all about people, people, people. At the end of the day, if we want to achieve anything, particularly with the SDGs, we have to work on people first.¡±

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Gene Block, chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, also emphasised the need for these goals to be reflected in everyday campus life and teaching. He called critical thinking ¡°essential for all of our graduates who are going to successfully navigate and contribute to a world ripe with complex global challenges¡±.

He cited three types of literacy ¨C scientific, information and global ¨C as key.

Santa Ono, president of the University of British Columbia, said that institutions must respond ¡°boldly and decisively¡± to problems like climate change by creating carbon-neutral universities and communities. He added that UBC had set a pathway to net zero emissions by 2050.

Other participating universities also laid out their deadlines for becoming zero carbon or carbon neutral: Hokkaido University by 2050, the Polytechnic University of Turin by 2040, and the University of Sheffield by 2038.

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Koen Lamberts, Sheffield¡¯s vice-chancellor, called his institution¡¯s strategy ¡°holistic¡±.

¡°It looks at environmental issues, but also at social and economic factors, which are equally relevant in forming solutions,¡± he said.

Li Zheng, executive vice-president of Tsinghua¡¯s Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development and secretary-general of the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate, called sustainability ¡°a common crisis and longstanding challenge faced by humanity, requiring everyone around the world to unite, learn together, and place all efforts to create a climate-focused governance¡±.

joyce.lau@timeshighereducation.com?