Over the past decade, the Glion Colloquium has established itself as an influential resource in addressing both the challenges and roles of the world’s research universities. Launched in 1998 by Professors Luc Weber (University of Geneva) and Werner Hirsch (University of California),
Strategy in the Face of Uncertainty and Unpredictability
One of the most vexing problems we face today in moving toward a more sustainable society is the problem of uncertainty and imperfect predictability of complex physical and biological phenomena. Such states of knowledge cause havoc when scientific and technological knowledge,
International STEM Education for Global Sustainability
On a daily basis, people around the world face challenges that result from us all, together on our small planet, approaching the carrying capacity of our environment. The sustainability of humanity is determined by our ability to keep in balance the three pillars of society — our environment, and our …
Globalization, Universities and Sustainability Effects
More than ever, research universities live in an environment heavily impacted by the forces of globalization. Their strategic thinking continues to be influenced by robust competition in critical areas such as funding, enrolment, recruitment and reputation, as well as by developments beyond their national higher education systems.
A University Culture of Sustainability_Principle, Practice and Economic Driver
Sustainability — as we use the term in our classrooms, capitals and marketplaces — has evolved and taken on an almost mythical quality. The word is ripe with meaning, yet not well defined, and actions in the name of sustainability are similarly wide-ranging and varied.
Responsibility of Business Schools to train Leaders
Business Schools have been seriously challenged in recent years and have sometimes accused of contributing directly to the financial and economic crisis that has deeply shaken the world and has not been yet overcome. Different types of arguments have been used against BS, including the setting up and use of …
Action is what counts. Sustainability at ETH Zurich and EPFL
Tackling the challenges of sustainable development requires critical thinking, innovative technologies and an open dialogue between science, industry, and society. As Swiss-based universities that are consistently high in the leading international university rankings, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) …
Research Intensive Universities in a Globalized World
As president of a German university and chairman of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), it is my special interest to discuss the role of research intensive universities and their impact on global sustainability from a European point of view. One may wonder why the perspectives of European universities …
The Contribution of Research Universities in solving the ‘Grand Challenges’
Obviously, the world is changing rapidly, and not only for the better: Grand challenges for society are arising and demand solutions. Some challenges can be foreseen, some may occur without warning. When societal problems can be predicted, responsible governments have to address their solutions. Early research has to contribute to …
Sustaining World Class Universities: Who Pays and How
Higher education is now unarguably a global activity. In a digitally connected world, where capital and labour flow increasingly freely without hindrance from national boundaries, universities are no less subject to the forces of globalization than any other part of service sector economy. Universities from all over the world
Values and Valuation for Sustainability
Last year, I chaired the U.S. National Academies’ Committee that produced the report, “The Hidden Costs of Energy” (2010). Using the most advanced methodology and the best available data, the Committee estimated a lower bound of US$120 billion per year in non-climate damages to Americans from producing and using energy …
How can Research Universities Contribute to Fostering Sustainable Societies in Developing Countries
Although law is hardly a science, rather an intellectual discipline, it is at the heart of many of the issues discussed in this Colloquium: it shapes the functioning of democracy; it regulates markets; contributes to protecting the environment, to fighting corruption and crime; it avoids or solves conflicts, translates the …
Regional Engagement and Sustainability: University of Aveiro in Portugal
In the framework of the demographic evolution foreseen up to 2050, major issues related to sustainability include: food, natural resources (water in particular) and energy. These “grand societal challenges” affect all aspects of our lives and are not contained within geographical borders or specific scientific disciplines.
Global Governance, the Sustainability of International Institutions
Given the complex interdependence of our contemporary world, the challenges of global governance are exceedingly daunting. The task is made all the more difficult because most of the international institutions we still rely upon to manage contemporary global challenges were originally created and designed more than 60 years ago. They …
Preparing the University and its Graduates for the Unpredictable and Unknowable
Universities are a key player in the “knowledge society”. But this increased influx of knowledge and the exponential rate of technical progress also generate anxiety and fear that could undermine the fundamental role of universities to elaborate and disseminate knowledge. Universities should not be locked into the sterile debate of …
University 2.0 the University as an economic and social Driver
This paper intends to renew certain paradigms that tend to limit the vision and functions of universities and advance towards the University 2.0, a scheme focused on society and that brings about concrete changes. The University 2.0 works in two great aspects: economic development models and social development models,
Global Environmental Sustainability: An ‘All-Hands on Deck’ Research Imperative
The two-way interaction of societal activity with environmental processes now defines clear and present challenges to our well-being. Human activity is changing the climate system and the ecosystem services that support human life and livelihoods. The changes are occurring at an unprecedented and often bewildering pace.
Universities, hard and soft Sciences. All key Pillars of global Sustainability
Imagine you are an economic historian writing at the end of the 21st century about the second half of the 20th and first decade of the 21st. You will probably write that this period was characterized by an unprecedented increase in prosperity in the Western World, the rapid emergence of …
Global Sustainability. Timescales, Magnitudes, Paradigms and Black Swans
We live in a time of great change, an increasingly global society, driven by the exponential growth of new knowledge and knitted together by rapidly evolving information and communication technologies. It is a time of challenge and contradiction, as an ever-increasing human population and invasive activities of humankind are now …
The Innovation Society: Canada’s Next Chapter
The story of Canada’s innovation strategy begins with two key measurements: 1. Since 1990, Canada has ranked first fully eight times in the United Nation’s Human Development Index, which examines health, education and income indicators to assess overall quality of life (United Nations Development Programme,