Thousands of students will gather in Barcelona from May 16-20 for World Higher Education Week, during which World Higher Education Week and the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education will be held. higher, authorities said.

According to Spain’s official news site, around 2,000 people will attend the event in person while another 8,000 in virtual format, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.

During Global Higher Education Week 2022, various events to discuss the future of higher education will take place in Barcelona.

Applauding the occasion, the Secretary General of Universities, Jose Manual Pigarron, said that the climate of collaboration existed between the institutions to organize these events, while a priority objective for all the institutions is to place higher education in a central place for a week in order to offer a better service to our changing society.

On the other hand, the Minister of External Action, Victoria Alsina, said that for one week Barcelona will serve as the capital of education for one week.

“The desire is to serve as the first stone to ensure that Barcelona, ​​and Catalonia, is a center of knowledge of reference for its vast network of universities and research centers. We want to take advantage of the dynamism and efforts to crystallize new projects, such as the creation in Barcelona of a UNESCO institute specializing in higher education. Rest assured that if UNESCO seeks a partner to develop this initiative, it will find one in the Government of Catalonia. noted Alsina.

Other participating institutions include the Union for the Mediterranean, the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), Menéndez Pelayo University, Times Higher Education magazine, La Caixa Foundation, several international university networks, the Ministry of Universities, the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Barcelona City Council, ACUP and the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE).

According to the World Conference on Higher Education, representatives believe that this event allows the city to show its status as a world reference for a university city.

“After a few years of forced and sudden changes, it is the right time to rethink education The world The conference organized by UNESCO in Barcelona next week is an excellent opportunity to reflect and discuss what higher education should be and what it should do to meet the demands of a knowledge society”, Jaume Puy, rector of the University of Leida.

Puy also stressed that the work of universities intends to lead to a more sustainable, open, inclusive society, concerned with the well-being of people.

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