Global Forum on Higher Education 2025: Renewal of the Democratic and Civic Mission

Posted by International Association of Universities on November 11, 2025

The theme of the 2025 Global Forum on Higher Education was Renewal of the Democratic and Civic Mission. This, the 8th such global conference, was hosted by Charles University, in Prague, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, 3-4 June 2025. This invitational event was sponsored and hosted by ‘The Global Cooperation for the Democratic Mission of Higher Education’, which includes the Council of Europe, the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility, and Democracy, the International Association of Universities (IAU), and the Organization of American States (OAS).

The two-day meeting brought over 100 participants from 34 different countries together from across Europe, Oceania, Africa, the Middle East, and North, Middle and South America. Under the overarching theme of protecting and renewing higher education’s democratic and civic mission, Forum presentations and interactive dialogue focused on democratizing knowledge and fostering public trust; academic freedom and responsibility; the role of students in reclaiming higher education’s public purpose; navigating partnerships with public authorities; and universities as civic anchors in their local and regional communities. Speakers presented promising practices and innovative solutions across diverse geopolitical landscapes and educational contexts while emphasizing the need for collective action and global collaboration.

The over-riding message of contributors to the Global Forum was of the urgent need for collective action by all partners involved in higher education. Change, potentially systemic, is required. Encouraging examples were shared …. However, the challenge for the sector is how such initiatives, to renew and advance higher education’s civic and democratic mission, can become integral to the everyday work of universities, rather than isolated exemplars. Global collaboration, shared learning and solidarity will be needed to meet that challenge, as well as to preserve and advance democracy during this critical time.

Read more (Scroll down to link for Global Forum on Higher Education 2025 – Rapporteur’s Report).

The Global Cooperation for the Democratic Mission of Higher Education and its constituent partners will be organizing further activities, including webinars and discussions at national and international meetings, to help advance the ideas presented at the meeting and in the report. Additional materials from the Global Forum can also be found here.