This 14th volume of the Glion Colloquia provides an insight into resilience and how universities can enhance it for the benefi t of society. Universities seek solutions that contribute to a globally resilient society by promoting policy decisions based on research evidence. Th is volume discusses how universities should engage with society and what collaborations might look like, using our many resources, including our convening power, to mitigate or overcome the crises of today and tomorrow. Suggestions range from strong community engagement to rethinking and restructuring universities to improve their own capacity to work across disciplines and adapt more quickly to urgent crises, moving from theory and research to action. Th e contributors propose models for how universities can work across disciplines and contribute to the resilience and well-being of the societies they serve. In doing so, universities begin to build the trust in their institutions and in science that is so essential to their shared future.
In this context, diff erent forms of collaboration are discussed: Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Collaboration; Sustainable Local, National and International Collaboration; Multistakeholder Collaboration; Equality and Mutual Respect in the context of Sustainable Higher Education Collaboration.
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The Glion Colloquium
Founded in 1998 by Luc E. Weber (University of Geneva), Werner Z. Hirsch (UC Los Angeles) and James J. Duderstadt (University of Michigan), the Colloquium’s objective is to allow leaders of renowned universities to meet and discuss major questions related to the development of science and Higher Education, as well as governance and leadership of research-intensive universities. The Colloquiums are organized biennially by a small, independent Association based at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and by an international program Committee designated every other year to set up the program and invite participants. Various forms of financial support and funding have been found over the years – research and cultural international foundations, global corporations and Swiss universities, as well as the Swiss State Secretariat for education, research and innovation, have participated. Altogether, 200 different leading figures from higher education worldwide – active or recently retired university leaders – as well as politicians and business leaders, have participated in one or more Colloquiums. The Glion Colloquium helps shape the ways our universities can contribute in order to improve their ability to serve society to the fullest. A unique concept, free of any influence, where the presentation and discussion of ideas take centre stage. At past gatherings, participants have considered topics such as the rapidly changing nature of research universities, university governance, the interaction between universities and society, collaboration between universities and business, the globalization of higher education and how universities prepare to address the changes and challenges characterizing our times. The contributions that participants are invited to write beforehand openly reflect their views and experience in order to stimulate discussion. The Glion Colloquium sessions are held in camera, to guarantee open and genuine exchange. To secure the broadest possible international dissemination of the analysis and recommendations coming out of the contributions and discussions, the revised contributions are published 6-8 months after each Colloquium in a volume which is freely distributed to numerous university leaders worldwide and also sold commercially. This book is the 14th in the series. Nine of them were published by ECONOMICA in Paris. From the 11th book onwards, the organizing Committee has opted for self-publication and a print-on-demand solution, most recently in collaboration with the Swiss self-publishing online platform ISCA in Geneva (www.isca-livres.ch). Searchable PDFs of the books and of each of their composing chapters are freely available soon after publication on the Glion Colloquium’s website (www.glion.org) and on the Open Archives of the University of Geneva (https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/).
Volumes
1. Challenges Facing Higher Education at the Millennium, Werner Z. Hirsch and Luc E. Weber, eds, American Council on Education/Oryx Press, Phoenix and IAU Press/Pergamon, Paris and Oxford, (1999)
2. Governance in Higher Education, The University in a State of Flux, Werner Z. Hirsch and Luc E. Weber, eds, Economica, Paris, London, Geneva (2001)
3. As the Walls of Academia are Tumbling Down, Werner Z. Hirsch and Luc E. Weber, eds, Economica, Paris, London, Geneva (2002)
4. Reinventing the Research University, Luc E. Weber and James J. Duderstadt, eds, Economica, Paris, London, Geneva (2004)
5. Universities and Business: Partnering for the Knowledge Economy, Luc E. Weber and James J. Duderstadt, eds, Economica, Paris, London, Geneva (2006)
6. The Globalization of Higher Education, Luc E. Weber and James J. Duderstadt, eds, Economica, Paris, London, Geneva (2008)
7. University Research for Innovation, Luc E. Weber and James J. Duderstadt, eds, Economica, Paris, London, Geneva (2010)
8. Global Sustainability and the Responsibilities of Universities, Luc E. Weber and James J. Duderstadt, eds, Economica, Paris, London, Geneva (2012)
9. Preparing Universities for an Era of Change, Luc E. Weber and James J. Duderstadt, eds, Economica, Paris, London, Geneva (2014)
10. University Priorities and Constraints, Luc E. Weber and James J. Duderstadt, eds, Economica, Paris, London, Geneva (2016)
11. The Future of the University in a Polarizing World, Luc E. Weber and Howard Newby, eds, The Glion Colloquium, Geneva (2018)
12. The University at the Crossroads to a Sustainable Future, Luc E. Weber and Bert van der Zwaan, eds, The Glion Colloquium, Geneva (2020)
13. Universities as the fifth power? Opportunities, Risks and Strategies, Ana Mari Cauce, Yves Flückiger, Bert van der Zwaan, eds, The Glion Colloquium. Editions Slatkine, Geneva (2022)
14. The New Road to Success: Contributions of Universities towards more Resilient Societies, Ana Mari Cauce, Yves Flückiger and Ivanka Popović, eds, The Glion Colloquium. Editions Slatkine, Geneva (2024)
Declarations
1. Rhodes, F. H. T. The First Glion Declaration: The University at the Millennium, The Glion Colloquium (1998)
2. Rhodes, F. H. T. The Second Glion Declaration: Universities and the Innovation Spirit, The Glion Colloquium (2009)
Farewell To Glion
A poem written by ChatGPT
In halls of wisdom, minds did convene,
A gathering of visionaries, a scholarly scene.
The Glion Colloquium, where presidents unite,
To weave ideas, visions, in intellectual flight.
From distant corners, they journeyed afar,
Bringing knowledge and wisdom, like guiding stars.
Universities, their proud domains of thought,
For shaping resilient societies, a purpose sought.
In lofty discussions, ideas took flight,
Innovations ignited, shining bold and bright.
Each president, a beacon of knowledge and might,
Learning with passion, embracing the light.
They spoke of resilience, that noble quest,
How universities stand, amidst every test.
In times of turmoil, they nurture and heal,
With knowledge’s power, their strength revealed.
Through research and teaching, hearts were stirred,
As minds intermingled and ideas occurred.
The fabric of society, they wove with care,
Guiding the future, a burden they gladly bear.
But now, the time has come to bid adieu,
To the Glion Colloquium, a chapter we knew.
Yet seeds were sown, ideas took flight,
A legacy to cherish, in our minds’ sight.
So let us remember, the moments we shared,
The wisdom imparted, the dreams we dared.
Goodbye, Glion Colloquium, we’ll hold you dear,
May our universities flourish, year after year.
The New Road to Success:
Contributions of Universities towards more Resilient Societies
Edited by
Ana Mari Cauce, Yves Flückiger & Ivanka Popović
Volume 14
ISCA Geneva, Switzerland
Published by the Association Glion Colloquium
c/o Rectorate, University of Geneva
24, rue Général Dufour
CH-1211 Geneva 4
Switzerland
© Association Glion Colloquium, 2024
All rights reserved
First published 2024
Printed in Switzerland, Geneva
Ana Mari Cauce, Yves Flückiger and Ivanka Popović (Editors)
The New Road to Success: Contributions of Universities towards more Resilient Societies
ISBN 978-2-88982-026-9
Cover illustration created with https://www.nuagesdemots.fr/ by the Glion Colloquium Association
DEDICATION
To Prof. Dr Michael O. Hengartner
Leader of Higher Education Institutions
Distinguished University President
Respected scholar, scientist and teacher
His colleagues and friends in the Glion Colloquium and the editors of this book dedicate, with gratitude, this volume to Michael O. Hengartner in recognition of his contributions during many years as Vice President of the Glion Colloquium Association. We are deeply grateful for his dedication and commitment to the association, which has been instrumental in developing and expanding the international network of university presidents and partners, and in fostering collaboration worldwide. We thank him for his worldwide support of the dialogue between science and policy, and honour his continued support of Swiss higher education and its place in the world, as well as his engagement with local and global stakeholders.
Contents
From the editors acknowledgements and thanks xvii
Preface xix
Contributors, participants and guests xxix
Chapter 1Sustainable Higher Education Collaboration for Resilient Societies
Yves Flückiger & Micheline Louis-Courvoisier
Chapter 2Israel and the Weizmann Institute of Science: A Case Study of Research Institutions as a Backbone of a Knowledge-Based Society
Alon Chen
Chapter 3Resilient Research Universities for Resilient Societies
Anna Däppen, Michael Schaepman & Andrea Müller
Chapter 4Revitalizing Kyoto University as a Research-Oriented University
Nagahiro Minato
Chapter 5Core Elements of a Renewed Dialogue Between Science and Society After the Pandemic
Joël Mesot
Chapter 6Open Science as a Catalyst for Resilience in Society
Alessandro Curioni & Dario Gil
Chapter 7Resilience Put to the Test – Solidarity and Sustainable Collaboration with Universities in Ukraine
Ivanka Popović
Chapter 8Building an Impact Ecosystem: Breaking Down Barriers to Effecting Large Scale Societal Problems
Ana Mari Cauce
Chapter 9Community Science for Collective Action
Nathalie Drach-Temam & Guillaume Fiquet
Chapter 10Healthy Davis Together: a Model for Town-Gown Collaboration and Sustainable, Resilient Communities
Gary S. May
Chapter 11How do Universities Serve Societies to Improve their Future Resilience? Higher Education Revisited
Kerstin Krieglstein & Nadine Krolla
Chapter 12Developing a Global Brand for Excellence
Michael Spence
Chapter 13Climate Crisis: Are Universities Set Up to Rise to the Challenge?
Martin Vetterli
Chapter 14High-Quality University Education Safeguards the Success of Societies of the Future
Sari Lindblom, Susanna Niinistö-Sivuranta & Auli Toom
Chapter 15W(h)ither Global Research Collaboration: the End of the Open Model?
Meric S. Gertler
Chapter 16Equitable Collaborations: Key to Sustainable Futures
Nana Aba Appiah Amfo & Gordon A. Awandare
Chapter 17Why ‘Good’ is ‘Great’ – Universities Leading the Way for Global Change
Linda Doyle
Chapter 18Enhancing Learning Outcomes for Impact at Scale
Subra Suresh
Concluding Remarks
Recommendations
From the editors acknowledgements and thanks
The Glion Colloquium held its 14th meeting on 21-25 June 2023 in Glion-above-Montreux, Switzerland. Twenty leaders of renowned universities or university organizations participated in the meeting, of whom more than one third were women presidents. Four continents were represented. Participants contributed to the topic proposed by the Programme Committee, “The New Road to Success: Contributions of Universities towards more Resilient Societies”.
The dynamics of the Glion Colloquiums, which are characterized primarily by an in-depth discussion of the topics and contributions of each participant, produced – once again – the considerable outcomes of this four-day meeting. This was due not only to the interest of all participants in the Colloquium. The Colloquium also benefited greatly from the excellent contributions of our invited speakers, namely Yves Daccord, Ex-Director General of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Dr. Alessandro Curioni, IBM Fellow, Vice President, Europe & Africa and Director, IBM Research – Zurich as well as Maryna Viazovska (EPFL) and Hugo Duminil-Copin (University of Geneva), Professors of Mathematics and Fields Medal Winner in 2022.
The 14th Glion Colloquium was arranged under the auspices of the University of Geneva and was made possible thanks to generous support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SEFRI), IBM Research Zürich, the Swiss federal Institutes of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL) and Zurich (EPFZ), the Universities of Geneva (UNIGE) and Zurich (UNIZH), the University of Washington, Seattle, and the Fonds Général of the University of Geneva, to all of whom we are most grateful.
We also wish to thank those who contributed to the colloquium and to the production of this book, in particular Dr. Gerlinde Kristahn, Secretary General, who is the linchpin of the Glion Colloquium Association and organization. Our deep thanks to Luc Weber (Founding President) and Marianne Weber, who supported the organization of the colloquium with their long-standing experience and passion for this project. Our thanks also go to Luciana de Souza and Victoire Berrebi for their support to the Colloquium and, finally, to Edmund Doogue in Perth, West Australia, who provided rigorous editorial assistance. Without these most competent people and generous institutions, the 14th Glion Colloquium could not have taken place.
Preface
Recently, research universities have had to prove more resilience and reinvent themselves in a very short period of time to adapt in the face of an increasingly unpredictable future. The urgency of today’s problems compels research universities to be more timely, which is partly why the university of the future must push beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. These changes are greatly impacting research, teaching and academic collaboration. The need for cooperation on various levels and with different actors is increasing, as universities seek solutions contributing to a resilient global society by encouraging political choices based on research evidence. In the future, the role of universities as economic and cultural actors for recovery will be to translate the fruits of fundamental research towards practical application and innovations that will create new jobs, to attract investment and to work with civil society and other organizations for the transformation of the communities in which they are located. At the same time, trust in science and in academic research results becomes a crucial factor to contribute to more resilient societies.
The 14th Glion Colloquium held in 2023 was mainly devoted to exchanges on the following questions: What are the lessons learnt from the pandemic and how should research universities respond? How can research universities contribute to paving a sustainable road towards inclusive collaboration? How can the new road to success be reinvented towards a more interdisciplinary, international, multi-stakeholder academic research that gains equal respect worldwide? And, more generally, how can “success” in the academic world be re-defined accordingly? This subject has been approached under the four following aspects:
A) Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinarity and Transdisciplinary Collaboration
This sub-topic emphasized collaboration within one or several research universities, especially between different disciplines and research fields, combining all areas of Natural Sciences and Social Sciences in order to respond to the actual challenges and to build trust in science among citizens.
B) Sustainable Local, National and International Collaboration
Discussions were based on the collaborations between universities, on a national or international level. How can these collaborations be sustainable, efficient and successful, and bring about the results needed for resilient societies? How can collaboration with local civil society and public organizations become more efficient and attractive for and recognized by the research community worldwide?
C) Multi-stakeholder Collaboration
Participants discussed how collaboration between universities and the private sector can stay equal, nourished from both sides, while maintaining independence and freedom of research. How can this collaboration be driven by objectives of mutual exchange that take society forward?
D) Equality and Mutual Respect of the university of the future — Sustainable Higher Education Collaboration
Exchanges focused on how all academic disciplines, as well as all regions of the world, can become equally recognized for their work. How can “academic values” and “academic success” be re-defined towards a more integrated approach between the North and the South, East and West? How do we measure success in the university of the future? What do we benchmark? How do we measure the social responsiveness of universities?
The starting point of reference for the theme of the 2023 Glion Colloquium was the observation that the world is presently in need of resilient societies and that universities can bring a lot to reach this goal.
The colloquium started with a conference given by the former Director-General of the ICRC, Yves Daccord, who gave a talk on a subject that was in a way at the centre of many discussion during the entire conference regarding “Truth Making” and the possible contributions of universities towards more resilient societies, pointing out that producing truth based on evidence collected by researchers doesn’t create trust in science, which is really what should be reached to contribute to more resilient societies.
While all the contributions presented at the Glion symposium had in common the theme of resilience and the concrete solutions that universities can put in place to strengthen our societies’ ability to cope with the recent crises that have affected them and the future crises that are bound to affect them, some authors proposed a definition of the notion of resilience, a term that is often used but more rarely defined. This is an essential starting point when it comes to establishing concrete solutions to strengthen the resilience of universities and society in general.
In their paper, Yves Flückiger and Micheline Louis-Courvoisier analyse two types of resilience to which universities have been confronted during recent years and which will influence their future. The first one is related to institutional resilience which refers to the ability of an organization or system to withstand and recover from disruption or crisis. Institutional resilience involves having systems and processes in place to anticipate and mitigate potential threats, as well as the ability to adapt and recover quickly when disruptions do occur. From this point of view, more than ever, universities need to strengthen their international collaboration to exchange best practice, ensure the free flow of data, ideas and people, and together defend the values that have ensured their continued existence. The second type of resilience is related to students’ resilience to trauma situations such as the pandemic they had to overcome during their studies. Flückiger and Louis-Courvoisier argue that understanding what happened during the pandemic is very important for universities regarding their strategy for the future to adapt their teaching and research to their new challenge linked to individual resilience. They show that universities can do very much to not only increase the level of resilience of their student community as a whole but mainly to help those who are the more vulnerable to improve their capacity of resilience and prepare them better to their future life.
Alon Chen’s article brings a very interesting addition to the vision of individual resilience, taking a neuroscientific look at the factors that strengthen a person’s ability to withstand stress. By understanding these explanatory factors, we can identify more precisely the measures that need to be adopted by universities to strengthen the students’ capacity for resistance. In this respect, the human biology of resilience is also incredibly pertinent. As a neuroscientist with expertise in the neurobiology of resilience, Chen investigates the brain’s adaptive coping mechanisms when faced with diverse stressful or traumatic stimuli. Thus, from his own scientific lens, Chen believes that when examining the broader question about how research universities contribute to societal resilience, we also need to examine what environmental and biological factors make individuals more (or less) resilient and how that knowledge can be translated to benefit society as a whole. Elucidating the underlying mechanisms of the organism resilience to stressors could help us formulate a clearer picture of what will help groups of individuals to become more resilient.
For Michael Schaepman, Anna Däppen and Andrea Müller, the key factors of resilient universities are high levels of flexibility, diversity, social and economic equity, as well as community involvement and a broad participation in the political arena. Open communication, room for dissenting opinions as well as effective learning and advanced levels of education are further capacities that foster resilience. In addition, universities often serve as platforms for debates, where dissenting opinions can be expressed and discussed in a constructive manner. According to Nagahiro Minato, another way for universities to contribute to resilient societies is to enlighten their contribution to the welfare of the population and to economic growth. To address this concern, there have been various specific initiatives for Japanese universities in recent decades to implement fundamental organizational reform directed at the enhancement of research capability and contribution to social innovation in future.
For Joël Mesot, there is no doubt that ChatGPT and Fake News will impact the way we interact with society in the future. Among the many ideas that are on the table to regulate the use of AI, four guardrails seem crucial in the medium to long term. Firstly, transparency. Just as the food industry or other areas must meet minimal standards of transparency in the sale of their products, it should be clear to us as consumers or citizens when we are dealing with AI and what kind of AI we are interacting with. Transparency also means that care must be taken at the development stage not to create opaque black boxes, but to commit to trustworthy, human-centric and inclusive AI. A second demand is that self-regulations are needed not only at the level of research labs and companies that develop AI, but that we also need a legal framework at national levels. Thirdly, the national regulations should go hand in hand with international frameworks that include open discussion fora. Last but not least, our education systems should familiarize people with the basics of AI from a young age on and promote critical thinking at all levels of education and professional training.
Alessandro Curioni and Dario Gil emphasize the importance of Open Science in general and Open Access and Open Innovation in particular. For them, this fosters diversity, community and co-creation. Collaboration with different stakeholders will speed up finding solutions and ways to deal with the future, including the impact of AI on research worldwide. According to them, this will also impact society by fostering a greater sense of purpose and resilience through contributions to research.
Ivanka Popović presents what is for her the ultimate test of the resilience which is war. Russia invaded Ukraine more than a year ago and the tolls of the war so far have been very high. The higher education sector in Ukraine has been seriously affected with many universities damaged or completely destroyed, leading to the displacement of numerous students and staff. About 20% of the academic and research staff have been forced to take refuge in other countries. Despite the setbacks, higher education institutions have continued offering their services mostly on-line and also in blended form. Before the war, the Ukrainian higher education sector was facing the challenges of an incomplete transition from its previous legacy despite introducing relevant reforms. Upon the invasion, the European academic community responded immediately with various forms of solidarity and institutional collaborations with Ukrainian universities. From this point of view, universities have demonstrated their ability to react in welcoming Ukrainian students and researchers, while helping Ukrainian universities to maintain their activities.
Many contributions to the Glion Colloquium focus on the different solutions that could be implemented to reinforce the resilience of universities and their students. Among other proposals, Ana Mari Cauce argues that universities must uphold a culture that supports and values engaged research and outreach by its faculty, staff and students. This will require greater university investment in building partnerships with local communities, government agencies, non-profit organizations and working with them on developing common goals, initiatives and programs from the very start. Just as importantly, it will require looking within and breaking down barriers to work across disciplines and schools and colleges. To make sure that research and activities translate into maximal impact in the world, universities must work harder to identify and streamline bureaucratic processes that make it harder to implement cross-college collaborations and university-community partnerships. It also means better aligning the reward systems to match these goals. Fortunately, given the immediacy of the crises we are confronting, from climate change to threats to democracy, this type of change is already in the making, and universities which can pivot their work in this direction will prove to be the most resilient.
This view is fully shared by Nathalie Drach-Temam and Guillaume Fiquet who argue that universities should make use of community science (what is sometimes designated as citizen science). It is in fact a strong vector of resilience and should be used as a route to success thus far underused by universities and public authorities. Although community science constitutes a break from the way universities usually operate, it nevertheless represents an academic opportunity and not a threat. Indeed, community science acts as a genuine lever to increase knowledge and increase awareness of the scientific approach by associating participants from outside universities who then become stakeholders. We have learned not only from the pandemic and ecological crisis, but also from the social and democratic crisis we are currently experiencing, that we need to place the crucial question of trust at the heart of our preoccupations. The involvement of citizens alongside stakeholders in research, community science is rebuilding trust in science. Furthermore, by engaging with citizen science, universities can help ensure that society rebuilds its own self-confidence, thanks to the scientific method. This is the way that community science becomes a real vector of resilience. Through community science, universities can achieve the fulfilment of their mission to create and diffuse knowledge, in a way that is adapted to current times. These inclusive and open collaborations allow science to regain its place at heart of society in this age of open science. It is a solution for the future and a breath of fresh air for democracy.
In his article, Gary S. May presents a concrete example (“Healthy Davis Together”) of how inclusive and open collaboration with local communities can help build trust and more resilient societies. This project offers a successful town-gown model that can be replicated to address any number of issues or emerging challenges. This model can be generalized to other similar communities and individual components can be generalized to even broader types of communities. Indeed, over the course of the program, the team involved in the project shared best practices and lessons learned in the hopes that other institutions and communities might replicate all or portions of the program.
Kerstin Krieglstein and Nadine Krolla show that in this matter communication plays a crucial role. The uncertainty of society is largely based on the feeling of unclear, non-transparent or unreliable communication. The responsibility we bear for research, teaching and transfer to society has not only become more tangible, but universities have become socially engaged. In this new context, universities have to establish themselves proactive as a reliable institution of knowledge transfer for the public and especially for all decision-makers, e.g. politicians. Science communication is one key to this aim. Universities should not only be mediators of knowledge, but should also be able to initiate necessary processes of adaptation and change for a more resilient future in an advisory capacity. To this end, the criteria for sound and serious science communication should be made more transparent and accessible to laypersons. Even though the importance of science communication as a key to dialogue with society has been recognized, it can only make a limited contribution to overcoming social polarization. To really serve as a valuable and sensitive sensor for society, universities should translate the needs of individuals and society in opportunities of higher education. In the sense of a “governance of science”, it must be important in the long range to become even more aware of the responsibility of science and to find a relationship with society that is based on trust.
For Michael Spence, creating trust in universities implies focusing on more earned media, owned media and paid media, about the balance of social and traditional media, or the like. Together they are an important part of shifting the potentially generic brand of many large comprehensive research-intensive universities. A brand can only speak if it reflects the life of an institution, and it will only do that if it is allowed in some ways to shape important decisions that are made. The stronger the sense of institutional identity, and the more people that have been engaged in the conversation about what that identity might be, the higher the chance that more academic staff might feel that they work, if not for the university, at least more than at the university. Spence is convinced that a university’s capacity to operate effectively as a single institution and not simply a loose federation of schools, departments, centres and institutes, is going to be crucial. A focus on brand management is not only desirable, but an essential part of the day job of any effective university president, however elusive the task of building a global reputation for excellence may seem to be.
In his article, Martin Vetterli recalls that universities are public services whose central duty is to think about how our societies can face their major challenges, such as the climate crisis, in depth and pave the way to solutions. Leading by example and using their expertise to develop solutions could contribute strongly to tackle the situation and should become a highest priority. Initiating this momentum is not easy. It requires leadership, funding, resilience and intelligent collaboration with all key players. However, contributing to manage the transition to a sustainable and respectful world is probably the most thrilling and impactful project that can be undertaken as an institution for society.
Sari Lindblom, Susanna Niinistö-Sivuranta and Auli Toom share this view and consider high-quality university education as a safeguard for the success of societies in the future. They argue that it is necessary to enhance international collaboration of academic institutions and to join forces to develop sustainable and resilient societies. In this demanding journey, research is the key to finding solutions to tricky problems. Now is the time for universities to act to increase our societal impact and to help societies to overcome crises. Universities bring hope to societies by educating academic experts in various fields and by producing innovations through research.
Meric Gertler fully confirms this approach showing that international collaborations of universities have been a key reason for the capacity of our society to face the recent challenges that have been raised after the Covid pandemic but also during the aggression of Ukraine by Russia. As mentioned by Gertler, the global research community is cautiously emerging into a post-pandemic era and a world still burdened with unprecedented global challenges. To face these challenges, it seems obvious that the global research community must work together to mitigate or avoid the worst outcomes and identify solutions. This will take ingenuity, innovation, and – most of all – collaboration. At the same time, Gertler shows that two powerful and opposing trends are currently re-shaping the global research environment. First, international research collaboration has been rising steadily for at least a generation. It is well recognized that, by some measures, international collaboration produces especially impactful research with far-reaching and profound impact. This was strikingly on display during the global response to Covid-19. Indeed, an open science paradigm, of which international collaboration is an important part, continues to gain momentum, yielding dramatic and transformational results. However, a second trend threatens this emerging paradigm. An unstable geopolitical landscape is undermining international research collaboration and fracturing the global research mission. Economic rivalry, political schisms and military conflicts are re-casting one-time collaborators and partners as rivals and foes. The profound restructuring of globalization currently underway seems destined to reshape the global research enterprise in fundamental ways. If the open science movement fragments into blocs of like-minded partners, “us” and “them”, then perhaps the days of wide-open global research collaboration may well be behind us. In the face of this somewhat bleak assessment, Gertler argues that, despite many challenges, the global research community can – and must – defend the collaborative and open science enterprise upon which global well-being depends.
If universities have a central role to play to increase the resilience of our societies, Nana Aba Appiah Amfo and Gordon A. Awandare show that despite the increased globalization of the challenges we have to face, it is impossible to ignore the cultural and context-specific idiosyncrasies when seeking to address challenges of even global nature. In effect, global challenges require local solutions. To achieve maximum results, solutions to the difficulties that confront us have to be contextualized and culturally sensitive. Collaborations are most effective when there is the recognition of local expertise, in the context of external funding, and projects are co-created by all who are involved, including south and north collaborators. This is essential for achieving more targeted, beneficial and sustainable outcomes.
In her paper, Linda Doyle gives a pragmatic and concrete answer to the question of how can universities contribute to more resilient societies and her answer is quite simple to formulate but more challenging to implement. For Doyle, universities need to work on their values and be what she calls “good” universities. Indeed, the word “good” can come across as an unusual choice of word. The type of rhetoric that is typically used when describing universities tends to include words such as “excellent” and “world-class”. Hence, the use of the word “good” can initially give the impression that ambitions are curtailed, and mediocre achievements will suffice. That is not the intention. As it is shown in this paper the idea of a Good University is a university that builds a strong social floor and lives within its ecological ceiling.
In this respect, Doyle’s vision is in line with Lindblom’s et al. For Lindblom et al, universities should base their activities on four central values: bildung, freedom, inclusivity and truth. Bildung guides the University on the right path and serves as the moral conscience as well as cultivates stability and open-mindedness. Freedom encourages creativity and underlines the autonomy of the University. It also refers to freedom to research. Inclusivity springs from democratic empowerment as it safeguards equality and translates into diversity and respect for others. In addition, inclusivity supports and promotes openness and collaboration. Finally truth leads us to pursue new knowledge. It requires critical thinking and promotes high-quality research and teaching.
For Subra Suresh educational institutions are at the epicentre of cultivating the inspiration, imagination and innovation to prepare citizens and the workforce for a lifetime of inquiry, productivity and service, are in some sense at the crossroads of re-examining their strengths and uniqueness that were refined over thousands of years through many crises. At the same time, they are faced with global and local trends that inevitably call for new approaches, infrastructure, policies and business models for better engagement with, and impact on, society.
In many papers of the book and presentations made during the Colloquium there was a clear unanimity for highlighting that universities have demonstrated resilience. They did it thanks to a massive globalized and multidisciplinary efforts. As it is often the case, the academic contribution has not yet been seen and valued by society including the authorities. Being often ahead of worldly developments, universities are to deal with a time gap between acting and being recognized. In addition, the discussions showed that universities need to be prepared for the next catastrophe. The capacity to adapt and react quickly is recently becoming a crucial component of higher education governance.
For universities it is crucial that they be able to create society’s trust in science using more appropriate scientific and academic communication by explaining the process of academic research and by including more broadly the civil society in science. In addition, to face to the major challenges of our society, be it the current health crisis or other environmental challenges, we need to build multidisciplinary and multi-institutional platforms between different stakeholders in order include all actors to find solutions to future global crises. There is a need to build new bridges between academic world and policy-makers, international organizations, private sector and civil society.
Prof. Ana Mari Cauce
President, University of Washington
Prof. Yves Flückiger
Rector University of Geneva
President, Association Glion Colloquium
Prof. Ivanka Popović
Prof. of Technology and Metallurgy
Former Rector, University of Belgrade
Contributors, participants and guests
Nana Aba APPIAH AMFO
Prof. Amfo is an experienced academic and university administrator, with over 21 years of experience in the higher education sector. She is adept at crisis management, open to innovation, and committed to duty. She has considerable drive and initiative. She is able to mobilize human, financial and physical resources for targeted outputs. She is also able to harness the strengths of team members for effective results. Her excellent written and oral skills make her an outstanding communicator, as well as an engaging public speaker. Her extensive multi-cultural experience through various professional engagements in over 20 countries around the world makes her adaptable to people of varied backgrounds and to diverse conditions.
Gordon A. AWANDARE (Co-author of Nana Amfo’s contribution)
Professor Gordon A. Awandare is the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs and the founding Director of the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) at the University of Ghana, Legon. Prof. Awandare is known for his research in infectious diseases, focusing on malaria and, recently, on Covid-19, with over 130 peer-reviewed publications. He has extensive university management experience, having served on several boards and committees, including the Chairman of the Governing Council of CK Tedam University. He was the recipient of the 2015 Royal Society Pfizer award and is a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Royal Society of Biology, UK. He holds several editorial and advisory roles on international boards and committees.
Ana Mari CAUCE
Ana Mari Cauce is the 33rd president of the University of Washington where she has served on the faculty since 1986. As president, she has launched two major initiatives focusing on Population Heath and on Race and Equity. She is an advocate for accessible higher education, and established the Husky Promise which has enabled more than 40,000 low-income students to attend the UW tuition-free. A Fellow of the National Academy of Medicine and American Academies of Arts and Sciences, she is a noted scholar on risk and resilience in adolescents.
Alon CHEN
Prof. Alon Chen is President of the Weizmann Institute of Science. He is a neuroscientist whose research focuses on the neurobiology of stress, particularly the mechanisms by which the brain regulates the response to stressful challenges. He has a BSc in Biological Studies, an MBA from Ben-Gurion University and a PhD from the Weizmann Institute. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California.
Alessandro CURIONI (Joint author with Dario GIL)
Dr Alessandro Curioni is an IBM Fellow, Vice President of IBM Research Europe and Africa, and Director of the IBM Research Lab in Zurich, Switzerland. He is responsible for IBM’s global research strategies in Accelerated Discovery and Security. Currently, his research interests include accelerating the rate of scientific discovery leveraging AI, Quantum and Hybrid Cloud. Dr Curioni received his PhD in Theoretical Chemistry from Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy. He is a member of the Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences and was a member of the winning team recognized with the prestigious Gordon Bell Prize in 2013 and 2015.
Anna DÄPPEN (Co-author of Michael Schaepman’s contribution)
Anna Däppen is a member of staff and academic associate at the General Secretariat of the University of Zurich. She graduated from the University of Berne in 2016 with a Master of Arts in Ancient Cultures and Constructions of Antiquity and Prehistoric Archaeology. Between 2012 and 2014, Anna Däppen worked at the Department of Archaeology of the Canton of Zurich and at the Numismatic Collection (Münzkabinett) in Winterthur.
Linda DOYLE
Dr Linda Doyle is the Provost and President of Trinity College Dublin. Dr Doyle was previously Professor of Engineering and The Arts in Trinity. Her expertise is in the fields of wireless communications, spectrum management and creative arts practices, raising over €70 million in research funding. She also served as Trinity’s Dean & Vice President of Research (2018-2020) and was the founding Director of CONNECT – Ireland’s national research centre for future communication networks – with 300 researchers across ten higher education institutions.
Nathalie DRACH-TEMAM
With a background in mathematics, Nathalie Drach-Temam has been a professor in computer science since 2004 at Sorbonne University. Her area of expertise concerns the design of processors, the core of any digital system, taking into account both hardware and software dimensions. She has led numerous national and international academic and industrial projects, and is currently a member of European and national networks of excellence and experts. She was vice president in charge of career planning and student life, then in charge of education and career planning, and vice President of Research, Innovation and Open Science at Sorbonne University. She has been Vice President of the Udice Alliance since 31 May 2023, and is a member of the Board of Directors of France Universités.
Guillaume FIQUET (Co-author of Nathalie Drach-Temam’s contribution)
Guillaume Fiquet led a CNRS career dedicated to experimental mineralogy and the study of the physical properties of materials under extreme conditions. Fellow of the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry, he received the CNRS Silver Medal and the Mineralogical Prize from the Society of America. He has held the position of Director of the Institut of Mineralogy, Physics of Materials and Cosmochemistry (IMPMC) at Sorbonne University. Currently, Guillaume Fiquet is Vice-President of Sorbonne University, where he oversees international relations, territorial and economic partnership policies.
Yves FLÜCKIGER
Yves Flückiger holds a degree in Economics and Sociology, as well as a doctorate in Political Economy. He joined the Faculty at the University of Geneva in 1992, directing the University Employment Observatory and the Leading House centre of excellence in Education Economics. Since 15 July 2015, he has been the Rector of the University of Geneva. From February 2020 till February 2023, he was the President of swissuniversities. In May 2022, the Rectors of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) elected Prof. Flückiger as the Chair of LERU.
Meric GERTLER
Professor Meric S. Gertler is President of the University of Toronto, and one of the world’s foremost authorities on cities, innovation and economic change. He has advised governments in China, the United States and Europe, as well as international agencies such as the OECD and EU. He has authored or edited nine books, and has held visiting appointments at Oxford, University College London, UCLA and the University of Oslo. Among his many accolades, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Academy of Social Sciences (UK), a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy and a Member of the Order of Canada.
Dario GIL (Joint author with Alessandro Curioni)
Dr Dario Gil is SVP and Director of IBM Research. An advocate of collaborative research models, Dr Gil co-chairs the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab and the Executive Board of the International Science Reserve, a global network of open scientific communities focused on preparing for and mitigating urgent, complex global challenges. He serves on multiple boards including the US National Science Board, the Semiconductor Industry Association and the New York Academy of Sciences.
Kerstin KRIEGLSTEIN
Kerstin Krieglstein took office as Rector of the University of Freiburg in October 2020. From 2014 to 2018 she was Full-time Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Freiburg. From 2018 to 2020 she was Rector of the University of Konstanz. In November 2020, she was elected HRK (German Rectors’ Conference) Vice-President for research, young academics, medicine and health sciences and was re-elected as HRK Vice-President for university medicine and health sciences in November 2021.
Nadine KROLLA (Co-author of Kerstin Krieglstein’s contribution)
Nadine Krolla has been Personal consultant to the Rector of the University of Freiburg since 2016. She completed her doctorate in Early German Literature and Language in 2012 and worked for around 10 years in research and teaching at the German Department of the University of Freiburg.
Sari LINDBLOM
Sari Lindblom is Rector and Professor of Higher Education at the University of Helsinki. She is also a licensed psychologist. She is Past President of EARLI (European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction) and WERA (World Education Research Association). Her research focuses on student learning and teaching at university, for example, procrastination, self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs, motivation to studying. Her publishing name is Lindblom-Ylänne.
Micheline LOUIS-COURVOISIER (Co-author of Yves Flückiger’s contribution)
A historian born in 1957, Micheline Louis-Courvoisier defended her thesis at the UNIGE Faculty of Arts in 1997. In 2001, she set up a humanities program at the Faculty of Medicine, where she was appointed professor in 2011. She was director of the Maison de l’histoire between 2013 and 2015. Her research focuses on the experience of suffering and melancholy in the 18th century. She has been Vice-Rector since 15 July 2015.
Gary S. MAY
Chancellor Gary S. May is a highly engaged leader with a passion for helping others succeed. He believes success is best judged by how we enhance the lives of others. Throughout his career, he has championed diversity, equity and inclusion in both higher education and the workplace, and has developed nationally recognized programs that attract, mentor and retain under-represented groups in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math. In 2015, President Obama honoured him with the Presidential Award for Excellence in STEM Mentoring and, in 2021, he was awarded a Lifetime Mentor Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Joël MESOT
Joël Mesot studied physics at ETH Zurich, obtaining a doctorate in solid-state physics in 1992. After research stays in France and the US, he returned to the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), where he became Head of the Laboratory for Neutron Scattering in 2004. Between 2008 and 2018, he was director of the PSI and since 2008 he has been full professor of physics at ETH Zurich. His research focus is on quantum materials. He was awarded the ETH Zurich Latsis Prize in 2002 and the Swiss Physical Society (SPG) IBM Prize in 1995. Joël Mesot is member of various national and international advisory bodies such as the Board Committee of the Swiss Innovation Park “Switzerland Innovation” and the Governing Board CREATE (Singapore).
Nagahiro MINATO
Nagahiro Minato served as dean of Kyoto University’s Faculty/Graduate School of Medicine from 2010-14, and executive vice-president for research, planning and hospital administration from 2014. He was additionally appointed as provost in 2017 and elected as president in 2020. His key research interest is immunology and he contributed to the development of checkpoint blockade cancer immunotherapy in collaboration with Nobel laureate Tasuku Honjo.
Andrea MÜLLER (Co-author of Michael Schaepman’s contribution)
Andrea Müller is a member of staff and academic associate at the General Secretariat of the University of Zurich. She completed her PhD in Latin American History at the University of Bern in 2020. She holds a Master of Arts in Spanish literature and linguistics, Social Anthropology and Political Science from the University of Zurich. Between 2012 and 2016, Andrea Müller worked as a journalist in Switzerland and abroad.
Susanna NIINISTÖ-SIVURANTA (Co-author of Sari Lindblom’s contribution)
Dr Susanna Niinistö-Sivuranta has 25 years working experience in the field of Higher Education as a teacher, developer and leader. Currently she is working as a Chief Development Officer in the University of Helsinki and leads academic affairs. She is an active member of HE networks and works as a board member in different organizations. She has also several publications from the field of educational development and leadership.
Ivanka POPOVIĆ
lvanka Popović was Rector of the University of Belgrade for the term 2018-2021. She heads the Working Group on Higher Education and Mobilities of the European Strategy for the Danube Region Priority Area 7 “Knowledge Society”. She is a member of the Board of the European University Association (2021-2025). She is engaged in polymer science and engineering, sustainable development and gender equality.
Michael SCHAEPMAN
Prof. Michael Schaepman has been President of the University of Zurich (UZH) since 1 August 2020. Previously, he acted as Vice President responsible for the areas of research, innovation and academic career development. Between 2014 and 2016, he was Vice Dean and Dean, respectively, of the Faculty of Science at UZH. Michael Schaepman studied geography, experimental physics and informatics at UZH and earned his doctoral degree at the Department of Geography in 1998. Following postdoctoral work at the University of Arizona, US, he returned to the UZH Department of Geography in 2000 to head up a research group. In 2003, Prof. Schaepman was appointed professor of geographic information science at Wageningen University (Netherlands). In 2009, he took up the position as professor for remote sensing at the UZH Department of Geography.
Michael SPENCE
Dr Michael Spence took up his post as President & Provost of UCL on 11 January 2021, prior to which he was Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Sydney for 12 years. Dr Spence is recognized internationally as a leader in the field of intellectual property theory and holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Oxford, where he headed Oxford’s Law faculty and Social Sciences division. An alumnus of the University of Sydney, Dr Spence has a BA with first-class honours in English, Italian and Law. His other languages include Chinese and Korean. In 2017, he was awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours for service to leadership of the tertiary education sector, to the advancement of equitable access to educational opportunities, to developing programs focused on multidisciplinary research, and to the Anglican Church of Australia.
Subra SURESH
Prof. Subra Suresh, President of the Global Learning Council with effect from 1 January 2023, served as the 4th President of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, until December 2022. Previously, he was the Director of the US National Science Foundation (NSF), a position to which he was nominated by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the US Senate. He has also been the President of Carnegie Mellon University, Dean of Engineering and Vannevar Bush Professor at MIT and Professor of Engineering at Brown University.
Auli TOOM (Co-author of Sari Lindblom’s contribution)
Auli Toom is Professor of Higher Education and Director of the Centre for University Teaching and Learning. She is also a Vice-Dean (research) at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki. Professor Toom is a permanent member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. Her main research interests include teacher knowing, agency and academic teacher education.
Martin VETTERLI
Researcher, teacher and expert of the Swiss education and research landscape, Martin Vetterli was appointed president of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in 2017. He was formerly the president of the National Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation. Martin Vetterli has made numerous research contributions in the digital signal processing and is best known for his work on wavelets. His research has earned him numerous national and international awards, including the National Latsis Prize in 1996.
Luc E. WEBER
An economist and professor of public economics at the University of Geneva, Luc Weber served for more than 30 years in Higher Education and Research in Switzerland, Europe and the wider world. Vice-Rector and Rector of his University and President of the Swiss Rectors’ Conference, he then served numerous international university organizations, governmental and non-governmental, European and worldwide: President of the Steering Committee for Higher Education and Research of the Council of Europe, Vice-President of the International Association of Universities and founding Board Member of the European University Association. His excellent knowledge of the sector inspired him to create and conduct, from 1998 onwards, the Glion Colloquium.
GUESTS
Yves DACCORD
Yves Daccord is a renowned humanitarian leader, international strategist, influencer and changemaker. He is currently leading the first-ever Harvard’s Pop-Up Institute – the Edgelands Institute – to imagine the terms of new social contracts that work for cities and people in the age of pandemics and digital surveillance. Yves Daccord co-chairs the #Principles4Peace initiative to reshape peace processes around the world and chairs the Board of leading Swiss newspaper Le Temps, the board of International Human Rights Film Festival of Geneva and the board of Our Common Home, an organization that promotes civic participation to build solutions to our changing natural environment. He is member of the Board of Trustees of ODI, a leading global affairs think tank working to inspire people to act on injustice and inequality, and of the board of Trial International working towards fighting impunity for international crimes and supporting victims in their quest for justice. From 2010 to March 2020 he was Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a global humanitarian organization employing 20,000 staff. A former journalist, TV producer and UNIGE political science graduate, his ICRC career spanned more than two decades in a variety of posts and challenging contexts – including Israel and the Occupied Territories, Sudan, Yemen, Chechnya and Georgia.
Hugo DUMINIL-COPIN
Born in 1985 in Châtenay-Malabry (France), Hugo Duminil-Copin grew up in the Paris region. After passing through the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, he graduated from the University of Paris-Saclay. Appointed professor of mathematics at the University of Geneva in 2013, he has also been a permanent professor at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques in Bures-Sur-Yvette since 2016. In 2022, he received the Fields medal from the IMU.
Maryna VIAZOVSKA
Maryna Viazovska is full professor and Chair of Number Theory at the Institute of Mathematics of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland. She earned a master’s from the University of Kaiserslautern in 2007, PhD from the Institute of Mathematics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 2010, and a doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) from the University of Bonn in 2013. She was awarded the Fields Medal in 2022. In 2016, Prof. Viazovska solved the sphere-packing problem in dimension 8. Her dimension 8 solution quickly led to collaboration with others, and a solution in dimension 24.
1
Chapter
Sustainable Higher Education Collaboration for Resilient Societies
Yves Flückiger & Micheline Louis-Courvoisier
Introduction
Covid–19 has unveiled the fragility of our societies and ecosystems. The pandemic has plunged the whole world into a state of stupefaction from which it has not yet emerged. Moreover, the health crisis has been compounded by a deadly war that has completely upset the fragile geopolitical balance and by unprecedented attacks on human rights in Iran and Afghanistan. Thus, the health crisis is coupled with a no less serious economic and societal crisis.
In this context, scientists have been and are more and more called upon as experts in the urgent need to save lives. Answers are expected from them by political decision-makers, as well as by citizens. The questions addressed to the scientific world by the pandemic were as varied as they are complex: what is the nature of the virus, its origin, its mode of propagation, its mutation mechanisms, what are the best treatments and the best vaccines, how to best mitigate the impact of the crisis on the mental health of the population, how to re-launch employment, etc.? The same kind of questions are put to the scientific community in the case of the climate change. Undoubtedly the health crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic marked a consecration of the role of experts, who were called upon, in the face of an immediate risk and a new threat, to shed light on public decision-making in a situation of uncertainty. As such, it offers a privileged opportunity to reflect, in a comparative perspective, on the ways in which expertise is integrated into the decision-making process.
The public witnessed the science “live”, and could therefore observe that certain assertions were contradicted a little later. It is probably the first time that we witnessed the progress of science so live, with all the doubts that go with it. The result is damage to public opinion: confidence in expertise is weakened, and mechanisms for blocking extreme opinions are being put in place. The responsibility of the media is also largely engaged. This important question of the role of experts in times of crisis was the subject of an article published in the context of the 13th Glion Colloquium under the title “Science, Information and Democracy” (Flückiger & Laufer, 2022).
Covid-19 represented an environmental “shock” that has required rapid adaptation to the planning and delivery of health services internationally. As well as evidence pointing to additional negative effects associated with Covid-19 (Mahase, 2020), there is a line of management research that points to positive, sometimes unintended consequences that have emerged from the process of responding to the pandemic. A prominent theme is that Covid-19 represented an environmental challenge that spurred health system innovations (e.g. Phillips, Roehrich, Kapletia & Alexander, 2021). It represented a pressure for adaptation that resilient health systems could take advantage of.
For example, Swaithes et al
