Inclusive education to foster more inclusive societies
The importance and impact of inclusive education will be at the centre of the sixth Annual U7+ Presidential Summit that Bocconi will host on its campus in Milan in April 2024 with presidents and leaders convening from universities all around the world.
The U7+ Presidential Summit is the annual meeting of the U7+ Alliance, the coalition of university presidents from Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Africa and Australia dedicated to defining concrete, collective actions universities can take to address global challenges. The Summit gives universities the opportunity to engage as global actors, in coordination with government leaders in G7 countries and beyond and weigh in on the challenges addressed at G7 Summits. Founded in 2019, The U7+ Alliance includes over 90 presidents and leaders from 45 universities from 19 countries on 6 continents.
"The U7+ alliance is fundamental to push universities to be motors of innovation and to get them a place at the G7 table, getting them engaged and giving them a voice, with universities from all over the world involved," says Catherine De Vries, Dean for International Affairs at Bocconi. "The alliance pushes collective concrete action through initiatives such as working groups, such as the one on climate change which participated with proposals in several COP meetings, and engaging with G7 meetings, for instance through the recent statement on peace and security (presented to the Japanese Prime Minister in his capacity as 2023 host to the G7)."
"Bocconi is committed to multilateralism and it is important to be involved in these international talks. Part of the Rector's mandate is to increase our global footprint and this alliance is committed to addressing the most pressing global challenges," adds De Vries. "Propagating values of inclusion and global access to education is for example one issue Bocconi is dedicated to and this will be the topic of the meeting we will host next year."
The meeting in Bocconi will center in fact on how more inclusive education can foster more inclusive societies – how research and teaching can help advance gender equality, anti- poverty strategies, development in the 'Global South', respect for diversity, and more.
The fifth Presidents Meeting held at Keio University in Japan, in March, in the meantime concluded with a statement calling on call on G7 leaders to prioritize and advance peace and security.
The presidents of the U7+ universities formally committed to take action to support the G7 agenda and contribute to fostering a more peaceful and secure world through research, education and public engagement.