Vice President Oskar M Wiik has been to a conference in Barcelona and shares his reflections on higher education in a global context.
The third edition of the UNESCO World Higher Education Conference (WHEC) took place in Barcelona on 18-20 May 2022 in order to gather stakeholders to define and prepare the roadmap for a new era of higher education. The two previous conferences took place in Paris in 1998 and 2009.
Sweden's delegation to WHEC2022 was established by the Swedish UNESCO Council and consisted of:
- Birgitta Bergvall-Kåreborn, Rector of Luleå University of Technology
- Johan Gribbe, investigator at the University Chancellor's Office (UKÄ)
- Frédérique Lémery, Secretary to the Ministry of Education
- Oskar M Wiik, Vice President of the Swedish National Union of Students
The conference had nine focus areas, these were:
- Covid-19's impact on higher education
- Higher education and SDG
- Equality and inclusion
- Higher education quality and relevance
- Academic mobility
- Governance in higher education
- Data and knowledge production
- International cooperation to increase synergies
- The future of higher education
Reflections
If I completely disregard the total lack of student participation in the planning and implementation of the conference, I can give it relatively high marks; it really was a world conference. During the three conference days, Fira Barcelona and Caixa Forum were packed with workshops, seminars and lectures. Outside the halls, every millimeter of space was filled with meetings, exhibitors and arranged conversations in smaller formats.
Through the breadth of representatives the Swedish delegation had, we were able to capture and focus on several of the different areas in different directions. SFS mainly participated in the forums that discussed equality with a focus on refugee reception and inclusion of students in need of extra support. Here, the student unions are well placed to contribute to the parts that the higher education institutions more often fail at: the social aspects and the actual participation in the education.
Of course, I also took the opportunity to discuss common issues and challenges with student representatives from Bulgaria, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Spain, among others. During the first evening's welcome mingling, I also got stuck for a long time with a student from the University of Barcelona and discussions about quality, sexual harassment within the academy, tuition fees and study grants.
Sweden has undoubtedly come a long way when it comes to the openness of higher education - but we often lose out in providing real conditions for studies. Lack of conditions both within and outside the walls of higher education institutions determines who has the opportunity to participate and get involved in their education. We can also achieve stronger and more quality-stamped governance of the university through increased ceiling amounts and the abolition of performance- and efficiency-based funding.
I am grateful to have participated in the World Higher Education Conference on behalf of the Swedish student movement. I feel inspired, knowledgeable and ready to pass on the collected knowledge to SFS.
At the end of the conference was also presented New Visions for Higher Education towards 2030. Everyone can take part in it here by clicking on the title.