ED: May The Games of Architect Intelligence (AI) be with you & Mother Earth's 8 billion beings & 1BnG & HAI .. breaking sept 2023 one of my fav 5 hours spent at university!!
.chris.macrae@yahoo.co.uk RIGHT OLD MESS
EE: Back in dad's teenage diary as navigator Allied Bomber Command Burma, a day headed ROM meant a friend's flight went missing. In 2023 ROM is politest term we can use for failure to help youth celebrate 73 years of research with von neumann on only good tech can save our species, and 36 years of world class brands architecture research round biggest decison makers started 1988 when dad restored from The Economist: on how bad media can destroy millennials futures. From the last articles we influenced in The Economist Trust has been the exponentially missing metric. Thanks to a chat with Von Neumann's daughter (who's advances for humanity would her dad have trusted most 2025-1950? EconomistDiary.com is launching a game Architect of Intelligence. Dare you play the most urgent cooperation game in sustainability goals hi-tech-trust-touch world?
ED dedication : To Architects Fazle Abed & Steve Jobs -who convened silicon valley's 65 birthday to Abed in 2001 giving 7 years of design foresight to why mobile digital network not seen in his 1984 launch of PC networking
INDUSTRIAL REV 260th GAMES-cards of sdg-gen
..
Uni2 :FFL*JOBS*DHgoog
Guterres*JYK*JFK
welcome to AIsdgs.com where media designers help take down fake media wherever its wasting 8 billion peoples time

you may want to join economist dairy in 1951 when The Economist sub-ed  NM was seconded to NYPeinceton for year to listen to John Von Neumann design the number 1 journalism-for-humans quiz, Architecture of Intelligence (AI): it was agreed the most valuable scoop earthlings may e-vision = what goods can humans unite wherever celebrating early access to 100 times more tech per decade? - eg a billion times more 2015=1955

or back from future of 80 years of 2025report: join bard-solar express route 1843 to 2023-4-5: 1843 EconomistDiary.com under 30 queen victoria accepts Economist founder James Wilson help to start mapping commonwealth trading maps replacing britannia ruling all of asia waves round global market of englishmen's tea ; in 1859 victoria charters bank for Wilson to go design financial service for quarter of humans on india's subcontinent; after year 1 celebrations by most of the peopels, james dies of diarhea; it takes 112 years before former shell oil ceo educational intelligence empowers womens lesson plans round oral rehydration, 10 community business of goal 2 2 food, goal 3 health and 90% of the peoples trust in a regional bank for female generations to build nation

SDG 5  4  3   2  1  0 welcome to Asia and the top 5 sdgoals 50 years search scaling the most exciting collaborations women-led communities empower
ED soon after 2010 death of Von Neumann's first journalist of Architect Intelligence The Japan Ambassador to bangladesh hosted 2 brainstorming sessions- since 2001 Steve Jobs and Fazle Abed had united their support of net generations futures : would a moon of the top 30 cooperations visioned by 1billiongirls help bridge human intel until Steve Jobs gift of a university in phone (iphone 2007) might renew interest in man made engines blending human intelligence ... EconomistLearning.com from 2009 stanford's fei-fei li began the new entrereneurial revolution of pretraining computer visiosn (in about 10 different ways from science games deepmind, to 1000language games LLM , to object recognition of autonomous cars are ever needed, to nlp to literature veviews in real time of very covid publication to 2019 stanford hai inviting every human discipline grads spend time on to HAI ,,,,as pretraining of humans rose to 2015 hopes were that high that it was time to declare 17 cooperation dev goals and roadmapping of UN2 comprised of dynamic subystems of above zero-sum human networking. Bangladesh as deepest place branding of SDG5 celebrates being 52 years young in 2023 the 265th year of smithian moral sentiments at Abed's Alma mater Glasgow Universiity. Supporting hi-tech hi-trust Asian place winners include: singapore 2023; hong kong (22.1 Place winners 22.22022 ... Thailand2021 ..) . Abed was not just a world class civil engineer; he dedicated half a century until his death in December 2019 as servant leader. Aligned by HG Wells bon mots: civilisation is a race between education and catastrophe, Abed Bhai preferred to be seen as host of microeducationsummit not financiers summits: his gravitation purpose of 30 women empowered cooperations that of united refugees, villagers and civil societies in ENDING POVERTY. Fortunately for the worlds poorest new nation Bangaldesh 1971- Abed had networks like no other community leader. HIs friends' coop roadmapping reached out to intel vitalised by at least a billion village mothers in tropical inland asia where, a third of infants were dying of diarrhea before Abed's person to person networking became the best news ever chatted. Fro mid 1950s studies in Glasgow he spent nearly 13 years growing to be Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company's regional CEO. So his lifetime searches uniquely capitalised on what UK and Dutch Royal Societies (soon Japan Royals too) knew how to help end the poverty their colonial era had up to 1945 trapped the majority of humans world trade in. Simply put most Asian coastal belts link national borders defined by what these < a href="http://www.kc3.dev">3 kingdoms designed in to trading barriers over nearly half millennium. And which had made the English language that of world class engineering (digital age as well as pre-digital) So by 1970s these nations royal societies (including londons arts green-geographical, medicinie, science, architects ...) were happy that a grounded movement could link them into what they didnt fully know culturally or consciously. From 1970 on Abed linked in global village mapping like no one else - through these relationships and by designing business microfrachises not charity wherever possible for village women to own. To study with abed alumni is to join in the world's most cooperative empowering women movements for good as well as of childrens development.

Sunday, January 31, 2021

universityofstars year 18

 covid made 2020 pretty tuff for our many japan friends at www.musicforsdgs.com

supporters of un action year 2021 include

 japanese star Misako Konno kicks off march festival  

LIGHTNING TALK | JAPAN STAGE

HOST: UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

The climate crisis we are currently facing and the impacts of the raging COVID-19 are unrelenting. In the face of global challenges, it is essential for people to work together with solidarity and share a vision in order to create a sustainable future. In this lightning talk, we will introduce messages from the youth generation on themes such as climate crisis, gender equality, poverty and inequality, inclusive systems through UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Misako Konno, and discuss with the participants how we can turn it around.

Japanese actress Misako Konno was appointed UNDP Goodwill Ambassador in October 1998 and has since been very active in promoting critical global development issues with a particular focus on engaging young people and empowering women and girls.

In her role, Konno visited UNDP's programmes in many countries around the world, including Cambodia, Palestine, Bhutan, Ghana, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam, Mongolia, Tanzania, Pakistan and Kenya. She is also an active supporter of humanitarian response initiatives. She has contributed generously to UNDP's recovery efforts in the wake of the earthquake that devastated Japan in 2011 and, in 2013, she urged support for Typhoon Haiyan victims in the Philippines. 

The actress has also contributed to UNDP projects in East Timor, Pakistan and the Philippines. She actively participates in global campaigns, such as International Women’s Day, and also lends her support through social media to promote key initiatives, including the Paris Climate Change Agreement signing in 2016 and the World Humanitarian Summit that same year.

Konno's extensive firsthand experience of UNDP’s work is at the heart of her advocacy and support efforts.

“Through my experience as Goodwill Ambassador, I realize the power young people have in building a better future. I am hoping to help shape young leaders in both developing and developed countries," said Konno.

Misako Konno is an acclaimed actress in Japan. Since her debut in 1979, she has appeared in numerous television programmes, films and stage productions.

Check out some of the actor's compelling video messages in the video section below.

Follow Misako

In her role as Goodwill Ambassador, Misako focuses on the empowerment of women and girls and advocates for the Global Goals.

new uni most exciting debate in 2020 reprise -thank you michael crow

 .HESI Special Event: Where Next? Reimagining Further Education for the Future

The SDG Academy
On July 8, 2020, the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) hosted this special event alongside the United Nations ... 

transcript starting in 81st minute  extract 80.40  president arizona state uni, with covid and other www community crises, we are where we are, not only because of politics and capitalism, but at the root of it all is us the universities- we are universally inadequate to what lies ahead in terms of the future of our species and our relationship to our beautiful planet which we are all dependent on -let me outline 5 inadequacies

1 we are inadequate in terms of our self-awareness- institutions of higher edu nof the net outcome of our design – why do we have business schools that are teaching economic models that are working against our own in sustainability, why do we have a lack of communication between chemists and biologists and economists and engineers and philosophers and historians and everyone else -82:33
inadequate. We are wholly, universally inadequate to
82:38 what lies ahead in terms of the future of our species and our relationship with 82:42
this beautiful planet that we're all dependent on it. Let me outline five
82:47 arguments for that. First, I think that we're inadequate in terms of our
82:52 self-awareness, as an institution of higher education or as institutions of 82:56 higher education, of the net outcome of our design. Why do we have business 83:00 schools teaching economic models that are in fact working against our own 83:06 sustainability? Why do we have a lack of communication between chemists 83:13and biologists and economists and engineers and philosophers and 83:18 historians and everyone else who sit inside university environments arguing 83:24 with each other in ways that are not just about intellectual development but 83:28 are in some ways inane? And so we have never thought ourselves, 83:35 we've never been adequately focused on our own self-awareness to understand 83:41
that in fact our highly disciplinary design, as Jeff Sachs indicated, our
83:46 highly structured way of doing things, our way in which theories evolve, our 83:50 ways in which faculty are recognized, the ways in which knowledge is advanced, the 83:55 net outcome of all of that is exactly where we are in terms of a non- sustainable trajectory,83:59 the non-sustainable trajectory that we're on is 84:03 a product of us. Point number one. Point number two: that same university 84:10 enterprise, that same higher education enterprise, is inadequate in terms 84:15 of its production of systems-level tools. We're an observer. We're obsessed with 84:22
reductionism. We're obsessed with the belief that somehow if we can only
84:26 understand everything down to the atomic scale, if we could only understand 84:31 everything at the genetic and sub-genetic mechanism, that somehow we would 84:37 be able to find the solution to all things. And so the answer is, no,84:41 reductionism is not the method by which we will gain an understanding of the 84:46 interconnectedness of the systems of the planet and the role of humans. It's only 84:50 through our ability to emerge systems-level thinking of equal 84:55 intellectual stature and of equal intellectual value. Third, our 85:01 universities and our higher education systems in the United States and in 85:05 other parts of the world are completely inadequate in terms of their 85:08 intellectual diversification, their cultural diversification, their socioeconomic diversification,85:13 their lack of recognition of indigenous cultures and
85:18 indigenous knowledge, the dismissal of entire cultural paradigms, all around 85:26 this notion of somehow there being one path and one trajectory and one route 85:31 forward. Well, there isn't. And this lack of diversification, lack of women in 85:37 science, technology, engineering, and math, lack of cultural diversification at 85:43 universities which actually is accelerating not decelerating. That 85:47 lack of diversification is accelerating if you look around the world, is in fact 85:52 limiting our overall intellectual contribution. We have a narrower and 85:57
narrower intellectual contribution ,not a broader and broader intellectual
86:01 contribution. So that's the third factor that I think is a key part of the design 86:06 limits. I think forth, and I would probably rank 86:10 this actually first, universities really don't care as institutions about much of
86:14 anything. They care about bringing in faculty. They care about hiring faculty.86:19They care about having students. They care about their budgets. They care about 86:23 arguing with the government to get more money. But they don't really care 86:26 about sustainable outcomes as an institution. They do not take activist 86:32 positions, intellectual activist positions, as Jeff has built his career 86:36 around, and some of the rest of us have been fighting for decades. We just 86:40 sit back and say, "Well, we did what we could do. We educated the people we could 86:43 educate. We put out the theories that we could put out, and
86:46 we're really sorry that the politicians are too stupid or or too 86:51
lazy or businesses are too greedy or too selfish." And so this notion of not taking 86:57 some sense of responsibility, we don't realize that it is in fact our own lack 87:03 of transdisciplinary capability, our own lack of adequate, our own lack of 87:09 diversification. It's our own lack of systems-level thinking, it's our own 87:13 obsession with reductionism that actually has brought us to this point. So 87:18 when we look out and we're concerned about rapidly rising CO2 levels or we're 87:21 concerned about the overwhelming human consumption, and a manifestly negative
87:28 overwhelming consumption of fresh water, or the elimination of the entire fishing 87:33 stock or conservation disruptions on a global 87:37
scale of geological time, we don't realize that that we're responsible for
87:43 that. If you take response⁠—if you know you've contributed to something and it's not87:47going well, if you're a responsible person or a responsible institution, you 87:51 change what you're doing. We don't have much change in what we're doing.87:54 Fifth on my list is, universities are archaic, at least in the European model, 88:01 archaic, slow, non-adaptable, non-technologically sophisticated 88:05 institutions. We're not moving at the speed of climate change. We're not moving
88:11at the speed of complexity, of complexification. We're too slow. We have 88:17no sense of time. We might argue about something for 15 years and in the same 88:22 15 years the Ross Ice Shelf cracked off of Antarctica and led to some 88:27 massive change in the in the ocean circulation cycle and thus impacting 88:34 climate etcetera, etcetera. So the five points here: inadequate self-awareness,88:38 inadequate emergence of systems-level thinking, wholly inadequate 88:42 diversification of the university itself, no sense of moral duty or moral 88:46responsibility as institutions, and inadequate speed and adaptability. If we 88:51 don't change those things, there's not going to be any climate adaptation or 88:55 climate change. There's not going to be movement back towards a sustainable 88:59
trajectory because we're not producing the people, the ideas, the tools, the
89:04 mechanisms, the devices, the theories, the assumptions⁠—the young students who 89:08 are just presenting, they get this. They understand that they enter a university 89:12 which is in fact an archaic institution,incapable of having self-awareness 89:17 relative to where we're headed. So what are we doing at my institution arizona state, we've 89:22 done everything and then some, and still it's a slow slog. We've built the Global 89:28
Futures Laboratory, the Global Institute of Sustainability. We're
89:31 dramatically lowering our carbon footprint. We have thousands and
89:34 thousands of students. We change the design of engineering. We changed parts 89:38 of the design of our business schools. We built a new school on the Future of 89:41 Innovation and Society, a new School of Sustainability, and we're still moving 89:47 too slow. And so I think the point I'd like to make to 89:50 the audience here is, let's listen to these students. They have a sense, they 89:54 have an awareness, and they are able to see immediately upon entry into our
89:59 bureaucratic institutions that we're inadequate to the assignment and we 90:06 ought to take that as a serious, serious criticism. Now let me tell you 90:09
what's happening right now. So right now, and COVID sort of expresses this, we are 90:14 largely as colleges and universities place-based institutions, driven where we 90:21think that excellence is a function of who we exclude, and this is true all over 90:24 the world, where our structure, our technology, our flexibility, our 90:29
adaptability are completely inadequate. So my message to ministers, to UN leaders,90:35 to SDSN leaders, to higher education leaders, to students, to faculty, is that 90:40 let's shake it up. It is time to shake the foundation of the universities and 90:45 have them raise their hand and say, "Yes. We want to be responsible for the 90:50 climate outcome of our planet, for our species outcome, for the 90:56 sustainability of our species." And to do that we're going to have to change 91:00 everything down to the root. So I think that's about 12 minutes and I'll 91:05 stop there.91:13

Ok. Thank you, President Crow. I like the way you framed it because

Saturday, January 30, 2021

 

hi everyone I hope you are well 

I am Lynette Purvis and I am the current chair of the of http://www.2050.scot   lynette.purves@2050.scot



 I first got
involved to the 2050 climate group back 
in 2015 as a participant on our first young leaders development program I've stayed involved as a volunteer ever since and today I'm going to be talking to you about cup now at the 2050 climate group we have been hugely privileged not only to have attended but also have presented at 4 of the last 5 cups and so with the exciting news that the UK is going to be hosting cop 26 I thought I would share with you first of all an introduction to cup 
what is it ?who goes? why is it important where is it held?
00:53
then secondly I'll share some 2050  
climate groups experiences of attending cop..lastly I'll share what we know so far about the upcoming cop 26 including some ideas for how you can engage for almost
for three decades world governments have met 
every year to forge a global response to the climate emergency the name given to that meeting is cop which stands for conference of the parties 

the parties are the almost 200 nations and territories that have ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or to use its acronym the UN s Triple C ratification of the UN 
01:42
Triple C has made the party's treaty 
bound to avoid dangerous climate change and to find ways to reduce global emissions in an equitable way cop is where the parties meet to negotiate --  how to do this agreement can only be made by consensus  of all the parties whilst this takes a lot of time and effort it means that  agreements reached at cup such as the Paris agreement have a
globally cop first took place in Berlin 
in 1995 and has met annually ever since in different locations around the world
02:25
cop 26 will be the 26th cup and will be 
hosted by the UK so is cop 26 important?
02:36
it's important because scientifically 
and politically cop 26 is being described as humanity's last chance to do something meaningful about climate change-- it is seen as particularly important because cop 25 in Madrid dec 2019 -hastily reconvened from chile)  left a raft of complex issues unresolved a lot of the work that was meant to be completed in Madrid has been rolled over to cop 26 instead meanwhile
03:04
outside the cop conference all global 
emissions are at an all-time high and none of the big countries are even on track to meeting their obligations under the Paris agreement --cop 26 is also important for the UK as the host it will be the biggest international summit the UK has ever hosted it will bring together almost 200 global leaders and some 30,000 delegates and it will put the UK on the international stage as a
03:40
Scottish charity the 2050 climate group 
are of course particularly excited that Cop is due to be held in Glasgow our members of our network have previously travelled far and wide to attend cop -I remember our own journey to cop23 all by train from Edinburgh to bonn via London Brussels and Cologne and back
04:06
again to be honest I loved every minute 
of it and it's nothing compared to greta thonBerg's three-week journey across the Atlantic Ocean to attend cop 25 in Chile / Greta only had to hitch a lift back again when the venue changed to Madrid at the last minute
04:27
this time it would be great to have cop 
on our doorstep so that we can maximize attendance by those in our network and
make the most of this exciting 
opportunity so what is 2050 climate groups previous experience of attending cops- our first cup was none other than cop21 in Paris in 2015 where all 195 parties agreed to adopt the first-ever legally binding global climate change agreement our friends who attended tell us about the day the Paris agreement was adopted they say that thousands of people were cheering clapping singing screaming crying yelling torn between euphoria and utter disbelief at the magnitude of what had just been achieved our second Cup experience could not have been more different
05:26
we arrived in Marrakech the night before 
the conference opened ready to give our presentation the following day imagine

our alarm when an IT mix-up meant that 
thousands of conference registrations including ours had disappeared we feared
the worst but thankfully we managed to 
negotiate our way into the conference just in time to take to the stage and present our work we assumed that things couldn't possibly get any more FRUSTRATING for the rest of the conference BUT we were very wrong a day later we woke up to the news that Donald Trump had been elected US president it was only one year after the Paris agreement had been signed and he was intending to withdraw the u.s.from it
06:18
walking into the conference that morning 
it felt like the Dementors had sucked all the hope and happiness from the air--we went along to watch an American Youth Climate Organisation present on their work but 15 minutes later there was still no sign of them they're not coming
06:38
someone finally called out; 
they're too shocked and upset to even get out of bed a room full of people sat in silence-- I looked at my 2050 climate group friends next to me- we nodded knowingly and we made our way to the stage --we're not who you werE expecting to see here today we said but we're guessing that like us you could probably do with some cheering up so if
07:09
you'd like stick around 
we'd love to share with you the inspiring things the young people of Scotland are doing in the fight against
climate change and so we presented at 
cop 22 for a second time the following year was cop 23 and bonn this experience was particularly exciting for me as it was the first time we had accreditation for the Blue Zone you see cops are organized into two areas known as zones-there's the inner zone known as the blue zone and the OUTER zone known as the Green Zone

 the two zones are usually in different venues physically separated but located y a short walk away

 the inner blue zone is handed over to and controlled by the UN for the duration of the two-week conference it becomes international territory and falls under international law; it is within the blue zone where the international negotiations take place conference rooms
08:20
filled with countries delegated 
negotiators negotiating every Clause and comma of the UN agreements it lies beyond the security cordon and only those with UN accreditation can enter
08:36
the blue zone also hosts the cops 
opening and closing ceremonies and speeches from VIP and celebrity speakers
speaking in the Blue Zone you might 
expect to see Greta Thornberg or  Barack Obama or  sportstars among many many more 

the other zone is called the green zone it is publicly accessible and offers a platform for civil society youth organizations businesses and others to showcase their activities and have their voices heard
09:11
it's within the green zone that the 2050 
climate group have previously presented; on our work within the green zone youcan expect to be dazzled by exhibitions talks and panels art music and dancing
you can expect to experience the latest 
low carbon technologies low carbon transport and low carbon treats and you can expect to feel pretty overwhelmed by all -to be honest always wanting to be in at least 10 different places like being a massive Music Festival and wanting to experience the headliners the newcomers
09:54
although overwhelming cops have always 
made me feel optimistic - have you ever had days where you think solving climate change is just too difficult? what is the point in even trying? well I used to but then at cops I experienced the whole world coming together to solve the climate crisis together and that gave me cause for optimism so what do we know so
10:24
now about cop 26 and how can you get 
involved cop 26? 
it was originally due to take place in November 2020 but it's being postponed due to the global coronavirus pandemic
10:38
when we last spoke for the UK government in december 2920
 they said it will be hosted in nov 2021
it's expected that the Blue Zone where 
the negotiations will take place will be held within the Glasgow s East
or the Scottish event campus to give i
ts full name as for the publicly accessible green zone it's expected to be held just across the water within the Glasgow science center and outside the official blue and green zones there is expected to be a huge program of unofficial events taking place all across Glasgow all across Scotland and all across the UK these will be organized by a very wide range oforganizations businesses and individuals
11:34
and they will range from conferences 
dinners and networking events to rallies marches and protests so with so much
going on how can you get involved?
11:50
lots of ways here are just some examples-- 
you can keep informed about what is going on through us your 2050 climate
group be sure to sign up to our email 
mailing list and follow us on Twitter Facebook and Instagram so we can keep
you updated we're delighted to be one of 
the few Scottish organizations who has secured accreditation to the blue zone
and we look forward to sharing our 
thoughts and experiences right from the heart .. we're also planning to run
our own Cup themed youth climate summit 
in the run-up and we look forward to a number of you hopefully joining us there
as well as getting involved in our 
activities we would encourage you to collaborate with a huge number of other organizations who also have their own exciting plans for Cop 26-- for example we understand that  young scot , youth link, youth climate coalition, the royal geographical society and many others..have plans to get involved 
13:02
we would also encourage you to register 
to attend the Green Zone if you can the conference will run for about two weeks
and you can usually attend on whichever d
ays you wish- from our past experience we find that you just need to register in advance and bring photo ID with you on the day-- just FYI the middle weekend and the second week are usually the busiest with around 15,000 people expected to attend on the busiest day
13:29
last but not least we'd encourage you to  
get involved in shaping the plans for the Green Zone plans are still at an early stage but we know from our discussions with the UK government that they want the Green Zone to be as inclusive as possible they're looking for contributions from everyone youth. groups academia business civil society trade unions indigenous communities the list goes on they are also interested in hearing what we'd like to see within the Green Zone to make it as engaging and informative as possible
14:03
and they were looking for people 
particularly young people to showcase their activities on the stages and in the exhibition areas -have you been involved in any exciting climate projects are you particularly proud of? any climate actions you've contributed to whether in your personal life professional life or within your political sphere? have you got an entrepreneurial idea if any of these
ideas very engaging with cop spark your 
interest feel free to let us know and we'll happily support you in any way that we can thank you .. I hope you learned something new and if you have any questions at all then please do not hesitate to get in touch




-there is also glasgow city council appointing cop26 ambassadors  Volunteer at COP26



-

CROW UPD BEV 2021

 

Opinion: The untapped role of universities in scaling innovation

ASU has partnered with USAID, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and civil society and private sector partners to strengthen the university’s capacity to support effective supply chains in Ghana and across Africa. Photo by: ASU

As institutions tasked with the specific purpose of generating, synthesizing, and transmitting knowledge, research universities play a unique role in national and global innovation systems. Through new forms of engagement with the broader development community — especially donors and global foundations — innovative universities throughout the world can, and must, work together to co-create solutions to local challenges and scale them up to meet the needs of the world’s most vulnerable.

Donor agencies have long looked to universities for their obvious expertise in higher education; but what has become clearer — especially in the past decade — is that those committed to global development can work alongside higher education institutions in low- and middle-income countries to co-create research-based, socially responsive, and scalable innovations. Global research universities must prioritize engagement and collaboration with universities and stakeholders throughout these countries to help build their capacity to lead in research and innovation-led solutions to solve core societal problems.

Q&A: How COVID-19 can help reshape access to higher education

While COVID-19 has generated the most severe disruption to global education in history, it has also presented new opportunities. Devex spoke to ASU’s vice president of global academic initiatives about how the pandemic is reshaping access to higher education.

Governments and funders — including aid agencies, foundations, and corporations — should support these efforts through strategies and initiatives that fully engage the immense knowledge creation capacity of universities to address poverty reduction, public health, access to education, economic growth, governance, and sustainability.

Scaling solutions through local higher education institutions

Designing solutions that work at social scale requires precise alignment between the vision of innovators and complex real-world demands across many different contexts: local higher education institutions are ideally situated to understand needs and opportunities within their own communities. Although these institutions are closely connected to government ministries and bring expertise across disciplines, they often lack the financial, organizational, and infrastructural capacity for solutions-oriented research that can be translated into impact at the national, regional, and global level.

Devex World 2020: Innovation at Scale: Rethinking the Design of Higher Education. Via YouTube.

Many top research universities bring significant assets for strengthening the ability of higher learning institutions in LMICs to meet these demands. Spanning education, research, government, and the private sector, forward-thinking research universities bring vast networks and connectivity to many organizations, and increasingly, their reach extends globally.

The most effective global research universities have designed pathways for moving innovations into society through innovative approaches to research translation, technology transfer, organizational design, and programming. These approaches can be adapted to partner with and strengthen higher education institutions in LMICs.

The role of universities in tackling social challenges

Although universities have been engaged in development implementation for decades, some of their most significant advantages — in comparison to traditional implementers — remain underutilized. First, they are uniquely suited to help institutions in LMICs become more effective, not only in teaching and learning, but also in restructuring research enterprises and mounting effective responses to economic and social needs.

Secondly, they bring experience in translating research into action through partnerships, entrepreneurship, and engagement with communities.

Finally, they can act as enduring partners to local universities and communities long after projects are concluded, creating opportunities for future collaborations, coordinating and enabling access to international resources, and driving equitable knowledge exchange over the long term.

An increasing number of universities throughout high-income countries are already partnering with higher education institutions in LMICs to build capacity to respond to national and regional development challenges. Universities such as Arizona State University and the member institutions of the PLuS Alliance, for example, have not only redesigned their own operations to have a transformative impact on society, but are also committed to working with other universities to design new innovative approaches to meet the needs of the communities and countries they serve.

ASU has partnered with the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and civil society and private sector partners to strengthen the university’s capacity to support effective supply chains in Ghana and across Africa. Strengthening supply chain knowledge and capacity helps support the massive efforts of governments and communities across health, food security, and economic growth.

ASU is also advancing these partnerships within the framework of “university design” — the application of design principles to the missions, operations, and cultures of higher education institutions to allow them to meaningfully address societal challenges. ASU is catalyzing transformation in global higher education through the University Design Institute, which has already worked with over 60 institutions in 15 countries to co-create locally driven approaches to address development challenges.

Realizing the full potential of universities as development actors requires universities in high-income countries to make bold commitments to global engagement and to intentionally leverage their knowledge and resources to support institutions in emerging countries. Donor organizations and agencies also play a key role in enabling partnerships that foster scalable, local innovation. Through new and expanded opportunities and programs, donors and institutions of higher learning across the world can collaborate to help the universities become leaders in local and regional development.

Catch up on Devex World 2020 conversations and insights.