Preparatory meeting will approve the thematic axes of the Regional Conference on Higher Education+5

The first preparatory meeting for the Regional Conference on Higher Education (CRES+5), which will be held in Cordoba, Argentina, on March 22-23, 2023, will examine the state of higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean: its achievements and pending challenges. This initial meeting will serve to approve the agenda of the event: thematic axes, questions to be asked, as well as a methodology that guarantees the participation of all stakeholders in the region and the follow-up of the 2018-2028 action plan.

The Third Regional Conference on Higher Education (CRES), held in June 2018, concluded with an action plan and a commitment to review the progress made five years later. With those years having passed, the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC), the National University of Córdoba, the National Inter-University Council, the Ministry of Education of Argentina, and ENLACES, are now convening a first meeting with the objective of contributing to the preparation of CRES+5.

The preparatory event constitutes a necessary instance of dialogue and interlocution among regional higher education stakeholders, who seek to participate in the CRES+5 agenda and its organizational dynamics. It will also serve to enhance a collective reflection on the UNESCO Roadmap of the Third World Higher Education Conference (Barcelona, 2022), all with the idea of reconfiguring the CRES Action Plan 2018-2028 in new terms, particularly in light of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education.

UNESCO IESALC has prepared a first draft, both of the agenda and of the methodology to be used, which will be widely debated in and will incorporate the amendments and improvements approved by the representatives of the university networks of the region and of the governments, national councils of rectors, quality assurance agencies, teaching and non-teaching staff unions, student organizations, as well as regional and international organizations.

Some of the issues that have generated the greatest crisis, as well as the futures of higher education, will also be considered, such as: governance, autonomy and financing of higher education; welfare and participation of members of the university community; gender and higher education; the impacts of the pandemic and the way out of the crisis in higher education; and the futures for higher education in the region.

Since this is a follow-up meeting, it is suggested to link the agenda with the eight guidelines that shaped the CRES 2018 Action Plan:

1. Strategic role of higher education in the sustainable development of Latin America and the Caribbean.
2. Higher education as part of the education system in Latin America and the Caribbean.
3. Higher education, cultural diversity and interculturality in Latin America.
4. Higher education, internationalization and integration in Latin America and the Caribbean.
5. The role of higher education in the face of social challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean.
6. Scientific and technological research and innovation as drivers of human, social and economic development for Latin America and the Caribbean
7. One hundred years after the Cordoba Reform. Towards a new manifesto for Latin American higher education.
8. Teacher training.

For more information on this meeting contact director.iesalc@unesco.org