Breaking News
NORWAY
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Jan Petter Myklebust
Arguably the most topical issue in Norwegian higher education over the past year, the government’s proposal to introduce tuition fees for students from outside the European Economic Area and Switzerland, enters its final round this week, amid ongoing resistance from higher education stakeholders.
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Top Stories
GLOBAL
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Australian universities came top in seven out of 17 SDGs
Brendan O’Malley
In the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2023, which are geared to assessing institutions’ contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Australian and Canadian universities dominate the top 10 of the overall category, but Australia takes first place in seven of the individual 17 SDGs.
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UNITED KINGDOM
Nic Mitchell
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AUSTRALIA-INDIA
Shuriah Niazi
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CANADA
Nathan M Greenfield
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News
AFRICA-EUROPE
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Wachira Kigotho
Universities and research organisations across Africa and Europe have called for a new science, technology and innovation framework for cooperation between the two continents to drive sustainable development. They say it should be grounded in academic excellence, sustainability, capacity building and scalability.
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UNITED KINGDOM-NIGERIA
Olabisi Deji-Folutile
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AFRICA
Desmond Thompson
Private higher education institutions have a vital role to play in the development of Africa but, in order to be sustainable, they need to be successful, innovative and impactful. This was a core message conveyed at the third annual academic summit of the Honoris United Universities network in Cape Town, South Africa.
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GERMANY
Michael Gardner
Thirty-three German universities will receive federal funding to run institutional projects over the winter semester in a bid to boost holistic diversity concepts ranging from diversity-sensitive onboarding to initiatives to create flexible and inclusive working environments, and the development of an anti-discrimination directive.
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DENMARK
Jan Petter Myklebust
Rectors of Denmark’s eight state-funded universities have presented what they consider to be a more sustainable alternative to the government’s plan, currently being discussed in parliament, to shorten up to half of the country’s two-year masters programmes and make the degree more industry-oriented.
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Commentary
UNITED STATES
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Andrés Castro Samayoa
A relentless attempt to curtail access to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programming is not a marker of bold leadership nourishing a robust democracy. On the contrary, it is indicative of a deep fear of the transformative potential of inclusive and equitable education.
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UNITED KINGDOM
Andrew Gunn
The wicked problem of measuring teaching quality has not been solved in the new, revised Teaching Excellence Framework, which also means the methodological improvements that have been made may not be enough for the TEF to fend off its fiercest critics.
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NEW ZEALAND
Elizabeth Rata
New Zealand’s universities have in great haste, and without debate, embraced anti-universal decolonisation and indigenisation. While a recommitment to the principle of universalism is not impossible, it will depend upon university leaders with the courage to speak in defence of science.
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World Blog
UNITED STATES
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Steven P Dandaneau
Organisational change networks – including those that weave in and between colleges and universities of all types – exemplify the idea that so-called ‘weak’ connections between individuals who share a commitment to the transformative potential of undergraduate education can be major drivers of organisational change.
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Education for Sustainable Development
GLOBAL
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A UWN reporter
ABET, the global accreditor of more than 4,000 college and university programmes worldwide, has agreed a three-year partnership with University World News to support its coverage of higher education’s contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on education for sustainable development.
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SDGs
GLOBAL
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Fay Patel
A partnership between a Canadian university and an Indian college which grants Indian students a Canadian work permit upon graduation offers an effective example of third-culture building and supports the idea of glocalisation as a sustainable alternative to exploitative international higher education models.
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KENYA
Wilson Odhiambo
The Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology in Kenya has been integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into its daily activities to encourage sustainable agriculture, the use of renewable energy and climate change mitigation. Its efforts have been recognised globally.
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TANZANIA
Scovian Lillian
The Clean Shores Great Lakes project is a timely and necessary intervention in Tanzania to tackle growing concerns about marine plastic pollution and the devastating impact it has on fish and marine organisms. The academic who is leading the project explains what is being done.
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CENTRAL AFRICA
Elias Ngalame
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Top Stories from Last Week
EUROPE
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Nic Mitchell
Publicly funded research outputs should be immediately and openly available to all without barriers such as subscription fees or paywalls, say European scientific community leaders who welcomed a recent 20-point plan agreed by the Council of the European Union to encourage open science.
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AFRICA
Wachira Kigotho
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ASIA-EUROPE
Libing Wang
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GLOBAL
Cláudia S Sarrico
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SUDAN
Wagdy Sawahel
As the fighting of the Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces enters its second month, reports of rape and sexual assault of women, including members of the university community, are emerging. Dr Natalia Kanem, the executive director of the United Nations Population Fund, said it has received similar reports.
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NIGERIA
Afeez Bolaji
A criminal case involving two suspects arrested in connection with the killing of Deborah Samuel, a female student at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto State, Nigeria, has been struck from the roll for lack of diligent prosecution and the absence of the police prosecutor in court on several occasions.
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UNITED KINGDOM
Nic Mitchell
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Sponsored Article
University of Victoria staff
Accelerating Community Energy Transformation is a University of Victoria-led collaborative initiative that brings together over 40 partners, including Indigenous knowledge keepers and community leaders, to create innovative place-based solutions for energy system transformation.
Promoted by the University of Victoria.
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Sponsored Article
Stellenbosch University staff
Africa needs to stop paying the price for the rest of the world’s recalcitrance to act fast enough in response to the irrefutable conclusions that climate change is real and that the impact of global warming could be devasting, says Professor Guy Midgley, interim director of the School for Climate Studies at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
Promoted by Stellenbosch University.
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Sponsored Article
UAE University staff
Researchers from the United Arab Emirates University have shown that the potential benefits of building energy savings and a cooler indoor environment, as well as improved cooling effect on air temperature at pedestrian level, strongly indicate that a cool roof with high solar reflectance and albedo is a promising strategy for buildings in regions with hot, arid climates.
Promoted by United Arab Emirates University.
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Sponsored Article
Aftab Dean
A new university ranking system aims to serve as a catalyst for positive transformation in higher education, ensuring that universities create an environment grounded in integrity and sustainability that inspires and supports students and staff in the development of novel solutions to global challenges.
Promoted by Globethics.net.
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Sponsored Article
University of Pretoria staff
In the publication of its first progress report on its contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, the University of Pretoria is navigating new territory at the same time as it is acknowledging its clear stewardship role in protecting the environment and biodiversity.
Promoted by the University of Pretoria.
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World Round-up
UNITED KINGDOM-UNITED STATES
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