The Centre for Global Higher Education or CGHE, based at the UCL Institute of Education in the United Kingdom, held its annual conference in London on 1 March on the theme “Higher Education: Changing global relations”, which explored the drivers and effects of changing global relations in higher education. University World News reports.

The sixth World Sustainability Forum was held in Cape Town, South Africa from 27-28 January – the first time it has been held in Africa. An international scientific conference sponsored by the journal Sustainability under the patronage of the University of the Western Cape, University of Cape Town, University of Basel and the National Research Foundation of South Africa, the meeting highlighted the importance of academic institutions in any successful quest to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

America's Council for Higher Education Accreditation, or CHEA, held its 2017 annual conference in Washington DC last week, on the theme "Quality Assurance and Accreditation: Moving into the future", followed by a meeting of CHEA's International Quality Group. University World News was there.

The ban on entry into the United States by citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, signed by US President Donald Trump, is likely to have a much wider impact on recruitment of international students. Other moves thought to be in the pipeline could dramatically reduce international student numbers.

The third meeting of the Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa, or HERANA, held in Franschhoek in South Africa in November, was attended by representatives of seven of the eight participating universities: Botswana, Cape Town, Dar es Salaam, Eduardo Mondlane in Mozambique, Ghana, Nairobi in Kenya, Mauritius, and Makerere in Uganda. Each gave detailed and fascinating presentations on key research indicators. Led by the Centre for Higher Education Trust, the goal of HERANA is to institutionalise data collection with a view to strengthening knowledge production in a group of emerging research-intensive flagship universities.

The Higher Education Policy Institute's latest report on ranking has further stoked debate about how accurate and how useful international university rankings are. University World News asked its author and ranking experts to share their views.

This week's supplement on Transformative Leadership, in which University World News is partnering with The MasterCard Foundation, focuses on innovation – from how universities can harness innovation, science and technology in pursuit of sustainable development to how higher education itself can innovate to widen its impact on and leadership of social change.

University World News reports on the Times Higher Education BRICS and Emerging Economies Universities Summit held at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, on 30 November-2 December, which explored the theme of 'Reimagining the World-Class University'.

South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande has cautioned universities of technology to avoid “mission drift” towards degree programmes, including postgraduate and research programmes, arguing that without more diplomas to address a dire need for scarce skills at a technical level, the country would be “in trouble”.

The 7th African Network for Internationalisation of Education – ANIE – conference was held in Accra, Ghana, from 5-7 October. It probed the drivers, nature and challenges of international partnerships in higher education in Africa, and the role they play in knowledge production and sustainable development. University World News was there.