CASE STUDY || COIMBRA GROUP MEETS THE UN
Creating a pathway to October 2031:
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THE COIMBRA GROUP OF UNIVERSITIES
Founded in 1985 and formally constituted by Charter in 1987, the Coimbra Group is an association of long-established European multidisciplinary universities of high international standard.
The Coimbra Group is committed to creating special academic and cultural ties in order to promote, for the benefit of its members, internationalisation, academic collaboration, excellence in learning and research, and service to society. It is also the purpose of the Group to influence European educational policy and to develop best practice through mutual exchange of experience.
The Coimbra Group is committed to creating special academic and cultural ties in order to promote, for the benefit of its members, internationalisation, academic collaboration, excellence in learning and research, and service to society. It is also the purpose of the Group to influence European educational policy and to develop best practice through mutual exchange of experience.
WORKING TOGETHER
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As a member of the COIMBRA Group, the University of Geneva (UNIGE) managed the creation and delivery of the event ‘The Coimbra Group meets the UN’ which took place on the 21-22nd October 2021, in the UN Library & Archive at the Palais des Nations, Geneva.
The event focused on strengthening the connections between academics, diplomats and key decision makers on European research policy, in order to build relationships, increase dialogue and create joint projects which contribute to the achievement of the UN SDGs and lead the way to a net-zero world. The COIMBRA Group commissioned Elaine to design and facilitate an interactive, working session for the Rectors and Vice Rectors from the 41 COIMBRA Group Universities, Directors and Heads of UN Agencies, Impact Investors and members of the International Development Eco-System. |
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THE APPROACH
Working in partnership with the Steering Group for the event, Elaine created an innovative, interactive session, using ‘futures thinking’ tools to facilitate the exploration between the Rectors, representatives from UN Agencies and Impact Investors and bring new perspectives.
In futures thinking, a 10-year horizon is set as the time-frame; and the future is seen as something to be consciously unfolded rather than already predicted, in order to avoid ‘future shock.’
The Working Session on 22nd October was framed around looking back from October 2031 to the present day, and working through the steps needed to collaborate extensively to achieve equitable futures, with a particular focus in this session on research collaborations.
In futures thinking, a 10-year horizon is set as the time-frame; and the future is seen as something to be consciously unfolded rather than already predicted, in order to avoid ‘future shock.’
The Working Session on 22nd October was framed around looking back from October 2031 to the present day, and working through the steps needed to collaborate extensively to achieve equitable futures, with a particular focus in this session on research collaborations.
OUR GOALS |
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With a reach of approximately 2 million people – students and staff – and an illustrious track record of collaborations with UN Agencies, the COIMBRA Group of Universities has the power to make difference across the globe. The goals of the Working Session were to:
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