Universities serve as the lighthouse of human civilization, inherit knowledge and culture, as well as educate young talents. As we reflect on the tremendous changes to the university and the profound challenges that universities face in the 21st century - such as global warming and health emergencies - Tsinghua's Global Forum of University Presidents 2021 (GFUP 2021) will bring together leaders of more than 110 universities; explore emerging aspirations for global higher education; and support greater levels of collaboration. As the centerpiece event of Tsinghua University's 110th anniversary, GFUP 2021 - themed Innovate for the Future: Vision and New Mission of Universities - offers an unprecedented opportunity to come together in unity and explore pathways for universities around the world to rise to their highest potential.
GFUP 2021 will convene online and offline from the 19th to 24th of April 2021. Sessions designed to explore themes such as University as a Cultural Space: Looking Back into the Future (19th April); Global Carbon Neutrality: Universities Responsibility and Action (21st April); Rethinking the Future and New Mission of Online Education (22nd April); and Global University Leadership (23rd April), will culminate in the Plenary Session and the release of Tsinghua Consensus 2021 on 24th April, to encapsulate the outcomes from the Forum and guide the vision and new mission of universities.
University as a Cultural Space: Looking Back into the Future
19 April 2021, 19:00-21:00 (Beijing Time)
Tsinghua University
Prof. SHI Jinghuan, Institute of Education, Tsinghua University Director of the Research Center for the Assessment of College and Student, Tsinghua University; Deputy Chair of the University Degree Committee; Deputy Director of the Online Education Research Center of Ministry of Education.
| The university is an exploratorium. It generates not only specialized knowledge about the world but also general intelligence to enlighten holistic human development. To do so, the university creates, connects, and commemorates cultures in a synthesis of past, present, and future. The university is also a theatre. It not only shapes and shares our identities as cultures in academic disciplines, professions, and nationalities, but also transforms them into new possibilities. And the university is a forum. When viewing art in a gallery or a performance on the stage, an essential part of the experience is what viewers bring with them: their own experiences and expectations as the context in which they are viewing. When we gather to celebrate the 110th anniversary of Tsinghua University, we are also celebrating the founding of all universities and anticipating their future success as cultural spaces that create connectivity and commemorate our collective history. GFUP Session One proposes dual approaches to exploring the relationship between the university and culture in time-space: the creative fusion, as well as creative tension, of art and science, of human and nonhuman, and of known and unknown. We cordially invite the participants to share their respective university experiences and expectations with such creative fusion and tension; how to stage performance in those ecotones; and what we can do together to transform the university and society for a sustainable future through the creation of a cultural synthesis of interdisciplinarity and internationalization. |
Global Carbon Neutrality: Universities Responsibility and Action
21 April 2021, 20:00-22:00 (Beijing Time)
Tsinghua University
Academic Chair: Professor HE Jiankun, Vice Chairman of China's National Experts Panel on Climate Change, Director of the Academic Committee of the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development at Tsinghua University, Co-Chair of the Academic Committee of the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate. Academic Vice-Chair: Professor LI Zheng, Executive Vice President of Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development and Director of the Tsinghua-BP Clean Energy and Education Center at Tsinghua University, Secretary-General of the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate.
Tackling global climate change is a common challenge for all humanity. More and more countries are integrating carbon neutrality commitments into national strategies and putting forward a vision for a zero-carbon future. Universities bringing together top expertise is an important force in promoting and leading the global climate governance process. |
Rethinking the Future and New Mission of Online Education
22 April 2021, 20:00-22:00 (Beijing Time)
Tsinghua University
Prof. YANG Bin, Vice President and Provost, Tsinghua University
| 2020 was an extraordinary year. We have witnessed and participated in the pivotal transformation and revolutionary impact of online technology on higher education. More importantly, we have a deeper appreciation of the significance and value of education to human beings, which not only inherits the quintessential nature of human civilization but also carries our hope for the future. A learning revolution is around us, and the transformation has already begun. While we continue to jointly face challenges and create new journeys, we have a wonderful opportunity to pause and reflect on what kind of universities we are striving to build. Specifically, we invite you to join GFUP Session Three to explore and rethink the future and new mission of online education; to harness the awesome potential of online education; and to enable the light of truth, wisdom, and morality to guide our collective path. |
Global University Leadership
23 April 2021, 20:00-22:00 (Beijing Time)
Tsinghua University
Prof. PENG Gang, Vice President, Tsinghua University
| Recent global circumstances have revealed, strengthened and clarified the significant and growing role of higher education in world affairs. To create a better world, universities must cultivate future experts, contribute scientific innovations, and tackle grand challenges. Global university presidents are playing a substantially more profound, complex and influential role. To understand and build leadership capability, it is important to understand who presidents are, how they work within institutions and systems, and their growing role in global affairs. GFUP Session Four builds on a Tsinghua University project which showcases global university presidents and their work and contributions. GFUP Session Four engages a select group of presidents to share how they came to be presidents, focusing on their backgrounds, development, experiences, and key steps taken. GFUP Session Four invites participants to explore how presidents deliver effective leadership and tackle broader transformations as individuals and through executive teams. Participants will reflect on the future challenges of university presidents, both for higher education and in terms of broader social contributions. |
Innovate for the Future: Vision and New Mission of Universities
24 April 2021, 20:00-22:30 (Beijing Time)
Tsinghua University
| Tsinghua's Global Forum of University Presidents 2021 (GFUP 2021) is themed Innovate for the Future: Vision and New Mission of Universities. The Plenary Session will be held on 24 April, the final day of the Forum. The Plenary Session will feature panel discussions and the release of Tsinghua Consensus 2021, designed to encapsulate the Forum's outcomes and guide the vision and new mission of universities. We invite university leaders to participate in the Plenary Session to explore universities' transformative landscape and challenges; identify pathways towards more open, integrative and resilient universities; and further understand universities' vision and new mission. |
Address: Gong Zi Ting, Tsinghua University, Haidian District, Beijing, China
Telephone: 010-62793628 / 010-62783966 E-mail: xqzxb@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn PostCode: 100084 Fax: 010-62770349