Second preparatory meeting for CRES+5 to be held in Puebla (Mexico) in September

The UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC), the Mexican Ministry of Public Education (SEP) through the Undersecretary of Higher Education, the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), and the Latin American and Caribbean Higher Education Area (ENLACES), call for the second preparatory meeting towards the Regional Conference on Higher Education (CRES+5), to be held in Puebla City, Mexico, on September 5 and 6, 2023.  

This meeting, to be held at the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (Mexico), will present the progress of the work of the various groups responsible for leading the discussions on the 12 topics to be discussed at the follow-up meeting of CRES+5, to be held in Brasilia from March 13 to 15, 2024, in order to assess progress in regional higher education five years after the CRES 2018 Action Plan.

The preparatory event in Puebla constitutes a necessary instance of dialogue and interlocution among the actors of regional higher education, which seeks to socialize the changes and progress recorded in each of the thematic axes five years after having been worked and discussed at the CRES 2018. It will also serve as a space for collective reflection on the UNESCO’s Roadmap of the Third World Higher Education Conference (Barcelona, 2022), all with the idea of reconfiguring the CRES 2018-2028 Action Plan in new terms, particularly in the light of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 7 thematic axes discussed during the CRES 2018, as well as on the new thematic axes developed by UNESCO IESALC at the request of the protagonists of Cordoba March 2023 and subsequently expanded to 12 with the guidance of the Brazilian government.

Representatives of university networks, quality assurance agencies, student associations and unions, among other higher education stakeholders in Latin America and the Caribbean, are invited to this meeting to discuss the following topics in working sessions:

1 Higher education as part of the education system in Latin America and the Caribbean

2 Higher education, cultural diversity and interculturality in Latin America

3 Higher education, internationalization and integration in Latin America and the Caribbean

4 Role of higher education in the face of social challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean

5 Scientific and technological research and innovation as engines of human, social and economic development for Latin America and the Caribbean

6 Strategic role of higher education in the sustainable development of Latin America and the Caribbean

7 Decent work and the living conditions of higher education stakeholders (new)

8 The impact of COVID in higher Education (new)

9 Inclusion, diversity and the role of women in higher education (new)

10 Financing and governance in Higher Education (new)

11 Autonomy of higher education institutions (new)

12.1 The futures of higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean (new)

12.2 Challenges for the future of higher education in the Caribbean (new)

The themes and working methodology were approved during the first preparatory meeting held at the National University of Cordoba (Argentina) in March 2023. The broadly participatory nature of CRES+5 will include virtual working groups for each of the themes with broad regional participation, with the intention of producing a final report and contributing to the final declaration of the Brasilia Conference, to be held on March 13-15, 2024. It will highlight the progress made in higher education, as well as the shortcomings that still persist, the challenges posed, and the problems that emerge, particularly after the crisis caused by the pandemic.

Government representatives, rectors’ councils and/or associations in Latin America and the Caribbean, university networks linked to higher education as an area of study, higher education quality assurance agencies, non-governmental organisations or groups formally established in the region that act with social commitment in the innovation and transformation of Latin American and Caribbean higher education, regional and international organisations linked to higher education, teaching and non-teaching staff unions, as well as student organisations interested in participating can express their intention to participate by writing to director.iesalc@unesco.org.

Download the agenda and methodology

Cultural Program