MEC attends CRES+5 alignment meeting in Cuba

The Ministry of Education of Brazil (MEC) will take part in the fourth preparatory meeting of the follow-up event to the III Regional Conference on Higher Education (CRES) 2018, entitled CRES+5, on February 7 and 8. The meeting will take place in Havana, Cuba, to discuss the draft base documents. The texts were formulated by the Working Groups (WGs) responsible for each of the 12 thematic axes. CRES+5 will take place from March 13 to 15, 2024 in Brasilia (DF). The MEC will be represented by Jaqueline Schultz, general coordinator for International Affairs in Higher Education at the Secretariat for Higher Education (Sesu), and Rui Oppermann, director of International Relations at the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes). 

With the support of the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNESCO IESALC), the WGs prepared draft working documents for the different thematic axes of CRES+5. These drafts will be presented and discussed at the meeting in Havana. 

To produce the drafts, each WG carried out bibliographic review activities, data collection and analysis, as well as online public consultations open to those interested. This amounted to more than 30 virtual seminars, held between September 2023 and January 2024, around the Conference’s thematic axes.

The meeting will also serve to deepen the issues raised at CRES 2018 and analyze the outcome of the debates corresponding to the preparatory meetings that preceded it – in Córdoba (Argentina), Puebla (Mexico) and Asunción (Paraguay). The aim is to reach an agreed agenda for higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean that will contribute to the preparation of CRES+5.

The MEC will also take part in the XIV International Congress on Higher Education in Havana, from February 5 to 9, which will feature a forum dedicated to CRES+5 and a space to discuss the almost final version of the texts proposed by each of the thematic axes towards CRES+5.  

Social participation – Contributions to CRES+5 are still open. Institutions, organizations and higher education networks in Latin America and the Caribbean can participate (using a specific form) in the collective construction of the Conference’s follow-up meeting, with comments or documents that reflect their considerations of the main challenges facing higher education in the region. The contributions received will be reviewed by the experts responsible for each of the 12 thematic axes, who must assess their relevance for inclusion in the preparation of the base document corresponding to their respective thematic axis.

CRES+5 – The follow-up meeting to CRES 2018, called CRES+5, is being organized by MEC, through the Sesu and Capes, in conjunction with UNESCO IESALC. Rectors, directors, academics, workers, students, higher education networks, associations and professionals, research centres, trade unions, representatives of governmental and non-governmental organisations and all those interested in higher education in the continent are invited to this meeting.

As part of the preparatory activities for the follow-up meeting of CRES+5, different instances of open and participatory debate were organized in the region as part of the process of methodological construction of the event. Throughout 2023, face-to-face meetings were held in Córdoba (Argentina); Puebla (Mexico); and Asunción (Paraguay). In addition, preparatory virtual public consultations were held to discuss and gather information on the 12 Thematic Axes of CRES+5, as well as to contribute to the organization of the Conference. The fourth preparatory meeting will be held in Havana on February 7 and 8, 2024 within the framework of the Universidad 2024 Congress.

Those interested in participating in CRES+5 can register until 13 February 2024 through the form available here, where they can obtain all the necessary information about the Conference.

Office of Social Communication of the MEC, with information from UNESCO IESALC