As a people-led network, we engage with many different audiences at all levels in our member institutions to support the delivery of impact at institutional and societal levels as well as enabling personal career development and growth.  

We are proud of the trusted environment that U21 continues to build, so that our member institutions can collaborate and share best practice effectively, focusing on areas such as global education, global research and the many diverse challenges facing higher education leaders at a global, national and local level.

How we work with our members

Our structured peer to peer engagement programmes through our Presidents’, Senior Leaders and other Steering Groups enable global collaboration across many leadership functions such as Vice Chancellors, PVCs Research or Education and Deans of Graduate Schools. Our Communities of Practice offer collaboration opportunities across all university functions.

Through our network of 30 members, many groups across academic and professional staff have taken advantage of the warm, open door provided by U21 membership to set up communities of practice, to support them with international insight, strengthening their research or ways of working.

We also offer highly-valued career development and leadership programmes, as well as many programmes for students, focused on social innovation, employability and access to inter-cultural opportunities.

All of our programmes and engagement are underpinned with strong member-wide commitments to EDI and sustainability – for example, our focus on inclusion has so far increased the percentage of applicants from an underrepresented background for our Global Citizens programme to 40%. We are also signatories and active participants in CANIE, the Climate Action Network for International Educators.

“Universitas 21 provides a trusted environment for our staff and students to more easily create international networks to support their research, education or ways of working.

International peer to peer engagement enables a broad range of benefits, with our leadership sharing best practice globally. Furthermore, it offers our students access to innovative international opportunities that emphasise key topics, such as leadership, sustainability and innovation, enhancing their global skills sets.

As a member of U21, we have strengthened our outcomes aligned to our strategic objectives, such as student mobility and employability , education innovation and developing international research partnerships.”

Richard Stenelo, International Director and Deputy Executive Director, External Relations at Lund University