Preparatory meeting for the upcoming Regional Conference on Higher Education + 5 reinforced dialogue and commitment among stakeholders

During two intense days of dialogue and enriching exchange on the main challenges facing higher education, thematic teams made up of representatives from 16 countries in the region analysed the progress made in each of the thematic areas addressed at CRES 2018, as well as discussing the main thematic areas to be addressed at the next Regional Conference on Higher Education + 5 (CRES+5), which will be held in Brazil from 13 to 15 March 2024 in Brasilia, the federal capital of Brazil.

It is impossible to synthesise the complexity of ideas emerging from the collective work of these two days, but if anything can be concluded from this process, it is its vitality and its agenda, which has its origins in CRES 2018 and its first antecedent in 1996. And much of that agenda is still very much alive”. Francesc Pedró.

Francesc Pedró, Director of UNESCO IESALC, announced that they will continue to deepen the issues raised at the next meetings to be held in Paraguay and Havana, in November 2023 and February 2024, respectively, where they will agree on an agenda for higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Professor Miguel Wenceslao Torres Ñumbay, academic vice-rector of the National University of Paraguay, offered welcoming remarks in Guarani and Spanish and invited to the 10th Meeting of Higher Education Networks and Councils of Rectors of Latin America and the Caribbean, on 22-23 November in Asunción, Paraguay. “This meeting is the third preparatory meeting towards CRES+5 and will have as its main theme the digital transformation in HE. We cordially invite you, on behalf of our rector Zully Vera de Molinas, the first female rector of public universities in Paraguay, to visit our country. We want you to feel the warmth and affection of the Paraguayan people,” she said.

Miriam Alpizar, representative of the Cuban Ministry of Education, intervened to announce that, from 5 to 9 February in Havana, Cuba, the 14th International Congress on Higher Education will take place, with 7 symposiums that include all the central themes of higher education. It will include a forum dedicated to the CRES 2018+5 and will have as special guests UNESCO IESALC, ENLACES, and academic organisations from the region. There will also be a space to discuss the almost final version of the thematic axes towards CRES+5.

The Director of International Relations of the Ministry of Education of Brazil-CAPES, Rui Oppermann, announced that in Brasilia a final declaration will be drawn up that will contribute to a roadmap for higher education systems in Latin America and the Caribbean to continue advancing strategically towards the sustainable development of the region.

The director of IESALC thanked the Federal Government of Brazil for its support from the beginning of the process to achieve an intermediate agenda of proposals with a view to the celebration of the CRES in 2028 and asked for applause for the SEP and BUAP work teams: “We leave with a smile as a symbol of this city and this people and with the impression of building something together,” he said.

The academic work was sealed by the musical notes of the BUAP-CCU Symphony Orchestra with a magnificent performance of Moncayo’s Huapango and Arturo Márquez’s Danzón number 2, conducted by Mexican conductor Lizzi Ceniceros.