How can higher education institutions contribute to a more sustainable and equal world? How can Portuguese-speaking countries unite in defining a strategy for higher education? These were some of the main topics under debate at the 13th FORGES Conference, hosted by Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP) from November 22 to 24.

At the opening session, the President of UCP, Isabel Capeloa Gil, emphasised the importance of higher education institutions for the development and projection of countries, highlighting their "responsibility for the future of countries".

The President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, described the role of cooperation between higher education institutions and their academic communities as an "essential dimension of Lusophony". He added that "the Portuguese language translates into a space of cultural affinity, of solidarity, of closer institutional and human relations that should be an enabler for the development of all dimensions of higher education."

Regarding the challenges facing institutions, the Secretary of State for Higher Education, Pedro Teixeira, said that universities must "continue to provide opportunities and be the great instrument of social mobility and personal development in societies, without reproducing or amplifying inequalities, but rather contributing to reducing them".

Introducing a reflection on sustainability, Peter Hanenberg, Vice-Rector of UCP, pointed to three major challenges for humankind: "the cry of the poor, the cry of the Earth and the cry for peace", saying that "we also hear these cries in Portuguese" and that "communities need to be heard".

Margarida Mano, President of the Forum for Higher Education Management in Portuguese-speaking Countries (FORGES), and Vice-Rector of UCP, also marked the opening of this 13th Conference as "a moment of celebration of hope for the future", adding that "FORGES is proud to be an open, inclusive network, where past, present and future come together in a permanent challenge".

The Sustainability Network of Higher Education Institutions in Portuguese-speaking Countries and Regions was also launched at the ceremony. This network brings together 35 universities in an institutional commitment to promote ethics for sustainability, through partnerships, technology transfer and the dissemination of knowledge.

Marcelo Bizerril, one of the people behind this initiative, said of the importance of this network: "The cause of sustainability is the great cause of humanity in this century".

For three days, the 13th FORGES Conference held various round tables, lectures and training sessions dedicated to the theme "Higher Education Institutions and the Great Challenges Facing Humanity in the Portuguese-speaking World: Strategies for SDG-orientated Management".

Rewatch the sessions here