Tec de Monterrey hosts Worldwide Universities Network meeting

For the first time, Mexican university Tec de Monterrey is hosting the Annual General Meeting of leaders from the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN).

The meeting to exchange ideas and forms of collaboration for tackling global challenges is being held from May 22 to 24 at the Tec’s Monterrey campus.

In attendance are 17 leaders of institutions from 14 countries, such as the University of Alberta, University of Bristol, Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Sheffield, and Maastricht University.

“As the leaders of member universities, we will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and best practices for achieving WUN’s purpose of collaborating on research related to major global challenges.

“These challenges include climate change, public health, education, and understanding different cultures,” explained David Garza, Rector and Executive President of the Tec.

“As the leaders of member universities, we will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and best practices.” - David Garza, Rector and Executive President of the Tec

Universities united by global challenges

At the inauguration of the meeting on Monday 22, David Garza welcomed the leaders of universities from around the world and stressed the importance of collaboration and impact from everyone.

“This meeting is about cooperation. Although we compete for talent and resources, at the end of the day, when we have that talent and those resources, we have to act, and now is when we have to make an impact.

“We have a great platform for making this impact. So, many thanks to WUN for choosing Tec de Monterrey. We hope that this will be a pleasant meeting for conversations to begin,” he added.

Garza also underscored how important it was for Tecnológico de Monterrey to host the WUN AGM this year, when the institution will be holding different activities to celebrate its 80th anniversary.

“This meeting is about cooperation [...] we have to act, and now is when we have to make an impact.”

The WUN Presidents Forum 2023 will also be held as part of the event to discuss topics concerning climate change.

For example, this forum will include the keynote address Universities’ Contributions to Environmental Sustainability by Rodolfo Lacy Tamayo, OECD Director for Climate Action and Environment for Latin America and Special Envoy on Climate Matters to the United Nations.

The leaders of WUN member universities will be working in three sessions at this form to reflect on the role of their institutions in terms of sustainability.

“As the leaders of WUN member universities, we will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and best practices for achieving WUN’s purpose.”

Tec de Monterrey and WUN

The Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) brings together 24 universities across six continents in a collaborative partnership to advance research on major global challenges.

Capitalizing on the geographical and cultural diversity of its members, WUN enriches their shared experience and brings together distinctive constellations of talent to address problems of real significance.

Tec de Monterrey has been a member of this group of universities since 2018, sharing experiences with educational institutions from six continents and making WUN a unique forum for exchanging knowledge.

Tec’s international participation

By receiving this group of universities at its Monterrey campus, the Tec renews its international commitment and presence to encourage this form of collaboration and promote global academic excellence through the exchange of experiences with leading researchers from around the world.

This event joins other important international meetings at which the Tec has also been present.

In January of this year, the institution was invited to attend the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, as the only university invited from Latin America.

In 2022, the Tec also joined the boards of international academic organizations, such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), and Universitas 21 (U21).

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