47 Universities From 18 Countries Commit to 6 PRINCIPLES and take Concrete action Related to the G7 Agenda Themes

During the U7+ Summit held in Paris on 9-10 July 2019 under the high patronage of Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, 47 presidents from leading universities in the world engaged within the newly created U7+ discussed, voted and signed 6 commitments that tackle 5 major global challenges on the multilateral agenda: the key role of universities in a global world, climate change and energy transition, inequality in societies, technological transformations, and community engagement and impact.

The U7+ final declaration was adopted in the perspective of the upcoming G7 Biarritz Summit. The declaration results from discussions held during the 2-day summit, based on recommendations produced by international working groups led by personal representatives in the respective universities.

All proposed principles were adopted.

Multiple tangible actions are associated with each adopted principle. These will be championed by several universities. University leaders voiced their willingness to take specific action related to the 6 adopted principles, within their own institutions. In total, 247 individual commitments to action were made by the U7+ universities.

The U7+ generated tremendous mobilisation and strong commitment from leading universities from around the globe in record time, as they collectively embraced a new role as members of the U7+ and as global change-makers for the sector and beyond. It confirms the role of universities as global actors engaged in deploying concrete actions to make a tangible change in the world.The U7+ members’ responsibility in playing a civic, social and political role has already been recognized by the multilateral bodies: the U7 Alliance was associated to the last general review of the engagement groups organised in Paris on July 2^nd. U7+ representatives are also invited to contribute to the sous-sherpa meeting planned in Paris on July 12^th in order to present the U7+ final declaration and its 6 acted principles in the context of the last discussions before the G7 Biarritz Summit.

The official declaration signed by the 47 university leaders

https://www.u7alliance.org/commitments/

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190711005624/en/

Contact information

Media contact: Marie Frocrain – marie.frocrain@sciencespo.fr - +33 1 49 54 37 71