Reception organized by swissuniversities

Presented on behalf of the Director-General by Mr. Francesco Pisano, Director, UN Library Geneva


Prof. Dr. Flückiger, [Rector of the University of Geneva and President of the Internationalrelations delegation of swissuniversities]
Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen,

A very warm welcome to the Palais des Nations. The Director-General very much regrets that he cannot be with us today and sends his best regards. He has asked me to present the following remarks on his behalf:


“Prof. Dr. Flückiger,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for giving me the honour of opening tonight’s reception organized by swissuniversities and the University of Geneva on the side of the annual conference of the European Association of International Educators.

International Geneva is a natural choice for this gathering. A site of academic excellence, it is also home to a multitude of international organizations, representations of Member States, NGOs and multinationals. Together, they make International Geneva an important operational hub of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, our global road map.

Education and innovation are centre pieces to this common road map for humanity. Without achieving the ambitious goal on education and innovation, the 2030 Agenda will not be realized, and academia has a key role in making sure that it will be achieved:

- Researchers need to provide the evidence base that helps us to better understand the scope and underlying dynamics of today’s global challenges
- Scientists need to guide us to technological innovation, along with policy, institutional and social innovation that may engender the transformative shift required to realize the 2030 Agenda
- Researchers can help us measure the progress in implementation and the impact of different strategies
- And, perhaps most importantly, your institutions create the professionals who are the current and future SDG implementers.

Both, academia and the mothers and fathers of the SDGs know that without collaboration, progress will not be made in any of these areas. In the 2030 Agenda, Goal 17 is specifically dedicated to partnerships. The same in academia: only by working across institutions, across borders and across disciplines, can we find the solutions that live up to the enormity of today’s challenges. This collaborative spirit is in the professional genes of all of you as you are all involved in establishing and nurturing partnerships between academic institutions and beyond.

I would like to thank swissuniversities and the European Association of International Educators for strengthening international exchange and for facilitating the important linkages between the higher education system and the UN. Many among your students are participating in our information programmes, including a two-week Graduate Study Programme. And they are frequent visitors of our Library and its archives going back to the League of Nations.

On our side, partnership, including with academia, are happening like never before, especially here in Geneva. The recently launched Knowledge and Learning Commons provides a co-creation space to share and capitalize on the incredible intellectual resources available at the UN and among Member States and could become a natural docking station to plug research into the work of the United Nations. The Perception Change Project has created various avenues to bring local and international Geneva around the table, providing an atmosphere of innovation and collaboration. And the SDG Lab fast-tracks and amplifies innovation from the drawing tables to the development and humanitarian front lines.

All these are important windows of opportunity to break down our silos, to learn to speak to each other and to jointly find the tools that will enable us to create an inclusive world where all humankind has the opportunity to prosper and develop its full potential.

I am grateful for your continued support and collaboration. Thank you and please enjoy your evening.”

This is the message of the Director-General.