The roles of city fathers and universities have to intertwine to find solutions to globalisation and urbanisation issues, specifically that the knowledge generated in higher education becomes part of the social fabric and change in the environments in which it operates.
 
This was the crux of the argument emerging from the panel discussion during the final session of the British Council’s Going Global 2017 conference in London last week on what city leaders want or need from universities.
 
“Our role involves mitigating inequality and building well-integrated cities. The universities must be a part of the process, dealing with the human resources and improving the quality of life for the citizens their institutions serve,” Rome Vice-mayor Luca Bergamo says.
 
The discussion centred on how the relationships between cities and their universities should be mutually beneficial, and principally what elements city leaders want from those institutions. The panel questioned the opportunities and challenges inherent in a relationship that has existed for hundreds of years..... For more