The IAU is pleased to announce that on 17 September 2026, UNESCO launched 3 new guidance tools for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) during an online event.

From 8 to 11 September 2026, the European Association for International Education (EAIE) held its 36th Annual Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, bringing together over 7300 international educational leaders and practitioners from 107 countries. Representing the International Association of Universities (IAU), Dr Hilligje van’t Land, Secretary General, and Giorgio Marinoni, Manager of Higher Education and Internationalization, contributed to 3 pivotal sessions addressing the evolving challenges facing higher education globally.

In 2026, the 7th ASEF Higher Education Innovation Laboratory (ASEFInnoLab7) brought together university leaders, policy researchers, and innovators from across Asia and Europe under the banner of “The Role of Universities in Advancing AI for Good.”

A Personal Invitation to the IAU 17th General Conference. The International Association of Universities' 17th General Conference comes at an important moment for higher education.

From 26-28 August, Isabel Toman, IAU Senior Programme Officer for Higher Education and Sustainable Development (HESD) attended and presented a paper at the 2026 Higher Education Summit.

From 18 to 20 August, the International Association of Universities (IAU) participated in the Global Smart Education Conference 2026 (GSE 2026) held at Beijing Normal University (BNU), China.

The IAU is excited to announce that Maldives National University (MNU) has received the annual IAU Responsible Futures International Fee Waiver to participate in the RFI 2026-2027 cohort, starting in October.

In July 2026, the IAU actively participated in two pivotal UNESCO events this July: the Transforming Education Summit +4 (TES+4) and the 2026 Global Conference on the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (IDSSD 2024–2033).

The IAU is pleased to announce that the article Navigating forcibly displaced learners’ pathways to higher education and beyond: Ukrainian students in French higher education has recently been published. This publication, written by Yasar Kondakci, Sevgi Kaya Kasikci, Giorgio Marinoni, and Kateryna Nakvatska, was born on the initiative of Kateryna during her internship at the IAU in 2024.

The IAU is pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES) under the CAPES-Global.edu project, a major Brazilian government initiative for the internationalization of post-graduate higher education.

The IAU was pleased to participate in the 5th edition of the Université Côte d'Azur International Digital Week, contributing expert insights and facilitating critical discussions on the intersection of digital transformation, internationalisation, and the future of higher education.

In the three decades since the adoption of the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel (1997), the global higher education landscape has undergone profound transformation.

From 15–17 June 2026, IAU Secretary General Hilligje van’t Land joined 150 university leaders from Lusophone countries and China at the 35th Meeting of the Association of Portuguese Language Universities (AULP), marking the organisation’s 40th anniversary.

On 10 June 2026, the European Women Rectors Association (EWORA) convened its annual conference in Brussels, bringing together women academic leaders from Europe and beyond under the theme: “Women’s Leadership in Academia in Times of Rising Geopolitical Tensions”. The event provided a critical space to reflect on the role of universities in upholding democracy, academic freedom, and international cooperation—values under pressure in an era of fragmentation and uncertainty.

IAU Manager of Higher Education and Internationalization, Giorgio Marinoni, recently contributed to the 2026 Annual Meeting of the garagErasmus Foundation. GaragErasmus is the Erasmus Generation Professional Network and aims t be a creative hub for mobile talents to support the shaping of a new Europe.

IAU Secretary General Hilligje van’t Land participated in the Science|Business roundtable "Pillars of Freedom: Safeguarding knowledge, building institutional resilience" in Brussels.

The International Association of Universities (IAU) and Université Catholique de Lille are pleased to announce that Université Catholique de Lille has confirmed the leadership and coordination of the IAU Higher Education and Research for Sustainable Development (HESD) Subcluster on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities.

From 7 to 15 July 2026, the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will be held under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. The 2026 Forum will focus on the theme “Transformative, equitable, innovative and coordinated actions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals for a sustainable future for all.”

Hosted by Murdoch University from 3-6 November 2026, the IAU 17th General Conference event will feature a dynamic programme exploring emerging trends in higher education, drawing on diverse perspectives from all regions of the world.

The IAU was pleased to participate and contribute to the 33rd Annual Joint Meeting of the ENIC and NARIC Networks held on 24-26 May 2026 in Athens, Greece.

The IAU was pleased to have been invited for the second year in a row to the Network for University Leaders in Governance and Management (DG2) 2026 Summer School, hosted by UNIMINUTO, Colombia.

The International Association of Universities (IAU) is pleased to announce the opening of applications for the second in a series of four OpenEU Study Visits, organised by the IAU in its role as an Associative partner of OpenEU. This Study Visit will take place at the Universidade Aberta in Lisbon, Portugal.

Over the past seventy five years, the IAU has served as a unique global convener for higher education. It has provided a trusted forum for dialogue across cultures and systems, championed core academic values, and supported universities in addressing shared challenges—from access and quality, to academic freedom, sustainability and the public responsibility of higher education

Each year, the IAU reserves a dedicated budget to offer a HEIAS Annual Fee Waiver to one IAU Member institution. This Fee Waiver provides access, free of charge, to selected online modules of the HEIAS services, allowing institutions to strengthen their internationalisation strategy through structured, expert-led support.

The IAU and EAIE invite you to join us for the 2nd Internationalisation Leadership Dialogue hosted by the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland on Tuesday, 8 September 2026 from 9:30 – 14:30.

Since 2025, the IAU offers one fee waiver to cover the participation of one IAU Member HEI for the Responsible Futures International programme.

The IAU was pleased to participate and contribute to the 2026 FAUBAI Conference on 12-15 April in Florianópolis, Brazil. 

Building Global Partnerships for Sustainable Development: The IAU HESD Cluster and the Road Ahead to 2030

Celebrating 75 years of international higher education collaboration…