Throughout history, collaboration has been the driving force behind society’s groundbreaking advancements. In a world where challenges such as climate and health crises, war and economic uncertainty transcend borders, pooling our diverse resources, expertise and talent is increasingly critical.
While universities, as autonomous intermediaries, have always collaborated to produce and mobilize knowledge and accelerate regional socio-economic development, the 21st century’s knowledge-based economy requires that they expand the frontiers of both their scholarly and geographic impacts, and re-envision their institutions as platforms for social change.
When York was founded in 1959, it was designed to serve local postwar communities through programs, research and pedagogical innovation and advocacy. Today, our purpose includes bringing together local and global public, private and non-profit actors to catalyze the changes needed to prevent conflict, inequality and environmental degradation.
To fulfil this mission, we built new campuses spanning from Canada to Costa Rica and India, and strategically invested in critical interdisciplinary programs and collaborative research initiatives, including the $318-million Connected Minds project, which aims to optimize the benefits and mitigate the risks of a techno-social collective; the $7.25-million AI4PEP program to support AI-based health-care solutions in the global South; an $8.7-million initiative to address global antimicrobial resistance; and a United Nations-backed Water Academy to address the global water sustainability crisis.
There is still a long way to go to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals at the heart of our 2020-2025 University Academic Plan. In response to the UN’s call to action, we stepped up our commitment to sustainability with a target of achieving net zero by 2040 or sooner, and are building our network of more than 300 partners across 60 countries to support a new Internationalization & Global Engagement Strategy.
In the past year alone, we partnered with governments in Guyana and the Philippines, co-sponsored the first Canada-in-Asia Conference, hosted more than 40 delegations, visited 11 countries, joined four new coalitions and implemented temporary financial measures for students from conflict-affected countries. Other initiatives, such as the Global Research Excellence Fund, will further leverage the power of interdisciplinary knowledge and cross-sectoral collaboration to create targeted solutions for our most urgent challenges.
As a sustainability leader with a diverse community that includes more than 370,000 alumni across the world, it is our responsibility as a public institution and as an international university to mobilize lasting positive change. By continuing to work together, I am confident that we can realize a future that is more inclusive, peaceful and sustainable for us all.
