Two days after Greta Thunberg stood on a stage at the Youth4Climate summit in Milan and rebuked world leaders for offering “Blah, blah, blah” in place of actions to deal with climate change, 43 undergraduate and graduate activists from 21 countries and 61 university professors, administrators and other education leaders from 28 countries gathered with some 400 attendees at the Talloires Network Leaders Conference 2021, hosted by Tufts and Harvard universities.
“Global Institutions, Local Impact: Power and responsibility of engaged universities” was held over the course of four days beginning on 30 September 2021. Students and university officials reported virtually on the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and efforts to deal with it, attempts to tackle climate change and the state of civic engagement in their countries.
“At its core, the Talloires Network of Engaged Universities is a dynamic coalition of diverse institutions committed to embedding civic engagement into their research, teaching and partnerships,” says Professor Anthony Monaco, Tufts University president and chair of the Talloires Network steering committee.
“And while each member university brings its own vision to the Network, this conference is an essential part of building and sustaining the connections that allow us to exchange ideas and collaborate to address urgent global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, systemic inequality and climate change.”
