Civil society has led the charge over the last 30 years drawing the world’s attention to the grand challenges, the big issues and the deep crises that we face as humans amongst the other life forms on the planet we call Earth. The United Nations has been a vehicle to amplify these issues and facilitate conversations with member states, the governments of our many nations. The MDGs are a case in point. The post-2015 goals are the next stage in that process.

I am shifting early in the morning from London to Barcelona to begin to prepare for the GUNi conference and wanted to share some thoughts based on some of the goings on that I have been part of here in the UK for the past weeks.  I have had a visit to the National Coordinating Committee for Public Engagement in Higher Education in Bristol, a chat with Sir Peter Scott at the Institute of Education in London, a meeting of many of the leaders of the International Association of Universities in Salford, near Manchester, a talk on Knowledge Democracy at the Association of Commonwealth Universities, a brief chat with Prof. Martin Hall, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Salford and a disappointing draw match between my football team Arsenal and Manchester United.  And of course the death of Margaret Thatcher that raised once more the outrageous arrogance and nastiness of the war against the working class unleashed during her term.

The Ministry of Higher Education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hosted an international conference on "Social Responsibility in Higher Education" April 16-17.  They brought together some of the best known women and men in the world for two days of dialogue and discussion.