In partnership with the University of Nottingham, the Russell Group, Universities UK International, the Royal Society, UK Research and Innovation, the University of Glasgow and the University of London.
This report focuses on the role of knowledge diplomacy in helping universities and higher education institutions (HEIs) navigate an increasingly turbulent world during a time of considerable geopolitical change. Knowledge diplomacy has been defined as “the process of building and strengthening relations between and among countries through international higher education, research and innovation”.[1]
The dialogue on this topic, summarised in this report, sought to explore this concept amid a rapidly changing global landscape, highlight how HEIs and similar stakeholders are adopting it, and outline recommendations for future collaboration so that together they can use it to help shape a future where international relations, higher education and research are most effectively optimised to address the critical global challenges facing the world today. It brought together 40 leaders from 16 different countries from sectors including higher education, research funders, government, diplomacy, industry, national scientific academies, and other organisations to discuss these and related issues in what is intended to be the beginning of an ongoing conversation. Key objectives of this continuing discussion will be to enhance the international impact and influence of participating institutions through sharing their approaches to dealing with the heightened risks and challenges of, and realising the opportunities provided by, a rapidly changing world.
Executive summary
The theory and practice of knowledge diplomacy
Knowledge diplomacy is an umbrella term which covers a wide range of research, education, cultural and scientific collaborations that also serve a diplomatic purpose. The activities it describes and the broad conceptual framework which brings them together can help universities, HEIs and other key stakeholders collaboratively address the global and geopolitical challenges of today, as well as the particular challenges of their sector. It can play a vital role in bringing universities, governments, and industry together and in navigating political change. However, its uses are value-neutral, and it can be used for malign purposes, such as to promote conflict and polarisation, as well as to counter them. It is also not the same thing as soft power (see definitions below).
“Knowledge diplomacy is a tool that can be used for good and bad.”
Science diplomacy and cultural diplomacy are critical components of knowledge diplomacy. Utilised correctly, cultural diplomacy can help to increase understanding between peoples as well as counter threats such as increasing nationalism, populism and geopolitical tension. Conversely, science diplomacy can help interlocutors to work around sensitive political disputes by focusing on scientific or technological questions and cooperation. Like other diplomacies however, both are a tool for gaining national influence and advantage, and they too can be used for good or ill.
Challenges and opportunities
There are a number of daunting and growing challenges impacting international higher education. Firstly, the world is arguably more dangerous than it has been for some time. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Gaza conflict, increasing tensions between China and the US, shifting alliances in the wake of these realignments and their knock-on effects in domestic politics could be more accurately characterised as the start of a new geopolitical era rather than a series of disconnected crises. There is also an increasingly polarised political climate around the world. These developments have led to the curtailment of much research collaboration between Russia and the West following the imposition of sanctions; to the growing political prominence of the need to safeguard the security of research from hostile and authoritarian states, many of whom are putting up barriers against research collaboration which range from informal discouragement to actively making it illegal; to student protests on campuses across the world; and a rejection in some cases of science, evidence and expertise. Meanwhile global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and vulnerability to pandemics continue to become ever more acute.
At the same time, the rapidly evolving global higher education and research landscape offers a number of opportunities. These include a much more evenly distributed global balance of research excellence, the considerable and increasing international influence of universities as diplomatic actors in their own right, and the fundamental importance of education and research in tackling global challenges.
Universities and foreign policy
Views diverge as to whether or not universities can or should have an independent ‘foreign policy’ of their own. The levels of autonomy they enjoy from, and their relationships with the states that fund them, vary considerably. Some argue that even the most independent universities can never be fully separated from their home countries, their national interests and the societies they represent, even if their interests do not always align, and that such a policy could conflict with academic freedom. Others counter that such a policy is essential in order to ensure that universities can strategically navigate geopolitical turbulence rather than be passively impacted by it.
“Research has no borders, but researchers have national borders”
Regardless of the above, universities do need an internationalisation strategy, underpinned by robust principles and guidelines, to provide resilience against the rapidly changing dynamics of an ever more dangerous world.
The prospects for collaboration
Many individual HEI leaders and researchers are rapidly adapting to these changing dynamics in novel and innovative ways yet have not always been easily able to share best practice, learn from or support each other.
“I practice science diplomacy, but I don’t have diplomatic immunity”
There is a real imperative and appetite for stakeholders operating in this space to collaborate further in an informal “Knowledge Diplomacy Forum” to address shared challenges and opportunities. Further dialogue on the topic among those who participated and key stakeholders from their communities will continue, with an initial focus on convening, networking, information sharing and best practice.
[1] Jane Knight, Knowledge Diplomacy in International Relations and Higher Education (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2022), 103.