AC21 International Forum
The AC21 International Forum was AC21's flagship recurring event, held every two years from the consortium's founding in 2002 until its final edition in 2022. According to Nagoya University's own description of the programme, the forums "provide the AC21 members with the opportunities to reassess the role of higher education in society, through keynote addresses by prominent public figures, presentations and panel discussions." Eleven editions were held in total, rotating among member universities and helping build the working relationships behind AC21's other activities, including its research funding and student mobility programmes — the kind of recurring touchpoint that, as we discuss in our overview of how university partnerships work, tends to keep a partnership alive between formal renewals.
A note on this table: this page was rebuilt from official university records after an earlier version was found to contain multiple incorrect hosts, locations and themes. Where a primary source confirms a detail, it is included with its source. Where we could not independently verify a date or theme, the cell says so rather than repeating an unconfirmed figure.
International Forum History: 2002–2022
| Ed. | Year | Host University | Location | Dates | Theme |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2002 | Nagoya University | Nagoya, Japan | June 24, 2002 (founding forum) | The Role of Universities in the 21st Century |
| 2nd | 2004 | University of Sydney | Sydney, Australia | July 2004 (four-day event) | Universities, Cities and Society in the 21st Century |
| 3rd | 2006 | University of Warwick | Coventry, United Kingdom | Not verified | Not verified |
| 4th | 2008 | North Carolina State University | Raleigh, North Carolina, USA | July 2008 | Not verified |
| 5th | 2010 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | Shanghai, China | October 19–20, 2010 | Not verified |
| 6th | 2012 | University of Adelaide | Adelaide, Australia | June 12–14, 2012 | Maximizing the Benefits of Internationalization |
| 7th | 2014 | Stellenbosch University | Stellenbosch, South Africa | April 13–16, 2014 | Science for Society: Higher Education as Builder of Hope |
| 8th | 2016 | Technische Universität Chemnitz | Chemnitz, Germany | April 30 – May 3, 2016 | Networks of Innovation for the Transformation of Society through Science |
| 9th | 2018 | Jilin University | Changchun, China | July 4–7, 2018 | University Innovation and Social Development |
| 10th | 2020 | Kasetsart University | Bangkok, Thailand (online) | December 2020 | New Pathways in Higher Education to meet Challenges of Global Change |
| 11th | 2022 | Nagoya University | Nagoya, Japan (Noyori Conference Hall) | December 7–9, 2022 | International Higher Education for a Sustainable Society |
On the 9th Forum's sub-themes: Nagoya University's own record of the 2018 Jilin forum lists three sub-themes alongside the main theme: "Interdisciplinary Research and International Cooperation," "Reform in Higher Education and MOOCs," and "Innovation and Entrepreneurship." Over 100 representatives from 30 institutions across 10 countries took part, and the closing ceremony saw the AC21 presidency pass from Jilin University to Kasetsart University, which hosted the following forum in 2020.
On attendance figures: a small number of editions have documented attendance we can cite directly: the 2012 Adelaide forum drew approximately 130 delegates from 15 AC21 member universities (Nagoya University Profile 2013), and the 2016 Chemnitz forum drew more than 100 guests during the university's 180th-anniversary week. We have not found comparably specific, sourced attendance figures for the other editions, so we have not estimated them.
From Nagoya 2002 to Nagoya 2022
AC21 was established at the first International Forum, hosted by Nagoya University in 2002. The Forum then rotated among member universities on a biennial cycle for two decades. Its 11th and final edition returned to where it started: held at Nagoya University's Noyori Conference Hall in December 2022, on the theme "International Higher Education for a Sustainable Society," it marked the consortium's 20th anniversary. Nagoya University's own event record for this edition describes it as the final event in the AC21 programme.
Primary sources used for this page: Nagoya University institutional profiles (2013 and 2019 editions) and its IMaSS event page for the 2022 forum; the University of Sydney's 2004 Annual Report; a North Carolina State University news article (February 2008); University of Warwick Strategy Committee minutes (September 2004); Technische Universität Chemnitz's official event pages for the 2014 and 2016 forums. Full citations are available on request via our contact page.
For AC21's other recurring activities during this period, see the Special Project Fund and Student World Forum. A broader year-by-year timeline of AC21 events, including steering committee meetings and general assemblies, is maintained on our event calendar — that page has not yet been through the same source-by-source verification as this one and may still contain unconfirmed entries.