Universities and their role to play

Knowledge led change in our societies along the years. Driven by research and innovation, life is now more insightful and resilient than it was in the past, less than it will be in the future. Each generation played a role, navigating the unknown, improving existing practices, and establishing new standards and goals. One thing connected the past to the present, and the future, that is knowledge. Thus,universities found their role to play a long time ago. While holding and disseminating existing knowledge, they always took it to the next level.

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Our generation set up new priorities for the decade, the 2030 agenda under the name of sustainable development goals (SDG). A common language between countries, public and private institutions, or individuals, which addresses the pressuring challenges of our society and the planet. Although universities have the SDG 4 embedded in their core businesses, their role go beyond it.

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Nova School of Business and Economics (Nova SBE) started to take an active role in our society right from its foundation in 1979, as part of Nova University of Lisbon. Reinforced by a clear mission, more than a school, it is a community dedicated to the development of talent and knowledge that impacts the world. Faculty, staff,students, alumni, public institutions, corporations, and the civil society in general, are the real game changers who use the school as a platform to generate more impact (SDG 17 encourages partnerships to implement the goals). In 2018 I had the privilege to implement this vision by creating Nova SBE Impact Experience, a department with the mission to engage all these different stakeholders. In 2019 we launched the first Nova SBE Impact Report and made ourselves accountable for all the incredible actions we have been involved in the last academic year.

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The current pandemic has confirmed how the world is a complex, interdependent system. Only by reinventing ourselves, by working together, we can survive. Just like individuals, universities need to find their uniqueness.  The world is full of rankings that compare what is not always comparable and I finish this short article by celebrating the existence of an impact ranking in which Nova University of Lisbon is represented, the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings.

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The 1st edition of Nova SBE's Impact Report can be accessed here.