Thank you to all who joined us at Rhodes University, 

Makhanda, South Africa.

Great news! The special edition of Cristal emerging from the conference has been published. You can access it here.

The conference theme is trust.

Trust is a necessary ingredient for collaboration and cooperation, and it is thus a cornerstone of higher education. Students trust institutions to provide a quality education that enables access to the knowledge and practices that they will take into the world. Academics trust students to engage in their studies with intellectual curiosity and academic integrity. Researchers trust each other to uphold rigorous inquiry standards and undertake knowledge creation and dissemination in ethical ways. The public trusts universities to serve society. 

In a world where many of our interactions with students are based on mistrust, where students demonstrate their mistrust of institutions through protests, where surveillance software is the norm, and where AI has the potential to drive fake news and anti-intellectualism, trust is more necessary than ever. It cannot be taken for granted, it needs to be cultivated through open communication and the embracing of diversity. In a trustworthy ecosystem, staff and students thrive, knowledge flourishes, and society benefits.

This theme encourages reflections on our understanding of what higher education is for, how we relate to our students, community and each other, and how we build and disseminate knowledge that contributes to the public good. It raises considerations about how higher education can nurture ethical ways of being.