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The Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi) is an international network created in 1999 by UNESCO, the United Nations University (UNU) and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC), after UNESCO's World Conference on Higher Education (WCHE) in 1998, to give continuity to and facilitate the implementation of its main decisions. Ten years later in 2009, GUNi played a significant role in the second WCHE, following its mandate to further reflection and action frameworks to facilitate the exchange of value between higher education and society globally.

GUNi is a network currently composed of members from more than 70 countries, that include the UNESCO Chairs in Higher Education, higher education institutions, research centers and networks related to innovation and the social commitment of higher education.

GUNi has regional offices in Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab States, and Europe and North America (USA and Canada). The Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain hosts its presidency and the International Secretariat.

Background

GUNi was created within the framework of the UNITWIN / UNESCO Chairs Programme, under the following principles:

Education, academic and vocational training, sustainable research and education capacities are prerequisites for the development of any country.

Human resources play a major role in the socio-economic and cultural development of countries.

Inter-university cooperation aims at long-term linkages between institutions of higher education and research in both industrialized and developing countries, by focusing primarily on the transfer of knowledge.

Any cooperation should be based on a desire to promote the development of the partner university in accordance with its own aims.

Progress in higher education should be based on long-term choices made in response to social requirements, particularly those connected with peace, democratic government and sustainable development.

Association based on common interest, mutual respect and credibility should be a prime matrix for renewal in higher education.
Inter-university cooperation between higher education institutions and society, based on solidarity and mutual respect, constitutes a common cultural heritage.