Working Groups

To activate the U7+ Strategic Priorities, the U7+ has working groups dedicated to the following global challenges:

• Chair: Université de Montréal and Université Mohammed 6 Polytechnique

Description: The rapid advancement of AI is reshaping economies, societies, and governance at an unprecedented pace. As AI continues to evolve, its impact extends beyond technological innovation, influencing global power dynamics, labor markets, ethical considerations, and fundamental questions of governance. In this context of accelerating change and increasing geopolitical polarization, universities have a crucial role to play—not only in advancing AI research but also in ensuring its responsible and equitable development.

In 2025, the Working Group on Artificial Intelligence serves as a central pillar of the U7+ Alliance’s agenda, recognizing the urgency of addressing both the opportunities and challenges presented by AI. The primary objective will be to draft a U7+ Communiqué for the G7, articulating the role of universities in shaping AI’s future. This communiqué will focus on key areas such as the governance of AI, ethical considerations, and the contributions of academic institutions to AI research, education, and policy frameworks.

By leveraging their expertise, independence, depth and global networks, universities can help bridge divides, promote ethical AI, and contribute to policies that maximize AI’s benefits while mitigating its risks. The U7+ Alliance, through this Working Group, seeks to reinforce the academic sector’s leadership in shaping a future where AI serves Humanity for the best.

• Co-chairs: University of Edinburgh, Université PSL, University of Toronto

Description: The Climate Change and Sustainability Working Group is committed to driving specific actions in alignment with the U7+ Alliance’s founding principles, which recognize that our universities have a major role to play in addressing the environmental issues and challenges to sustainability such as climate change, biodiversity, and energy transition. The working Group will convene member universities’ senior leaders, staff, faculty, and engage key content experts as appropriate.

The working group will inform, support, and develop programs, resources, and analyses to advance progress on key goals related to GHG emission reduction and enhancing access to sustainability curricula. In the past we have done this through activities including sharing policy frameworks and best practices on student engagement; developing a pathway to GHG reduction framework for universities; and convening policy discussions at COP.

The working group is committed to influence the global policy agenda, including through joint projects and engagement with the G7, UN and other multilateral organizational processes. It will engage with our respective student communities, recognizing that they will bear a disproportionate share of the burden and consequences of climate change.

• Chair: Georgetown University

U7+ Working Group on Campus Dialogue

Summary

The working group, formed in October 2024, brings together senior administrators from across the U7+ network to share their experiences in promoting respectful campus dialogue in charged political environments. Chaired by Thomas Banchoff, the group first met on November 26. A second meeting will take place on February 4. After a third and final meeting in March, a report will be prepared in advance of the Ottawa Summit, summarizing the conversations for U7+ presidents. (Formal recommendations are not envisioned, given the sensitivity of the issues and their different character from one campus context to the next.)

Framing

The polarization of national and international politics has generated heightened tensions across many of our campuses. As institutions dedicated to the free exchange of ideas, universities must maintain space for difficult dialogue, both inside and outside the classroom, while also fostering community norms of civility and mutual respect. Over the past year, many universities have developed new approaches to campus dialogue, ranging from training programs for faculty and student leaders to restrictions on campus protest. This working group convenes senior administrators from across the U7+ network for one-hour off-the-record discussions of their approaches. Chatham House Rules apply. 

Format

The format consists of a 10-15minute presentation by a colleague on their experiences in promoting campus dialogue at their institutions, followed by open discussion. 

Key Themes

• The specific impact of the Israel-Hamas war
• Limits of free speech and the problem of intimidation and violence on campus
• How to combat mistrust of the central administration among students, staff, and alumni
• Whether or not to issue public statements on controversial topics
• Programs designed to promote training for and practice of respectful dialogue on campus
• How complex issues of gender, sexuality, and religion can compound controversy

• Co-chairs: Bocconi University, University of Cape Town

Description: Social and economic inequality are rising in many parts of the world and are very much on the global agenda – not least as Goal 10 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Inequality poses a critical challenge to the achievement of every other SDG. Inequality manifests profoundly in access to higher education; at the same time, differential access itself is a significant contributor to inequality and the achievement of social justice.

Equitable access to higher education poses a challenge within individual institutions, between them and between regions of the world. Many universities are developing strategies to provide inclusive access, and although some progress has been made, achieving access is proving intractable, in part because collective action across borders is often lacking.

This working group is aimed at bringing together different higher education institutions to tackle global issues in access to education. Over a series of meetings, we will define the scope of working group: for instance, access can encompass the full cycle of the student journey from admissions to graduation (from access to success) and through the academic pipeline into all stages of academic research, where diversity of viewpoints are critical for innovation and knowledge sharing. We will also refine our purpose and identify areas of collective action at the U7+ Presidential Summit, at the G7 Summit and in the longer term.

• Co-chairs: Keio University, Northwestern University

Description: The U7+ Peace and Security Working Group was created in preparation for the 2023 G7 Summit, hosted by Japan in Hiroshima. The goal of the group is to provide a space for U7+ universities to commit to working together through education, research and public engagement to foster a more peaceful and secure world.

The world has seen significant innovation in warfare; it is now time for innovation in peace and security. Traditional notions of negative peace as the absence of violence or threat of violence are now increasingly replaced by a recognition of the need for positive peace– comprehensive, long-term and complex understandings of the patterns and processes that lead to sustainable peace, including strong institutions, economic stability, and social inclusion.

Universities are uniquely positioned to innovate for peace and security through research, education, and international exchange. The U7+ Alliance, with its strong multilateral ties between top research universities in both G7 and non-G7 nations, can generate new solutions across traditional geopolitical barriers.

The U7+ Peace and Security Working Group provided leadership in the creation of the Tokyo Statement on Peace and Security: Universities as Engines of Innovation for Peace and Security, which was presented to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.