We are delighted to welcome you to the 16th Humane Alumni Network seminar “University in the City” at the University of Toulouse Capitole, France.

We look forward to meeting the alumni of the Winter School, Summer School and Asia-Pacific School in Toulouse to discuss how to measure, enhance and leverage the higher education institutions impact on the cities and territories surrounding them. Among the various approaches considered, discussions will address :

• economic impact of higher education institutions : either at macro or micro level with interventions by an economist, a specialist of fund raising and a high official from Airbus.
• architectural and urbanistic impact  including transportation policies : how do local authorities and higher education institutions interact and adapt their development strategies to each other after : architects , greater Toulouse urban planner will debate with university officials
• social impact : universities in their role as producers of knowledge should appear not as ivory towers of medieval debates but  play an active role in allowing the access to knowledge and debate for and with  the general public in an age .

These issues are today at the heart of our preoccupations and challenge higher education managers in ways that were not so important a few years ago : the relationship with the city officials used to be limited to some polite interaction between academics, vice chancellors and, local authorities : today they are relations between highly qualified professionals sharing common issues . Fund raising or finding internships for students has become the job not only of academics using their personal networks : it is now also a job for professionals and managers talking

Even the cultural and social issues evoked need to be prepared, communicated on and followed professionally .