Higher education institutions (HEIs) must evolve into agents for lifelong learning with the help of innovative institutional strategies – this was the key message of a recent international conference organized by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and Shanghai Open University (SOU), ‘Promoting lifelong learning in higher education: From institutional strategies to practical implementation’. Held in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, from 19 to 21 October 2023, the conference welcomed over 250 participants, including university leaders, policy-makers, higher education experts, scholars and researchers, from China and abroad.