I am happy to report that on June 12, 2024, Professor Michael Osborne, Director of PASCAL (Europe) delivered a brilliant lecture on University Regional and Community Engagement to Iranian senior policymakers at the National Institute for Higher Education Planning and Research, under the Ministry of Sciences, Research and Technology. The audience also included senior researchers and PhD students in higher education.

Professor Osborne began by highlighting the historical developments of the University of Glasgow, one of the world's top 100 universities, established in 1451. He then discussed the paradigm shift towards civic and engaged universities, emphasizing local, regional, and international engagement. To illustrate why and how universities should be involved in regional and community engagement, Professor Osborne presented the results of two major international projects, "PURE" and "SUEUAA," which exemplify this engagement. These projects, involving diverse international teams, provided great opportunities to test benchmarks and indices used and developed by the Pascal International Observatory during the last 15 years

The session concluded with a lively Q&A session.