The theme of the meeting was “The university of the 21st century: a reflection from Ibero-America”. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the university in the present and future and its ability to respond to the social demands of the 21st century. Representatives from a total of 1,100 universities in 31 countries attended the meeting. The meeting was the culmination of an intense preliminary process of reflection and debate in which 100,000 university students, rectors and lecturers participated.

The discussion topics at the meeting included the university today and how it meets students' needs; university organization, governance and financing; and milestones and strategies for taking an international perspective.

At the end of the meeting, the 2014 Universia Rio Charter was drawn up to outline the common strategy for the next four years. The document includes a ten-point list of action proposals to be applied by participating universities until the next meeting.

Universia is the largest network of universities in the world. It has 1,300 member universities in 23 different countries. It connects 16.8 million university students and lecturers to offer a place for cooperation, sharing knowledge and promoting projects with universities, companies and students. The network receives support from Banco Santander through the Santander Global Universities Division.

More information on the meeting.