Universitas 21 (U21)
Universitas 21 brings together 27 universities from various continents. Its objective is to enhance cooperation and create alliances between its members with various excellence initiatives in topics of innovation in education, student mobility, and research. Its initiatives and programs are designed to benefit students, academics, and professionals from the institutions, sharing resources and jointly creating solutions to common challenges.
SACRU
The Strategic Alliance of Catholic Universities (SACRU) is composed of eight Catholic universities from around the world dedicated to research and teaching excellence, commitment, and global collaboration guided by Catholic social teaching. This network seeks to foster cooperation among partner universities and share international best practices to promote knowledge and world-leading higher education for the common good. Currently, among its goals is to advance in finding ways to contribute to the global good and care for our common home (from the encyclical Laudato si').
MAGALHAES
The Magalhães Network was formed in 2005 to increase academic exchange and collaboration between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. This network is composed of 20 institutions from Europe and 18 from Latin America and the Caribbean and focuses mainly on the areas of technology, engineering, and architecture. This network offers tools for student exchange, systematic exchange of best practices for internationalization, and a platform to build relationships that can be used to develop joint projects between member universities.
CINDA
The University Development Center (CINDA) has as its fundamental purpose to promote links between leading universities in Latin America and Europe to generate, systematize, and disseminate knowledge, and thus contribute to the development of higher education policies and university management in its various areas. It is composed of more than 30 universities in Latin America and 6 universities in Europe. CINDA is recognized as a non-governmental international organization by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU)
The Regional Association to the International Federation of Catholic Universities (FIUC or IFCU in English) was established by decree of the Holy See in 1948. It currently groups more than 200 institutions. The mission of this network is: 1) to promote, among Catholic institutions of higher education and research, a collective reflection on their mission; 2) to foster academic cooperation in research, as well as the evaluation and dissemination of its results to decision-making communities; 3) to promote experience and skills exchange in the network; 4) to represent Catholic universities in international organizations and associations and collaborate with them according to their institutional priorities; 5) to contribute to the development of Catholic higher education and the affirmation of its specific identity.
International Association of Universities (IAU)
The International Association of Universities was created under the auspices of UNESCO in 1950. It has more than 500 members and aims to serve the global higher education community through: expertise and trend analysis, publications and portals, advisory services, peer learning, events, and global advocacy.
Catholic Universities Consortium (CUC)
The Catholic Universities Consortium (CUC) is in recent formation and is composed of 10 international Catholic institutions. Its objectives are:
(1) promote research and build an academic community that addresses the most pressing needs of the world and the Church, (2) improve global education opportunities for students, and (3) share best institutional practices regarding trends and challenges in higher education.
The Triad
Created in 2018 and composed of UC, TEC de Monterrey (Mexico) and U. de Los Andes (Colombia) - the three best-ranked non-governmental universities in Latin America in terms of research, educational innovation and exchanges - this collaborative initiative seeks for the three institutions to act together in face of the opportunities and challenges presented by the region.
Hemispheric University Consortium (HUC)
An alliance integrated by 14 universities from the American continent and the Caribbean. Formed in 2018, it promotes initiatives in research, education, and innovation that foster solutions to address key challenges in the realm of the Sustainable Development Goals proposed by the United Nations. Among the programs carried out are the promotion of collaborative online international learning, an innovation observatory, the organization of virtual research internships, the development of a library network with resources for education, a center for creative social entrepreneurships, among others.
ODUCAL
The Organization of Catholic Universities of Latin America and the Caribbean (ODUCAL) has more than 100 member universities and is linked as a Regional Association to the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU). Its main purpose is to contribute to the progress of Catholic higher education in Latin America, managing actions aimed at improving the quality of educational offerings and strengthening research activities and community service.
Artisans of Unity
With the aim of responding to Pope Francis' call to “weave unity as a way of building the history of peoples”, the Artisans of Unity network was born in 2019, an alliance that brings together the Bolivian Catholic University San Pablo (UCB), the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC) in a joint academic research program. Motivated by this vision of integration and solidarity, the universities have worked in four strategic areas: Pastoral, Cross-border Mobility, Cultural Heritage and Student Leadership. The collaboration has been expanding to various areas, thus becoming a trilateral meeting space that fosters regional development and integration between Chile, Bolivia and Peru.
