Discussing key issues with key players
The UNU Conversation Series provides a unique public platform for influential experts, world leaders and respected scholars and authors to share personal insights on contemporary global affairs, politics, and media. Held in Tokyo at UNU headquarters, the conversations are hosted and moderated by UNU Rector and UN Under-Secretary-General Tshilidzi Marwala. The events are free and open to the public, and offer a distinctly cordial atmosphere allowing the audience to engage with featured guests, ask questions and share their ideas, both during the conversations and at casual receptions that follow each event.
Key issues
Conversation Series topics span the full breadth of UNU’s work, touching on matters of critical importance to Japan and the world. Topics of discussion have included peace and security, international relations, migration, governance, sustainable development, climate change, employment, higher education and many others.
Key players
UNU has welcomed more than 100 notable speakers to the Conversation Series stage, including ambassadors, members of the Japanese government, United Nations leaders, distinguished academics, and public personalities from media and civil society.
Upcoming and previous conversations
Conversation Series
Healthy Land: Why Combating Desertification is Crucial for Human Security
Conversation Series
Climate Action: Can We Avoid Climate Tipping Points Through Global Cooperation?
Conversation Series
Peaceful Negotiation under International Law — Lessons from Timor-Leste’s Maritime Boundaries
Conversation Series
The Role of Education for Sustainable Development in Transforming Education
Conversation Series
Food Systems in Africa: The Role of Food Sovereignty in Promoting Sustainable Development
Conversation Series
Global Crises and United Nations Response and Innovations: Lessons Learned, Challenges and Prospects
Conversation Series
Clean Water and Sanitation for All by 2030? What Needs to Be Done
Conversation Series
Japan's Foreign Policy in Turbulent Times
Conversation Series
A Dialogue with Lord Patten: Japan and Britain in a Changing Asia
Conversation Series
Artificial Intelligence and Society: On the Brink of Change
Conversation Series
Higher Education, Science and Innovation for Sustainability: Unlocking Africa’s Potential
Conversation Series
Peacebuilding in the Wake of Ukraine and Sudan
Conversation Series
Enhancing Global Actions for the Paris Agreement and the SDGs — Towards the SDG Summit, COP28 and Beyond
Conversation Series
Unpacking the Just Energy Transition: A Development Priority for Africa
Conversation Series
A New Agenda for Peace: Opportunities and Next Steps for Disarmament
Conversation Series
Leadership and Agency in Nuclear Disarmament: Lessons Learned from the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
Conversation Series
The Future of Artificial Intelligence
Conversation Series
Reimagining Higher Education for a Complex World
Conversation Series
How Will Perspectives of Peace and the State Change among Leaders of the Future?
Conversation Series