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
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
“Is the UN Security Council Paralyzed? The Impact of Ukraine on the UN and the World”
Conversation Series
“The UN — Past, Present, and Future”, a Conversation with Dr David M. Malone
Conversation Series
The Environment and the SDGs: Why the World Is Falling Behind and What Needs to Be Done
Conversation Series
“Tech for Good? Do New Technologies Lead to Equity in Education?”
Conversation Series
“Fair or Foul? Higher Education in Japan”, a Conversation with Prof. Paul Snowden
Conversation Series
“The UNU Headquarters Building: Iconic Architecture as a Reflection of International Postmodernism”, a Conversation with Dr Eva Kraus
Conversation Series
“International Law, the UN Security Council, and Beyond”, a Conversation with Eran Sthoeger
Conversation Series
The China Question: International Student Mobility and Global Research Collaboration in an Era of Hardening Geopolitics
Conversation Series
“Cutting Through the Noise: How the UN is Building Trust in an Age of Disinformation”, a Conversation with Melissa Fleming
Conversation Series
The Global South and the New Cold War
Conversation Series
New Challenges for Multilateralism and Peace
Conversation Series