The Venn: University Leaders Forum

Higher education is in trouble. We are on the back foot and retreating. So how do we respond? What do we do about it? We need a better playbook… The Venn is a new forum for university leaders who face outwards in defence and celebration of higher education. Taking place at The Royal Society, London, UK on 25.06.25, The Venn: University Leaders Forum has been developed by Favier Ltd and Assemble Events in collaboration with our friends and partners across UK higher education. The forum is open to senior university staff with an external-facing role working across the spectrum of professional services, as well as engaged academic leadership. Uniting the many tribes of university professional services – be this marketing and recruitment, research and innovation, global engagement, communications and stakeholder engagement, strategy and operations, business engagement and employability to advancement - is a shared responsibility for the stewardship of university reputation. Once a year, The Venn: University Leaders Forum aims to convene discussion, debate and engagement between these leaders united by a single question. How can we work together more effectively in defence and celebration of our sector? Initially, participation is by invitation, nomination or via registration of interest. The content for our inaugural programme will major on discussion, debate, interactive sessions and informal exchange – with broadcast restricted only to the most exceptional, challenging and inspiring speakers. Working with partners such as Wonkhe, our schedule includes the opportunity to hear sometimes uncomfortable truths about how our sector is perceived by those outside it, international perspectives from the US and beyond, an interactive geopolitical crisis-response exercise in partnership with leaders from the FCDO, Royal Society and UUKi and a series of ‘from the VC’s desk’ roundtables. In short, it will not be your average higher education event.