Conversations

Leaders in higher education on what the university should become.

Every principle of the University Ecosystems manifesto needs to meet practice. So between editions of the newsletter, I invite a leader who has built something close to it, and I ask them to test it against what they have seen work, and fail.

These pages are also my thanks to them, and a place to show what their universities and institutions are building.

David Scott
No. 1 · Nov 10David ScottUniversity of the West of Scotland
The guests

The leaders who agreed to test the ideas with me.

Conversation No. 1
David Scott
David ScottUniversity of the West of Scotland
Published · Nov 10, 2026

David Scott

University of the West of Scotland
Head of Division, Arts & Media
Scotland, United Kingdom · School of Business & Creative Industries

What a university can adapt, and what it must protect, when its own degree is delivered by a partner abroad. Franchise or validation: which model builds the stronger partnership, and what creative arts and media gain from partners inside the industry.

5 Alliances over agreements
Read the ConversationGoes live Tuesday, November 10
Conversation No. 2
Janet Ilieva
Janet Ilieva, PhDEducation Insight

Janet Ilieva, PhD

Education Insight
Founder and Director
United Kingdom

Transnational education seen from the host country: what changes when a country sets its own strategy and invites partners in, and why delivery, not recruitment, decides whether a partnership lasts.

4 Delivery over recruitment
Read the ConversationGoes live Tuesday, December 1
Conversation No. 3
Phil S. Agbeko
Phil S. AgbekoHilltop Global Group

Phil S. Agbeko

Hilltop Global Group
CEO and Co-Founder
International education partnerships

Africa as a co-author of global education, not a market for it: how partners on both sides design programs together, and what universities in the Americas can learn from that.

6 Co-authors over markets
Read the ConversationGoes live Tuesday, December 22
Conversation No. 4
Narottam Aryal
Narottam AryalNepal Communiversity

Narottam Aryal

Nepal Communiversity
President, Nepal Communiversity and King's College Nepal
Kathmandu, Nepal

A university that starts from its communities: what a model built with towns like Panchkhal and Janakpur teaches, and what a university abroad should bring if it wants to join as a real partner.

3 Community over reputation
Read the ConversationDate to be announced
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More leaders through spring 2027.

Each new guest appears here as soon as they accept, and the veil lifts on the day their Conversation is published.

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