One of my colleagues inside QS is always interested in understanding the philosophy behind the conference agendas my team and I put together. What’s the point? What idea are we trying to communicate or what different way of thinking are we promoting to the audience?

I bring this up, partly because I’m writing this during the 2024 Reimagine Education Conference and Awards, where, aside from releasing this edition of the magazine, we will be challenging the thinking of delegates and Reimaginers. But, I also bring it up because sometimes, we might be a little too clever for our good when it comes to the titles of these magazines.

This edition of QS Insights Magazine we have simply called “The Sustainability Issue”. There is no cover story in the same way as most of our other issues; this is simply a thematic idea. Inside, you’ll find a number of stories on sustainability as well as a handful of pieces on our usual topics.

But, I think it’s important to point out that we didn’t call this “The Sustainability Edition”. We very intentionally used the term “issue”. Plainly, we see sustainability in all its forms as a challenge to the way in which we currently operate as a sector and society. And while we don’t wish to be negative, and do acknowledge that sustainability is an inherently good and positive concept that has made significant progress, we feel that we shouldn’t forget that the SDGs aim to address and rectify some very bad realities. There is a reason they exist.