Our differences can unite us when we seek to deeply understand each other. At UTS, we aspire to instill our students with the capacity to look beyond their own point of view and embrace broader perspectives. These habits help them contribute thoughtfully to the world as they embark on adventures and paths beyond the walls of our school.

Many of the complex challenges facing our world today require people who can work respectfully and productively beyond initial differences. We help our students develop this capacity through interactions at school as well as through structured opportunities to build meaningful global connections.

At Rysensteen Gymnasium, a high school in Copenhagen, Denmark, students spend months studying Canada before visiting to experience our country firsthand. Like UTS, Rysensteen focuses on creating caring citizens who understand global challenges and endeavour to collaborate and address them.

UTS families generously welcomed our visiting Danish students into their homes this September and October. The visit coincided with National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, providing an opportunity for meaningful learning about Canada’s history and our ongoing responsibilities to Indigenous Peoples. In the spring, UTS students will experience that same hospitality in the homes of Rysensteen families.

The annual Global Ideas Institute, which launched this month, provides another important opportunity for UTS students to broaden their global perspectives. Offered by the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy in partnership with UTS, the programme connects students with university expertise and mentorship while they investigate a complex global challenge. This year the challenge is: How can we develop environmentally effective, affordable, equitable and practical solutions to plan for a changing climate in urban settings?

Over seven months, teams must weigh environmental effectiveness alongside affordability, equity and practical considerations as they develop and refine their proposals.

Whether around a dinner table with a visiting student from Copenhagen or around a shared problem with teammates at the Global Ideas Institute, our students are learning that understanding begins with curiosity and grows through connection. As friends and team members, they learn to respect differences and find ways to imagine and develop solutions. These habits of mind will serve them at UTS, at universities around the world and on whatever paths they choose.