Nordic Five Tech (N5T) is an alliance of the five leading technical universities in the Nordic region: KTH and Chalmers in Sweden, Aalto in Finland, DTU in Denmark, and NTNU in Norway. This year, we gathered at KTH’s campus for our annual meeting and to celebrate the alliance’s 20th anniversary.

We discussed how universities should respond to the world order characterised by increased conflict, unrest and security risks that has emerged in recent years, with geopolitics being the main theme. These themes were covered thoroughly in keynote speeches delivered by the Finnish Ambassador to Stockholm, the CEO of IVA, and representatives from industry and academia.

As has been noted many times before, it is clear that there are now many conditions and circumstances that significantly impact university operations. We must navigate in a new way, exercising sound judgement and being aware of the risks inherent in various types of collaboration.

At the same time, it is clear that the relevance of our universities is increasing. Technical research and education are needed more than ever as technology is used to develop societal resilience and defence capabilities while global competition for technological supremacy continues.

This makes it more important than ever that we hold fast to our fundamental values of open academic discourse, free research, and a commitment to international exchange, even in these challenging new times. Rather than replacing our moral compasses with something else, we must develop and strengthen them!

I am also pleased to confirm that our five universities enjoy very close and positive relationships, and that we are part of a successful and technology-oriented family of advanced universities. With this, we are ready to take on the next 20 years!

The changed and, in many respects, more complex global situation also affects universities’ activities. We must be more discerning and careful when evaluating collaborations with universities, international recruitment and industry partnerships.

This may involve security checks, checks relating to protection legislation or export controls, and customary background checks. Maintaining good judgement in everyday life about what is compatible with laws and regulations, and what is appropriate in terms of our fundamental values of academic freedom and open science, is also important. Sometimes, things that are compatible with the regulations may still be inappropriate for other reasons.

KTH has developed a system for responsible internationalization that encompasses both formal and discretionary elements. Managers responsible for decisions regarding international collaborations, for example, should be able to receive support with complex considerations, as well as with the more regulated controls that are justified.

However, geopolitics affects us in many ways. Universities are part of societal resilience and our collective total defence capability. It is important that we have crisis and emergency plans in place, setting out which societal tasks must continue and which additional tasks may be required when society is exposed to various challenges.

KTH has many research areas characterised by potential dual use, as well as research highly relevant to defence capabilities. This leads to complex considerations about whether certain research should be carried out, and how research with special protection values should be handled.

I would say that we are well organised with regard to what is usually termed responsible internationalization, and that our capabilities are constantly evolving to meet the need to be as open as possible while remaining as closed as necessary.

We have also established a centre for total defence to better fulfil our role in society’s total defence, making use of our broad expertise in areas important for total defence. This means we must define activities that are important for society and total defence. We ensure compliance with security protection legislation and export control regulations, and analyse key vulnerabilities and protection values.

The situation today is far removed from that which we faced just four or five years ago. Developments have been rapid. Although there is still work to be done, we have come a long way.

The world around us is becoming increasingly turbulent and unpredictable. What is happening in the United States, China and other parts of the world today often differs from what was predicted a few years ago. This complicates matters and makes the world more challenging to navigate, also for universities. Therefore, stable and predictable international university collaborations are particularly important for us right now.

The Nordic community closest to KTH is Nordic 5 Tech, N5T, an alliance comprising KTH and Chalmers in Sweden, NTNU in Norway, DTU in Denmark, and Aalto in Finland. Our countries and university systems are similar. In many ways, we have long had close ties with our Nordic partner universities. This applies to exchanges in research and education, as well as a number of joint programmes.

Within Europe, the European Universities Initiative is one of the European Commission’s flagship projects in our field. Together with eight other universities, KTH is part of the University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering – Unite!. This collaboration recognises the need for better, long-term European integration in higher education and research. It also responds to the more general need to strengthen Europe at a time when other parts of the world are advancing in terms of knowledge development and competitiveness.

N5T and Unite! are visible to staff and students in slightly different ways. These can take the form of student or researcher exchanges, seed funding, collaboration on doctoral programmes, or joint courses and programmes. Through close collaboration, we also develop a shared culture and align our policies. The best way to break down barriers is for people to socialise, and we are doing this more and more within the various alliances!

International collaborations in research and education, and exchanging knowledge across national and disciplinary boundaries, are not only incredibly stimulating and exciting – they are necessary.

Even so, it is important not to be naive in the face of tyrannical rule by authoritarian regimes, or to close our eyes to the geopolitical tensions that exist around the world. Knowledge and research can end up in the wrong hands or be used for unintended purposes, such as military purposes. The remedy for this is knowledge of the country or region in question, careful control of any risks, and good judgement to facilitate analysis and consideration of different international collaborations.

It is not an easy balance to achieve, and as a university, it is important that we have the aspects of what we call responsible internationalisation in mind on every level within the organisation.

Should we have a collaboration or exchange with the country or regime in question? Sometimes it is reasonable to stop a collaboration, but openness could also strengthen democracy in the long run in countries where it is otherwise hard to come by. Or at any rate provide inroads for democracy on an individual level – where we have a lot to learn from each other, with our different points of reference or even our disparate world views. And it is important here to distinguish between nation and individual. If a researcher comes here to study, we cannot put the blame on them for the regime they grew up in. So responsible internationalization is also about supporting researchers in countries where it is hard to practise free and independent research and education.

Ultimately though, it is important that KTH nurtures and protects all its students, researchers and staff, whatever their nationality or background.