Highlights from The Forum鈥檚 Institute on Health, Safety, Security, and Risk Management 2025 in Chicago

6/30/2025

From June 25-27, more than 200 education abroad professionals convened in Chicago for The Forum on Education Abroad’s sold out Institute on Health, Safety, Security, and Risk Management 2025. As education abroad evolves amid increasing uncertainty, this Institute continues to provide critical tools, peer learning, and cross-sector insights to help institutions safeguard the well-being of students, faculty, and staff abroad.

“Now in its sixteenth year, the Health & Safety Institute brings together a deeply committed community that is not only addressing today’s challenges but also innovating for the future of education abroad through a lens of care and preparedness,” said Marissa Lombardi, Vice President and Chief Learning Officer at The Forum on Education Abroad. “The conversations and relationships built at this event strengthen our collective ability to keep students safe and supported—and that work has never been more important.”

This year’s Institute was hosted by the University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign at the UIC campus. The Institute’s three-day program was anchored by three guiding goals:

Exploring Emerging Trends
The event opened with a powerful plenary session, Arctic Lessons for a Warming World: Climate Change and Mobility Risk, led by global affairs expert Mary Thompson-Jones. The session explored the growing academic interest in polar regions that are destinations that fall outside conventional state-based risk assessments. The keynote set the tone for a forward-looking Institute, emphasizing the need for both innovation and caution in expanding global engagement.

Strengthening Safety & Security
Throughout the Institute, participants addressed a wide array of challenges facing the field: mental health and identity-based risks, geopolitical disruptions, emergency preparedness, and climate-related hazards among them. Concurrent Sessions on Thursday and Friday helped attendees sharpen their ability to anticipate and respond to evolving threats while remaining student-centered and equity-minded in their approaches.

Providing Practical Tools & Resources
Rooted in the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad, the Institute featured numerous case studies, peer-reviewed strategies, and hands-on tools for building or refining institutional protocols. Topics ranged from crisis communication planning and risk audits to stakeholder coordination and student training. Participants left equipped with frameworks to both meet professional standards and tailor policies to their institutional contexts.

Beyond the sessions, the Institute offered something equally vital: community. At the Closing Session, Lombardi encouraged attendees to remain connected. “Over the last few days, it’s been a joy to watch as people have been engaging in meaningful, rich discussions,” said Lombardi. “Stay in touch and use this network as you need because we need each other.”

With a celebratory toast, the event concluded, honoring not just professional growth, but the power of community to sustain and support this important work.

As our field faces continued challenges, this year’s Institute reinforced the critical role of health, safety, and risk management professionals in shaping responsible, resilient education abroad experiences.

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