The Voice of Universities

Representatives of the National Rectors' Conferences united in the Universities for Enlightment (U4E) platform met on April 15 and 16, 2024 in Berlin to discuss further cooperation. The platform was created in 2018, the National Rectors' Conferences of the Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany, Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Switzerland and Italy signed up for it. The aim of the platform is to defend academic freedom and institutional autonomy of universities, but also democracy and scientific culture. The 2018 Vienna Declaration is the platform's manifesto. In the declaration, among other things, the members of the platform subscribe to the basic principles of the Magna Carta Universitatum. It states: "We are committed to promoting these core values ​​of higher education and will strengthen our dialogue with a particular focus on common experiences within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and beyond. In addition, we emphasize the contribution of higher education to society..."

 

At this year's meeting, the Rector of the University of St. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava Katarína Slobodová Nováková and SRC Secretary General Mária Čikešová. The most important result of this year's meeting is a call addressed to the public about the importance of elections to the European Parliament and the formulation of joint key messages "Universities vote for Europe!". U4E highlights the benefits of EU membership from an academic perspective and also our expectations.

 

Related information:

• EN "Universities vote for Europe!" , DT "Hochschulen wählen Europa!" a SVK "Univerzity hlasujú za Európu!"
• Vote 4 Europe 2024 
• U4E
• Universities for Enlightment
• #Useyourvoice