Universitetsbyggnad Bukarest. Foto: Astrid Söderbergh Widding.
 

The European Commission’s European Universities Initiative was recently announced, and CIVIS will be among the applicants. The initiative aims to strengthen the central role of universities in Europe, as well as globally. By working together across Europe, universities can contribute in a unique way to the unity of the European Community in an era in which populism and a disdain for science have reaped frightening victories in many places. Moreover, and at least as importantly, European universities can open up and expand their collaboration, transforming it into a global commitment. Since their inception in the Middle Ages, universities have been characterized by this strong international orientation – by their openness to the world.

Universitetsnätverket CIVIS

For CIVIS, the vision is clear. Through strong European collaboration between eight universities, from north to south and east to west (which in turn opens the door to numerous regional and other collaborations in both the academic and the outside worlds), we will help promote the production of new, shared knowledge and the dissemination of knowledge, both within and beyond Europe's borders.