Graz Declaration
Overview: Representing the formal position of on the future role of European universities, this declaration's subtitle is "Forward from Berlin: The Role of Universities to 2010 and Beyond." It asserts that universities are central not only to EU social and economic development, but to that of the whole globe as well.
Signatories: Members of the European University Association (EUA), Brussels.
Mission, Goals, and Achievements: The mission underlying this declaration is to insure that universities attain and retain a central role in European societies. The EU must collaborate strongly toward the long-term development of the EU knowledge society as defined in the Lisbon Declaration. If the countries of the EU are to answer the challenge laid down by the Bologna Process, they must do so not through over-regulation of their university systems but by developing useful reference points and course and degree descriptors. It will also be essential to engage students as active partners in academia. They will need flexible, individualized, and innovative learning paths to achieve their full potential.
These are the main points of this declaration:
- Universities as a public responsibility
- Research as an integral part of higher education
- Improving academic quality by building strong institutions
- Pushing forward the Bologna Process
- Mobility and the social dimension
- Quality assurance: A policy framework for Europe
- Universities at the center of reform
