The 3rd Arab-Euro Conference on Higher Education opens the debate on the societal mission of universities
Until Friday, the University of Barcelona holds the 3rd Arab-European Conference on Higher Education (AECHE), an initiative which was born three years ago and created by this University together with the Association of Arab Universities (AARU) and the European Universities Association (EUA). This edition comes marked by the arrival of the refugees in Europe and the need of solutions in the academic field, which is represented by the universities.
Until Friday, the University of Barcelona holds the 3rd Arab-European Conference on Higher Education (AECHE), an initiative which was born three years ago and created by this University together with the Association of Arab Universities (AARU) and the European Universities Association (EUA). This edition comes marked by the arrival of the refugees in Europe and the need of solutions in the academic field, which is represented by the universities.
The Rector of the University of Barcelona, Dídac Ramírez, welcomed more than fifty representatives of the Arab and European countries who came to the city to attend the meetings. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Institutional Relations and Transparency, Raül Romeva, highlighted in his speech that “the Mediterranean area is a priority for the Government”. “The transforming power of the young is a great opportunity for the universities” said Romeva. “We cannot be pleased with the images of Idomeni. Accelerating the welcoming of refugees and working on the culture of peace are the right paths we have to follow” said the Minister.
The Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, defined Barcelona as a “bridge between the two shores of the Mediterranian”. “People and human dignity have to be the main priority of our universities. Universities play a key role”, she said.
The General Secretary of AARU, Sultan Abu-Orabi, highlighted the importance of AECHE for the mutual collaboration between “North and South”. Orabi remembered Syrian refugees who wait for refuge in the European countries. In this sense, he said that universities would do everything they can to offer solutions. The General Secretary of EUA, Lesley Wilson, asked for reinforcing the social commitment in universities “AECHE is the best platform to undergo this collaboration”, she said. The Rector of Ramon Llull University and Representative of the Spanish Rectorsʼ Conference, Josep Maria Garrell, and the General Secretary of Universities, Jorge Sainz González, also participated in the event.
The Rector of the University of Barcelona, Dídac Ramírez, closed the ceremony highlighting that the main aim of this AECHE edition is to “reinforce the role of universities as institutions contributing to conflict resolution or refugeesʼ integration”. “Peace and mutual understanding are undeniable principals for our universities. We are institutions rooted to our territories, with social responsibility. Truth, equality, and human dignity are present values in all our activities and decisions”, concluded Ramírez.
Refugees, the axle of the meeting
The debate tables of this conference will mainly focus on conflict resolution. This topic will be debated by the Minister of Higher Education in Egypt, Ashraf Shihi, and Sinead OʼGorman, Member of the Scholars at Risk association, which takes care of human rights among the members of the university community worldwide. Another session will be dedicated to the contribution of the universities regarding the challenge of integrating the refuges and its implications on the institutions. Among the participants there will be representatives from universities of Hungary and Germany, as well as Mohammed Najeeb Abdul-Wahed, ex-Minister of Higher Education in Syria. There will also be the participation of Viktoriya Voropayeva, who will share the experience of how Donetsk National University transferred to Krasnoarmiisk due to the war violence Ukraine suffers from since 2014.
Other topics of the meeting are identification and implementation of the supporting tools for efficient internationalization strategies; the skills university students would need to face new challenges provoked by the transformations and crisis which affect both regions -Europe and the Arab countries- and how universities contribute to the social development and education of citizens. There will also be a session dedicated to the dialogue perspectives on higher education between the European Union and the Arab world. Likewise, there is a space programmed to present examples of good cooperation practicals between Arab and European universities, as well as promoting bilateral relations among the universities that participate in the meeting and signing collaboration agreements.
AECHE is a joint action of AARU and EUA promoted by the University of Barcelona, hosted by the permanent Secretary. It is an association to promote dialogue, mutual understanding, knowledge exchange and greater cooperation among Arab and European universities. The first AECHE conference took place in the University of Barcelona in 2013, and the second one was in Amman (Jordan) in 2014. In this 3rd Conference there have been more than 300 registrations.