Programme now online: High-Level Seminar on “Reinventing Campus Democracy: Bridging Divides and Advancing Solutions”
30 October 2025
The Coimbra Group and Utrecht are pleased to announce the draft programme for their joint High-Level Seminar, “Reinventing Campus Democracy: Bridging Divides and Advancing Solutions”, taking place on 21 November 2025 in Brussels, with the support of the European Students’ Union (ESU).
This flagship event marks the conclusion of a year of celebrations for the Coimbra Group’s 40th anniversary. It will bring together university leaders, staff, academics, students and external partners to explore how comprehensive universities can foster democratic culture on campus in times of growing polarisation.
The day will open with a keynote contribution by Henk Kummeling, former Rector Magnificus of Utrecht University and an address by Arno Schrooyen, ESU’s Vice-President.
At the heart of the seminar are six interactive breakout sessions, each offering a distinct perspective on how universities can strengthen democracy in practice, within and beyond their campuses. The selected topics were shaped through a dual process, combining strategic input from Coimbra Group Executive Board and Rectors’ Advisory Group with community-driven ideas collected from our members via an open call for contributions.
The resulting programme features six thought-provoking sessions:
- Partnership in practice: Modelling best practice in institutional-student collaboration.
- Universities and the future(s) of representative democracy.
- Climate change scepticism and anti-scientific sentiment: What role for universities?
- The many roles of a university: Rethinking democratic responsibility.
- Why EDI matters: Fostering inclusive dialogue and campus democracy.
- Opening campuses, opening minds: Universities as living spaces of democracy.
Discover the full programme here.
Inspired by the Deep Democracy methodology, each session will begin with expert insights from Coimbra Group universities and invite inclusive, open debate. The day will close with a plenary session drawing together key ideas from the parallel discussions and outlining next steps for the network’s ongoing work on democracy in higher education.
The seminar will also include the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding between the Coimbra Group and ESU, further enhancing our network’s commitment to student-university collaboration.
Registrations are still open, with a deadline of 12 November 2025.