CLACSO and Coimbra Group launch inter-institutional cooperation
24 October 2024
BRUSSELS/BUENOS AIRES, 24 October 2024. CLACSO and the Coimbra Group of Universities announced today that they have agreed on forming an inter-institutional cooperation to develop and promote research, education and innovation as well as activities oriented to shared and collaborative publications. These joint actions will benefit the academic community, citizens and the society at large, particularly bridging scholarly collaboration between nations and countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and in Europe.
This new partnership brings together two crucial, solid academic actors from both continents and serves to underscore the important strategic and political relationships between scholars, cultures, the public, and societies on both sides of the Atlantic.
“We are very pleased to now formalise academic relations with CLACSO, since we share important core ideals on the intrinsic value of research and higher education and are both strongly committed to protect and advance academic freedom, open science, open research information or even multilingualism to name just a few topics. This partnership will foster a common understanding of Latin American, Caribbean and European realities,” said Professor Ludovic Thilly, Chair of the Executive Board of the Coimbra Group. “With its long tradition of universities immersed in society, Latin America and the Caribbean are of utmost importance for helping us in further strengthening the societal engagement of our members in a changing world. Consequently, together we are now better positioned to find solutions to our common challenges.”
“The priority of safeguarding academic freedom and university autonomy in an increasingly complex social and political environment is a collective responsibility. Thus, partnering with the Coimbra Group is an important strategic action for us,” said Professor Karina Batthyány, Executive Director of CLACSO. “Collaborating with the Coimbra Group strengthens the global dimension of our research-based efforts in promoting human rights, democratic participation and critical thinking in today’s world. Moreover, this partnership is a concrete expression of the construction of solid and relevant bridges between academics, students and societies in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.”
This cutting-edge agreement between CLACSO and the Coimbra Group will run for an initial period of three years, during which the two organizations will explore the development of joint research projects, organise joint workshops and conferences and promote joint publications, among others.
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The Latin American Council of Social Sciences – CLACSO is an international non-governmental institution with associative status in UNESCO, created in 1967. It currently brings together 938 research and postgraduate centers in the field of social sciences and humanities in more than 56 countries. Among its objectives, CLACSO aims to promote social research to combat poverty and inequality, strengthen human rights and democratic participation; to promote sustainable development policies in economic, social and environmental terms, using the contributions of academic research and critical thinking; and to build bridges between social research and public policies, promoting innovative, creative and viable actions in the face of the great social, educational, cultural and environmental challenges of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Coimbra Group – CG was founded in 1985 and formally constituted by Charter in 1987. It is an association of long-established European multidisciplinary universities of high international
standard. CG is committed to creating special academic and cultural ties in order to promote, for the benefit of its members, internationalisation, academic collaboration, excellence in learning and research, and service to society. It is also the purpose of CG to influence European educational and research policy and to develop best practices through mutual exchange of experience. CG has a longstanding Working Group on Latin America and scholarship programme for early-career researchers and professors from Latin America.
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