Competition or cooperation among university associations: do we have a choice?
02 December 2024
Ludovic Thilly, Coimbra Group Executive Board Chair
Beatrix Busse, Coimbra Group Executive Board Vice-Chair
The month of November 2024 is probably another turning point in our European society, with the elections in the United States of America and their unavoidable impact on the European Union, the approval of the “von der Leyen II” European Commission by the European Parliament, among many other impactful events and elections in Europe. In such complex times, it is important to take a step back and reflect on what is the role and value of a university network such as the Coimbra Group, a few months before its 40th anniversary, in 2025.
On 1st December, the new College of Commissioners took office. When its composition and mission letters were published last September, a wave of questioning has swept over the whole higher education sector, especially because some important words were no longer mentioned. These included “Education”, “FP10”, etc. In addition, the whole structure and portfolios of this new Commission have been revamped. It seems that Universities have lost what (at least) Coimbra Group had found to be one of the assets of the previous Commission: a single Commissioner for Education, Research and Innovation (R&I). It is certain that we will now enter, again, a complex jungle of advocacy channels, events, policy briefs and communications to ensure that the Universities’ voice is heard to retain and advance the crucial need to strengthen knowledge creation, education and dissemination, via unprecedented political support to Universities and ambitious budgets allocated to upcoming Erasmus+ and FP10 programmes, among other burning topics.
In a time where society is polarised between “post-truth”, “climate anxiety”, “risks of AI-induced dehumanisation”, etc., we believe that university networks such as Coimbra Group should remain a lighthouse for their member universities and the focus on science and education the basis for knowledge. We should continue to treasure this safe space for cooperation that also has a role in keeping a vivid link between Universities and citizens. To co-create together is no longer an option, but a must.
Indeed, one of the many assets of the European Higher Education and Research landscape resides in its diversity of actors, each of them bringing a specific dimension to Knowledge, populating the rich spectrum of disciplines, Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) and Societal Readiness Levels (SRLs).
So, on the threshold of the 40th anniversary of the Coimbra Group, in a society and political landscape that have never been so complex, we declare here that it is now time for university networks to genuinely unite and defend together all the facets of Knowledge and Universities. This is what is Coimbra Group made for, we are convinced.