“Higher Education for Democratic Innovation”

June 25-27, 2014

Organized by the Council of Europe (CoE); the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility and Democracy (IC); the European Wergeland Centre (EWC); Queen’s University-Belfast, the European Students’ Union, with the Talloires Network as a sponsor.

Context:  This conference was part of the cooperation between different partners committed to promoting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law as well as intercultural dialogue to promote social harmony and justice, and the belief in the key role of education in furthering these goals.  The conference venue was selected given the important work that Queen’s University-Belfast has done in building bridges across communal divides in Belfast and, more broadly, Northern Ireland.

Aims and objectives:

  • To strengthen the role of higher education in furthering democratic citizenship
  • To identify concretely the role that institutions of higher education can play in building mutually beneficial, democratic partnerships with their local communities
  • To stress the importance of the involvement of the different stakeholders: academic, 
administrations, students, local communities
  • To develop further strategies to strengthen this role

Participants: The Forum included 110 delegates from 25 countries, representing 85 higher education institutions, non-governmental agencies, and governmental bodies; approximately one dozen college presidents, vice chancellors, and governmental ministers served as featured speakers.

 

About the Global Forum

Program

Speaker Bios

Photos and Video from the Global Forum