“Reimagining Democratic Societies:

A New Era of Personal and Social Responsibility?”

June 27-29, 2011 | Oslo, Norway

Sponsored by the Council of Europe; the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility and Democracy; the European Wergeland Centre; and the University of Oslo, in cooperation with the International Association of Universities and with support from the Norwegian authorities

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 was also part of the events marking the 200th anniversary of the University of Oslo.

Aims and objectives:

  • To strengthen the role of higher education in furthering democratic citizenship
  • To identify concretely the role that higher education can play in reimagining democratic societies 
  • 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: Higher education leaders and representatives of public authorities from the United States and Europe and participants from other parts of the world, as well as NGOs.

Participants were invited by the sponsoring organizations to attend the Global Forum.

About the Global Forum