The Future of the University [antikvár]

Introduction Maria Keio Senior Officer Academic Cooperation Association (AGA) Brussels, Belgium The incredible endurance of the university, which is second only to the Catholic Church and the Icelandic Parliament as the oldest institution in Europe, is the result of its ability to constantly adapt to changing conditions. The fact that universities - and other higher education institutions - are today faced with big challenges is therefore nothing new. But the challenges themselves are new, and need new answers. Many of Europe's economies are showing signs of weakness at a time when old competitors keep going strong and new ones, particularly in Asia, are gaining ground. Europe's population is greying, with heavy implications for the costs of health and pension systems, and consequently on other public spending. In order to defend its competitive position in the world and to keep its high standard of living, it needs to be cleverer and more innovative than others, and to speed up the creation of an ever-improving knowledge economy. Quite clearly, the creation of a knowledge society is highly dependent on the performance of our education and training systems, and particularly on the universities and other higher education institutions. Indeed, the role of universities in this process is crucial. Europe's heads of state and government acknowledged this when adopting, in the year 2000, the 'Lisbon Agenda', in which education, training and research play a key role. But, in order to be the innovation promoters they should be, Europe's universities will themselves need to innovate and change. Reforms have begun in many countries, but more are necessary for the universities to reach their full potential, and to contribute effectively to the wider agenda. The future of the university addresses three main challenges which are deemed as central for today's higher education: funding, governance, and global attractiveness. In other words, the central role of the universities in the Lisbon Process can only be fulfilled if European universities manage to find the resources for better funding, to develop governance models which give the university the freedom thought necessary to produce constant innovation, and to compete with the best elsewhere for the key human resources in terms of students, researchers, and academic staff. It is not a coincidence that these three themes are also at the centre of the European Commission's Communication Mobilising the brainpower of Europe^, one of the most recent 1 Communication from the European Commission, Mobilising the brainpower of Europe: enabling universities to make their full contribution to the Lisbon Strategy, COM (2005) 152 final, Brussels 20 April 2005.