1. This document sets out
The Observatory’s Mission
2. The Magna Charta Observatory of Fundamental University Values and Rights was founded by the University of Bologna and the European University Association and was incorporated as a Foundation in April 2000, in Bologna. It is a non-profit organisation.
3. The Observatory’s objective is to play an active role in guaranteeing the respect, protection and promotion of the fundamental values and university rights set out in the Magna Charta Universitatum (MCU), signed in Bologna in 1988 and developed in the MCU 2020. The Observatory acts as the guardian of these values and assists signatories and other universities in the understanding and implementation of them.
4. It does this by gathering information, raising awareness of the importance of fundamental values for the development of universities and higher education systems. More specifically it does so by organising and participating in events and webinars, undertaking research, preparing documents, developing guidelines and resources, building a repository of publications, expressing opinions, and undertaking reviews. The Observatory both proclaims the values and increasingly engages with universities to support their implementation. It assists universities in the identification and embedding of their values and by building capacity to do so. It engages with student organisations and students to raise awareness of the fundamental values and the importance of their engagement with them within universities and their communities.
5. The Observatory works together with other national, European or international organisations pursuing similar or compatible aims. It works mostly with universities which have signed the Magna Charta Universitatum. The Observatory provides support for them and it is their collective voice on which the Observatory relies when expressing opinions. It also works with universities that wish adopt the fundamental values set out in the MCU 2020.
6. The Observatory invites universities to sign the MCU 2020 as a public commitment to the values therein. The growth of the number of universities signing the MCU, increasing the number of events and growing the number of people attending them and publishing more are means of having greater impact in the world. From being established in Europe it is the mission of the Observatory to become more global, in terms of signatory universities as well as activities.
Achievements up to 2024
7. The base on which the Observatory has formulated this strategy is its achievements from 2000 until 2024 and its established relationships with its signatories, national and international bodies. In summary these are:
8. While the MCO has European roots and two European founders, universities from beyond Europe were among the first signatories. As universities have developed internationalisation strategies so has the MCO become more global in its work. This emphasis was manifest through anniversaries being held outside Europe and an extended programme of workshops held on 4 continents.
9. The re-balancing from proclamation to application of values has continued, as manifest particularly in MCU 2020. There have been steps to modernise how the Observatory works, including greater use of the website and virtual events and communications. There has been more active engagement through events (conferences and workshops) and fewer publications. The Living Values project has become a practical means of enabling universities to be more explicit about their values and to engage staff and students in delivering them in practice. The focus of the research activities (the responsive and responsible university and the repository) has started to inform this work. More activities have taken place in partnership with other bodies and more signatories have hosted events.
The changing landscape
‘The world is becoming ever more complex and volatile. The only certainty about the future is its inherent uncertainty, yet we must prepare. We need to encourage curiosity, be comfortable with ambiguity and open to the world of possibility not probability’. Global Strategic Trends. 6th Edition. 2018 MOD.
10. The environment in which universities operate differs greatly from that of 1988 and by 2030 it will have changed even more. The differences have, in part, been a consequence of a faster pace of change, greater globalisation, more diverse expectations from a wider range of stakeholders and greater uncertainty. The political landscape in different countries is also changing. Movements towards nationalism and populism are evident. There has been politically or ideologically motivated reigning in of universities and their staff and students by governments and/or other authorities. Universities are also being challenged in new ways and with greater intensity including more discrimination, violation of freedom of expression and censorship. There has been some erosion of support for autonomous universities and of trust in independent science and free scholarship.
11. Also, the successes of universities, which have included significant responses to economic, social, environmental, health and other issues such as the response to the pandemic, have been magnets for additional interest in them but have led to greater interference in their regulation. Universities have a key role to play, both in their own societies and globally. They are key players in the definition and attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030. These call for multidisciplinary working and external collaborations as well as setting an example in their own behaviour.
12. The Academic Freedom Index reports ‘marked improvements’ in a few countries, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan being prominent this year, it found Academic freedom to be in retreat for over 50% of the world’s population – a very challenging situation. The circumstances faced by universities in countries such as Hungary and Turkey continue to be worrying.
13. Conflict situations, such as Ukraine and Palestine present immediate challenges, but also future opportunities. We see issues causing concern in other countries. In 2023 we focused on Ukraine and in 2024 we focused on those in the USA in our Anniversary in Washington DC.
14. In 2022, after a major 2-year consultative process, UNESCO published its global roadmap to 2030. ‘a synthesis of the agreed priorities to guide future development of higher education’. This is aimed at achieving the internationally agreed 2030 Agenda (17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets, designed to protect the planet and build peace and prosperity) and looks ahead to 2050. It refers to the world being faced with a set of interconnected challenges, notes the global health pandemic and its disruptive influence, and sees the climate crisis threatening our survival and that of our planet. It notes that the “drift towards political privatisation” is increasingly visible in many countries and regions, other factors “making societies more fragile and tense”, and ‘a backsliding on democracy’ and on the SDGs.
15. UNESCO proposed six guiding principles and three missions which provide useful guidance for the MCO’s future work. The principles were
16. The UNESCO report recommended three guiding missions which were:
Much of the supporting text contains reference to the values, principles and responsibilities set out in MCU 2020.
17. In the European Higher Education Area, the Ministerial Communique from the Tirana Conference put fundamental values to the fore. It says ‘Higher education can only fully develop its missions when its fundamental values are respected. While they are now more threatened than they were a decade or even four years ago, we reaffirm our commitment to protect, promote, and uphold academic freedom, as defined in the Rome Communique. In addition, we commit to upholding, promoting, and protecting the following values:
● We understand academic integrity as a set of behaviours and attitudes in the academic community internalising and furthering compliance with ethical and professional principles and standards in learning, teaching, research, governance, outreach, and any other tasks related to the missions of higher education.
● We further understand institutional autonomy as the will and ability of higher education institutions to fulfil their missions without undue interference and to set and implement their own priorities and policies concerning organisation, finance, staffing and academic affairs.
● Participation of students and staff in higher education governance encompasses their right to organise autonomously, in accordance with the principle of partnership and collegiality, without pressure or undue interference; to elect and be elected in open, free and fair elections; have their views represent- ed and taken into account; initiate and participate in all debates and decision-making in all governing bodies; and, through their representative organisations, be duly involved in issues concerning the governance and further development of the relevant higher education institutions and system.
● Public responsibility for higher education denotes a set of duties, mainly exercised at the level of the national higher education system, which public authorities must fulfil as part of their overall responsibility for the education sector and society as a whole.
● Public responsibility of higher education denotes the obligations of the higher education community to the broader society of which the higher education community is a part.’
We adopt the statements on the fundamental values annexed to this Communiqué. While each value is essential, all six of them need to be implemented as a coherent whole. As a reliable monitoring of their implementation within all our education systems is required, we welcome the work on creating a technical monitoring framework, and we ask the BFUG to report back to us at our 2027 Ministerial Conference.’
18. In this changing and challenging landscape with the greater uncertainty that universities face, fundamental rights and values have an even more crucial function as they are necessary to guide the development of universities and enable them to create the future they and society want.
19. While universities would benefit from making stronger statements about the importance of values, rights and autonomy in response to the forces of change and greater influence from the state, proclaiming the values will not be sufficient for universities to survive and thrive. Ensuring that values are clearly articulated, adopted by staff and lived in practice will create internal integrity and strengthen the achievement of a university’s mission.
20. The MCU 2020 and the support of the MCO in enabling universities to put its principles, values and responsibilities into effect more strongly has never been so necessary. The MCO Governing Council has therefore required its future strategy to be bold and ambitious as it aims to serve society by engaging more extensively with those universities which are signatories, encourage more to sign the MCU 2020 so as to have the greatest impact in the next quinquennium and beyond.
The Observatory’s strategy for 2025 – 2030
21. The over-arching objectives are to:
22. More specifically the MCO will:
a. organise an annual ceremony for the signature of the Magna Charta Universitatum;
b. review criteria for the admission of newly established universities and provide support for them in their early years;
c. undertake periodic surveys of signatories on issues of concern;
d. organise 3 regional workshops each year (or participate in events organised by other bodies to deliver the same);
e. make inputs to national, regional or international meetings where there is an opportunity to promote the Magna Charta Observatory and/or the understanding of values set out in the Magna Charta Universitatum and their implementation;
f. seek to engage with the Bologna process in developing and putting into practice the Tirana communiqué;
g. further develop the Living Values project and support signatory universities in their implementation of it and generally in being more active in living their values;
h. seek to partner with organisation providing leadership programmes to the higher education sector to contribute values content;
i. assist signatory universities in operating in accordance with the values set out in the Magna Charta Universitatum;
j. facilitate collaborative research within and between signatory universities
k. develop further the student essay competition and enhance its impact;
l. develop and maintain an online repository of materials that will be of value to universities in implementing the MCU 2020:
m. use webinars and other virtual means where it is expedient to do so including where physical activity is not permitted or impractical;
n. seek to identify a way of giving recognition to universities that play a leading or innovative contribution to achieving impact through putting fundamental values into practice.
23. The Observatory has two parent bodies, the European University Association and the University of Bologna (Unibo) and it is desirable that both support and are actively engaged in the Observatory’s work and that the roles of both parents are considered in its operations.
24. In the case of the European University Association, it is a statutory requirement that universities applying to join the Association must signify their support of their values which are, ‘academic freedom, institutional autonomy, freedom of speech, integrity, inclusivity, diversity, equality and equity, sustainability, solidarity, promotion of creativity and critical thinking’ which align with the values set out in the MCU 2020. This alignment is one of great strength for the Observatory and more attention should be paid to it in the Observatory’s operations.
25. Under the 2021 protocol between the Observatory and Unibo the two organisations have agreed to support each other generally in areas of mutual interest to achieve an effective and lasting collaboration in order to raise awareness of the importance of fundamental values for the development of higher education systems. Specifically, Unibo and the Observatory pledged in 2021 to work together to deliver projects and activities specified in the Magna Charta Observatory’s Strategic Plan 2020 – 2025. A replacement protocol is being finalised.
26. Projects from the previous period provide scope for the more intensive engagement of a small number of other universities in such a way that both parties derive visible benefits. These include the Living Values project, the research project, and the student/next generation work. More specific work on the topics of academic freedom and institutional autonomy might be added.
27. The structure is designed to fulfil the ambitions of the Governing Council by expanding the activities of the MCO in a way that involves more universities (or other organisations) more actively, creating opportunities for greater financial and ‘in-kind’ support in such a way as does not involve a greater financial burden or risk on Unibo. It is designed to be future proof insofar as other activities ‘spokes’ can be added. It is designed to be flexible insofar as the contribution of the universities or other bodies hosting the different activities could be in cash or in kind. Reporting arrangements into the Executive Committee would be defined in individual contracts.
28. Diagrammatically The structure might look as follows:
Autonomy ___________________
Living Values _________________ __________________
Academic Freedom ____________ | MCO Hub (Unibo). |
Research/Repository ___________ | ________________|
Next Generation _______________
29. A task force has been established to develop this proposal.
30. While greater than in 2020, the number of signatories is still a small proportion of the estimated 28,000 universities in the world. Through partnerships and joint activities with other national, regional and international bodies and more effective communication and use of social media, attempts will be made to increase the number of signatory universities, that are committing themselves to actively promoting and contributing to our mission.
31. Building on the engagement achieved through the development of MCU 2020, attempts will be made to engage signatories more deeply and more frequently in the issues which the MCO is facing. This work will connect with events and a space on the website will be available to signatories as a forum, a source of ideas and a place where the experience of signatories can be shared.
32. The website will be modernised and will include among other features, a new area in which signatories will be encouraged to interact. A task group has been formed to progress this.
33. As a foundation of the mission and the activities of the Observatory, research has become more important and, subject to a review of the pilot project ‘the responsive and responsible university’, the project will be developed and enlarged with the involvement of additional signatory universities.
34. The research will seek to understand the diversity of practice across the globe. Findings will be disseminated across a variety of media, through MCO events and possibly involving one or more university presses. Such research collaborations will be a further way of engaging with signatories.
35. A repository of materials on the responsive and responsible university, in line with the new element of MCU 2020 will continue to be developed and enlarged with a view to a university with relevant research interests will be sought to host this. The Research Committee will oversee this.
36. The partnerships with IAU, SAR, EUA, ESU, WAHEN and AArU, and newly with AWB will continue to be developed through participation in their events, projects and other activities where these meet the objectives of the Observatory. Involvement with these groups will also serve to interest more universities in signing the MCU.
37. Attempts will be made to develop additional partnerships or connections with Rectors’ Conferences and equivalent bodies in different parts of the world so as to improve communications with universities which are not yet signatories.
38. The performance of Ambassadors will be reviewed and the number of Ambassadors will be increased with the aim of having ambassadors in all regions of the world and supporting them well through on-line resources and including them in anniversaries and other appropriate gatherings.
39. A recommendation from the 2024 Anniversary in Washington is that continuing attempts should be made to extend the reach of the MCO by the establishment of a Chapter (or similar).
40. A task group has been appointed by the Governing Council to propose a sustainable resourcing strategy.
41. In 2024 the MCO was fortunate to avoid the materialisation of a discontinuity risk caused by the absence of its administrator for an extended period. Steps will be taken to ensue that alternative access is available to all key MCO data, communications and systems should this reoccur.
42. Fulfilment of the strategy requires additional human resource with expertise in communications and the operation of effective websites. This will be considered further following the advice of the task groups.
43. This strategy will be kept under review by the Governing Council and will inform the annual provisional programme and annual provisional budget report required by UNIBO under the protocol. It will be subject to review and revision in 2029.
Implementation
44. The capacity of the MCO to implement the elements of this strategy will depend on the outcome of the task groups. Hence, for the present, only an indication of the likely activities is contained in an appendix to this strategy.
Approved by the Governing Council
13the December 2024
Appendix
Proposed activities subject to the findings of working groups
It is intended that the following activities will take place in each year.
These activities are in addition to 2 or more meetings of the Governing Council, Executive Committee, Admissions Committee and Research Committee pa and liaison with UNIBO and other universities on joint projects.
