A bimonthly publication of AQU Catalunya

41

March 2009

For the last years there has been an opinion to which university has been described almost solely in economic terms: "competitive university, which must ensure supply meets market demand, efficient and effective, etc.". Such notions may lead one to think, dare I say it, that the only goal of universities is to train professionals according to market needs and nothing more. In specific fields of knowledge this simplification of the reality leads both lecturers and students to feel a certain degree of conflict since it is difficult for us to determine where we fit in within such a model.

Must universities serve the economic system? They must, though they should go beyond that. Knowledge creation in both scientific and humanistic disciplines carries significant value enriching a country’s scientific, intellectual and cultural heritage. Universities must benefit from independence in order to operate in spheres the essence of which is the generation of knowledge, working beyond pressing needs. The creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) falls within this generation of knowledge.

One of the goals of the Bologna Declaration is "strengthening Europe’s intellectual, cultural, social and scientific and technological dimensions" which can be achieved by means of university mobility, among other methods. In short, it regulates a global framework for the generation and sharing of knowledge. The humanists Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus and Joan Lluís Vives, among others, travelled to universities throughout Europe in order to learn and share. Thus, they helped to establish and disseminate humanism, a movement that entailed a cultural revival based on a new conception of humankind and the world. The EHEA indeed constitutes the outcome of this common space the great thinkers had already made their own and it lends it a new outlook on the context of a globalised world.

Students are well aware that their experience in university, a unique, remarkable institution, will constitute a momentous stage in their lives. It will transform them as individuals, thereby enriching theirselves and society. It will equip them with skills, it will provide them with a more critical dimension of thought, it will convey to them the values of our culture and, with respect to their future occupation, it will give them greater firmness to work to a better standard of quality under more demanding conditions. The EHEA makes it possible to broaden and share knowledge and enables us to work together to build a diverse, yet unified Europe.