Campus Europae Newsletter, May 2011

Table of contents

  • Ride for your Rights – a 4000km long symbolic protest for student mobility

  • Fast Facts

    • An account of the 1st Luxembourg Forum on Human Rights and Higher Education

    • EUF-CE elects new Vice-President

    • Bologna Conference announcement

    • Humanities and Social Sciences  committee meeting report

    • New LEP partner in St. Petersburg

  • Turning the spotlight on... Tallinn
  • Upcoming events
    • Natural Sciences Subject Committee meeting
    • Ride for Your Rights

Ride for your Rights – a 4000km long symbolic protest for student mobility

The Campus Europae Student Council is hard at work on its most ambitious project to date: a symbolic protest for more and better student mobility which will see students pedaling 4000km from Novi Sad to St. Petersburg. This 10 week long event will start on the 3rd of July in Serbia and cross Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Russia aiming to remind politicians that student mobility is not quite as easy as it should - but also to demonstrate to fellow students that spending a year abroad is a far less demanding way to learn about other countries and cultures!

The Ride for your Rights is being organized in close partnership with the Erasmus Student Network and both student bodies have undersigned a manifesto addressed to “the European Parliament, the EU Commission, National governments and all European Universities”. The Manifesto calls out for a rethinking of how student mobility is financed, the development of more flexible curricula and a great deal more of protection for students who are faced with recognition problems. You can read and sign the Manifesto here.

All active European Citizens and organizations that identify themselves with the spirit of the initiative are welcome to pedal along – participation is free and the organizers hope to be joined by many hundreds of fellow cyclists! It does not matter whether one joins for 2 months, 2 week, 2 days or even 2 hours – however those who would like to spend several days with the Ride are encouraged to use the online pre-registration formulary, which will enable the organizers to sort out logistics in the best possible manner. Check the website for more details about the itinerary and other practical information.

The Ride pivotal idea is to physically and metaphorically bridge Europe’s variety of landscapes, cultures and languages under the notion that only through the advancement of student mobility these will become fully cherished and appreciated. But there is a lot more to it than going from city to city in a eco-sustainable fashion: in each of the main stops the Ride, which will include 10 Campus Europae universities, participants will seek to meet with academic and politic authorities in order to ask them to throw their weight behind the notion that student mobility needs to be well funded and remain high in the agenda of the European Higher Education Area. In addition to lobbying there will also be seminars on citizenship, workshops about peaceful intervention and visits to memorial sites. Past, present and future will be interweaved with a view to facilitate a deeper understanding of the European project and how younger generations can best be brought in contact with its ideals.

The sheer originality of the Ride for your Rights is attracting a lot of attention, and there is an ever-growing list of personalities endorsing it! Athletes from across the continent immediately understood the beauty of marrying a meaningful and peaceful demonstration with a healthy physical activity, and Maris Strombergs (BMX Olympic Gold Medalist and World Champion, Latvia), Mindaugas Kuzminskas (professional basketball player at BC Zalgiris, Lithuania) and Iya Traore (professional football freestyler and Guiness World Record holder) have all expressed their support. Hildgard Goss-Mayr, who is the honorary president of IFOR and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, has also voiced her backing; the Ride for your Rights is even nominated for the 2011 European Charlemagne Youth Prize – so we hope we can also count with your support, and perhaps pedal together for a few hours or days for better student mobility!

Ride for your Rights website

Fast facts

An account of the 1st Luxembourg Forum on Human Rights and Higher Education

The first Luxembourg Forum on Human Rights in Higher Education was held in Luxembourg, on the 10th and 11th of March. This joint initiative of the European University Foundation – Campus Europae, the University of Luxembourg and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg brought together some of foremost European experts in Human Rights, such as Prof. Emmanuel Decaux, Prof. Antonio Papisca and Prof. Jean-Paul Lehners. The discussion was further enriched with contributions by Ms. Heidi Hautala, Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament, Ms. Ólöf Ólafsdóttir, Director of Education and Languages at Council of Europe, Ms. Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, former Minister of Culture, Higher Education and Research of Luxembourg, Prof. Anatoly Mikhailov, Rector of the European Humanities University, Prof. Jürgen Kohler, EUA and University of Greifswald, and Prof. Rusen Ergec  from the University of Luxembourg.

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Some of the participants in attendance (photo credits: Andreas Reiterer)

Prof. Decaux held the opening speech by guiding the participants into the meanders of the United Nations Draft Declaration Human Rights in Education, of which he was the rapporteur – a unique opportunity to better understand the key ideas as well as the constraints that shaped its elaboration. Building on this excellent introduction the first panel got itself into a passionate discussion about the capacity of universities to help create and remain a part of a holistic system to uphold Human Rights (HR), which goes beyond the effectiveness limits of existing frameworks. There has been a plea for looking beyond mere legal instruments and to think about practical and concrete tools.

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Prof.Emmanuel Decaux, Ms.Heidi Hautala and Prof. Antonio Papisca (photo credits: Andreas Reiterer)

The second panel took the discussion further by systematically questioning the role and responsibilities of universities. Prof. Mikhailov elaborated on how theory and practice cannot be divorced when it comes to Human Rights, which is a field where often times principles are both agreed with and disrespected. Prof. Lehners in turn presented a survey, which demonstrated that only one out of fifteen European universities had any explicit references to upholding Human Rights in their Charta. It was suggested that international cooperation and inter-institutional agreements in Higher Education must incorporate a HR dimension, particularly as far as the choice of partners, programmes and participants is concerned. 

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The Forum was held at the Abbaye de Neumünster in Luxembourg (photo credits: Andreas Reiterer)

At the third panel Prof. Kohler gave an excellent account of how existing quality assurance systems can be put to use to ascertain whether university curricula are incorporating Human Rights notions and concepts. It was also analyzed how HR can articulate with the other key functions of a university, notably science and outreach; aspects such as university autonomy and the participation of its different bodies in the decision-making processes can also be improved through such reflections. The Forum ended with a vibrant discussion a putative Declaration on Human Rights and Higher Education. Participants will discuss this proposal further until the next edition of the Forum, which is due for 2013.

EUF-CE elects new Vice-President

The Board of Directors of the European University Foundation – Campus Europae elected Prof. Wojciech Wolf as its new Vice-President. Prof. Wolf is a renowned crystallographer and Vice-Rector for Student Affairs at the Technical University of Lodz. He succeeds Prof. V. Viliunas, from Vytautas Magnus University. Both the President and the Secretary-General thanked him for his service and the energy he invested in the further development of CE since 2008.

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The Vice-President of EUF-CE, Prof. Wojciech Wolf (photo credits: unknown)

The Board of Directors has also accepted the Technical University of Tallinn as a new member of the network, reviewed the execution of the present Action Plan, analyzed the first version of the “Campus Europae Student Charter”, approved the 2011 accounts and the 2011 budget and listened to reports by the Ombudswoman and the Student Council.

Bologna Conference announcement

The conference “Developing the Social Dimension - Stocktaking and Future Perspectives of Student Affairs and Services in Europe “ will take place in Berlin from 11-13 July 2011.

The conference will analyze the social infrastructure at universities in Europe, and to discuss the challenges and future perspectives for effective student affairs and services. Expert case studies will present the state-of-the-art of student affairs and services in France, Italy, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Switzerland,Spain, Turkey and several other European countries, while Prof. Christoph Ehmann, Secretary General of EUF-CE, will chair the panel on “Measuring the Effect and Impact of Student Affairs and Services”.

Conference website

Report from the Humanities and Social Sciences subject committee meeting

In a snowy but sunny landscape of Finland, the Humanities and Social Sciences Subject Committee was held at the University of Eastern Finland, on the 18th-19th of March. Representatives of ten member universities (Gazi, Lodz, Aveiro, VMU, Luxembourg, Novi Sad, Alcalá, St Petersburg, EHU and EUF) discussed the situation and the latest achievements of their work within the Subject Committee activities.

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The Humanities and Social Sciences Subject Committee (photo credits: Joao Bacelar)

The Committee has been working on matrices in Tourism, History, History of Art, Political Science and Languages, Literatures and Cultures in English, German and French. With an interest expressed by some partners, work on matrices in Psychology, Media and Communication Studies and Philosophy was also taken into the development agenda. The SC members agreed that matrices should be a flexible tool in order to encourage and not limit the mobility and their acceptance implies an actual recognition of studies taken abroad. The next Subject Committee meeting will take place in in Lithuania on the 27th-28th of October and will combine a regular meeting with a special Tourism group event.

New LEP partner in St. Petersburg

The Zirkus Upsala, in St. Petersburg, is the most recent organization to associate itself with CE's “Learning Employability Places” programme. The Zirkus Upsala was created in 2000 and focuses on working with children and youngsters from unprivileged backgrounds and will be receiving CE Movers from 2011/12 onwards.

Turning the spotlight on... Tallinn

The mission of Tallinn University of Technology is to support Estonia’s sustainable development through scientific creation and science-based higher education in the field of engineering, technology, natural and social sciences.

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Tallinn enjoys a previledged location right at the Baltic See (photo credits: Joao Bacelar)

The provision of education began on September 17, 1918 with a special engineering course held at the engineering school established by Estonian Engineering Society, where tuition was provided in the Estonian language. The curricula available were: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, shipbuilding, hydraulic engineering, civil engineering and architecture. In 1919, the school was renamed as Tallinn College of Engineering and the departments of amelioration, surveying and technical chemistry were added. To meet the requirements of the defence forces, the department of marine engineering-mechanics was opened.

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Tallinn's old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site with a great student life (photo credits: Joao Bacelar)

Tartu University began the provision of engineering education in 1934. However, in two years time, its Faculty of Engineering was transferred to Tallinn College of Engineering. By the 15 September 1936 Act of the Head of State, the school was granted the status of University and named as Tallinn Technical Institute. The institute had three departments: civil engineering, chemistry and mechanics and mechanical technology. By the enactment of the Universities Act, the name of Tallinn Technical Institute was changed into Tallinn University of Technology in 1938. The university had two faculties: civil and mechanical engineering and chemistry and mining. New laboratories were provided for research and the university began awarding degrees. Admission to electrical specialities started a year later, the Faculty of Economics was opened in 1940. In 1958 the Faculty of Power Engineering and in 1965 the Faculty of Control Engineering were opened. In between 1941 and 1944–1989 the university bore the name Tallinn Polytechnic Institute. The name was restored back to Tallinn University of Technology in 1989.

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The streets and alleys of Tallinn's old town beg to be discovered  (photo credits: Joao Bacelar)

Today, tuition is provided by 8 faculties and 4 colleges. Being the flagship of Estonian engineering and technical education, TUT has app. 14, 000 students and 2000 employees (incl. 1200 faculty members). Languages of instruction are Estonian and, for general subjects, also Russian. Since September 2003, TUT offers 6 international programmes some special study modules taught in English.

A more complete account of TUT's history can be found here.

Upcoming events

Natural Sciences Subject Committee Meeting

St Petersburg, 27-28th of May

Ride for Your Rights

Novi Sad, 3rd of July

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