From the 14th to 16th of September, the oldest educational institution in the world, the University of Bologna, celebrated the signing of the updated Great Charter of Universities (Magna Charta Universitatum). Rectors and vice-rectors from 60 universities representing 40 countries of the world signed the document defining trends in world education and science. Among the signatories of the charter is Sumy National Agrarian University, which was represented by the Vice-Rector for Research Work, Yurii Danko.
Magna Charta Universitatum is a document signed by 388 university rectors from around the world on the 18th of September, 1988, on the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna. It contains the principles of academic freedom and institutional autonomy and is a reference point for the effective management and self-understanding of universities in the future. In 2018, a multinational group was formed to revise the Great Charter of Universities in the context of changes in universities and the environment in which they operate. The updated MCU charter does not remove anything from the original fundamental values that the universities signed up to. It is designed to respond to modern challenges and problems occurring in the world.
On the eve of the signing of the document, a two-day conference “Interaction of Universities with Society in Times of Turbulence” was held. The rectors of the world’s leading universities presented their vision of responding to such challenges as the pandemic, climate change, and the war currently ongoing in Ukraine. Each speaker during his speech condemned the treacherous attack of the Russian Federation and emphasized that today the world must unite against the aggressor country.
An official signing ceremony was held on the 16th of September. Sixty rectors and vice-rectors took turns signing the document, thereby testifying to the beginning of a new stage in the development of world education.
