Members of the academic community of EUTOPIA replace MEPs for a day in the European Parliament's central debating chamber

Tag:

EUTOPIA

Date of publication:

2. 10. 2023

This year, EUTOPIE universities marked the start of the academic year in a particularly festive way, with the presence of students, professors and ten rectors at the European Parliament, where they gave up their central debating chamber for this important and symbolic event last Friday. In doing so, they made European politicians aware of the importance they attach to science and university education.

The main motto of the event was that Europe needs a new Renaissance. Just as knowledge lifted us out of the Middle Ages during the Renaissance, we need science and education now more than at any time in recent decades, and all European countries should be aware of this. Only knowledge and science can solve the problems facing the world. This would require the whole of society, politics and the media to come together, together with the universities, to steer our society towards a knowledge society, especially in these times when the rudder often seems to be turned in the opposite direction - towards a society of ignorance, which is often suspicious of knowledge.

EUTOPIA member universities argue that it is only science and knowledge that can get us out of the current crises. But to deliver results, politicians will also need to listen more than they have done so far and take into account the knowledge that universities have and are willing to share.

"Science can help us find solutions to pressing problems such as the climate crisis, widening development gaps, the transformation of the economy into a circular economy, ageing populations and the resulting increased health problems, migration and more. At the same time, we need to use science and knowledge to ensure that the new technologies that are being developed, such as AI, and about which there is some fear, are used for the good of humanity. In the same way that the invention of the printing press enabled a full-blown renaissance and the spread of knowledge, AI and other modern tools can help us solve the problems we face if we know how to use them for the benefit of humanity as a whole. The academic community of EUTOPIA is committed to this, and through the education of new generations of students, the whole community will work for the progress of humanity and the preservation of our planet as a liveable place for all its inhabitants. But without the commitment of decision-makers, including those in Slovenia, who unfortunately have even less commitment to science and university education than in many European countries, the academic community cannot change society," said Prof. Dr. Gregor Majdič, Rector of the University of Ljubljana, at the meeting.