Rooted in its conviction that some dimensions less prominent in the initial stages of the Bologna Process need to be addressed to make the EHEA a living reality, the Holy See hosted an official Bologna seminar on “The Cultural Heritage and Academic Values of the European University and the Attractiveness of the European Higher Education Area” at the Vatican from 30 March through 1 April 2006. The seminar was held in collaboration with UNESCO-CEPES and the Council of Europe.

With the active participation of representatives from more than fifty countries, most but not all of them European, and from various sectors of the worldwide Academy and international organisations, this meeting of minds was successful in achieving some of the objectives set out in the final Communiqué released at Bergen, Norway, by the European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education in May 2005.

The seminar emphasised that, however important structural reform is, the EHEA concerns more than structural questions. It underlined that the values and heritage of European higher education are among the factors that make it attractive.

In order to keep the European university attractive to the nations of the continent as well as to the rest of the world, the seminar recommends to the Ministers at the 2007 London meeting to further develop and discuss the themes treated by this seminar, among which are, in particular, the following:

• The indispensable and irreplaceable role of the European university for the integration of Europe and the formation of a wisdom society.
• The commitment to Europe’s cultural heritage and its humanistic values as a living and expanding tradition which the university receives, enriches and transmits to succeeding generations.
• The core values of institutional autonomy, academic freedom, collegiality/community and cooperation/exchange among institutions are necessary components of the European university’s competitive advantage in the global marketplace and thus instruments at the service of society.
• The positive value of unity in diversity and diversity in unity is a way to foster interaction, interdisciplinary studies and dialogue among different cultural and religious traditions.
• The conviction that religious faith marks the various national cultures of Europe in their literature, architecture, approach to human rights and other crucial matters, and that questions of meaning and ethical responsibility should be recognised in all the university’s programmes and research projects.

Fr. Friedrich Bechina, Holy See

Source: Bergen to London 2007 - Secretariat Report on the Bologna Work Programme 2005-2007
Bologna Process between Bergen and London