The Role of Universities in Modern Societies [PHA].docx 07.11.2019 - PDF document

The Role of Universities in Modern Societies [PHA].docx 07.11.2019 The fourth role of Universities I will in the following elaborate on what I see as the role of universities in any European Democracy, with wide‐open economies in an increasingly Globalized world. We, the universities, have in my mind 4 roles, of which 3 are stated specifically in most countries legal framework for their universities, here ia. in the University Act governing Danish Universities: 1: Research: ie. generation of new knowledge 2: Research based education: ie. transferring the knowledge‐base of our society from one generation to the next 3: Dissemination: ie. transferring knowledge to society in general 4: However, there is a fourth role that is not highlighted in any University Act, a role that is becoming acutely relevant and necessary for our institutions to recognize as an increasing part of our responsibility: the role of forming, building and preserving the foundations of society and civilization. As I see it, this role is becoming more and more evident and rapidly so with a high sense of urgency. And I will here make reference to one of MY absolute Icons of British history, ie. WSC (Winston Spencer Churchill), who famously stated that: “Taking civilization for granted is a grave mistake” . My own view of this is very much based on my personal life and experience: born in the early 1950´ties, by parents that were both heavily affected for life by their personal experiences in the 2.nd world war. However, the end of this soul‐destroying conflict released a massive flow of gratitude, exuberance, common‐ and community‐spirit, and ingenuity: The United Nations, European collaboration, international trade‐ 1

agreements and consequently massive increase in material welfare, and unprecedented improvements based on progress in science and technology; fx. the event that some of us here personally remember, ie. the hugely symbolic transmission of the lunar‐landing of 2 human beings on our moon. Moreover, a lot of people present here today will remember 1989, when the “Iron Curtain” fell (by the way, yet another WSC quote ), releasing optimism and belief in a new and freer world where liberal democracies would expand, and Globalization was universally associated with positivism. US President George (Herbert Walker) Bush (senior) stated that a “new World order” would from then on prevail. However, our unbounded optimism, based on the economic and democratic post WWII‐progress, led us into a haze where we exactly began to “Take civilization for granted”. Only a decade ago this picture became somewhat “fuzzy”. Partly driven by the emergence of the financial crisis, that also revealed that the benefits of international trade and globalization were massively evident, but at the same time these very same benefits were massively unevenly distributed, not only between continents but especially within the more developed societies in Europe, USA, but also Russia, Asia, and South America. We have probably only just seen the top‐of‐the‐iceberg of the political upheaval of this development in lack of community spirit, lack of confidence, lack of trust and lack of common spirit and destiny. The uneven distribution of the material and spiritual progress and benefits, have somewhat questioned and de‐stabilized our human foundations and directions of the past ¾ of a century of progress and development, and we are ALL searching for a hand and guidance through the so far fuzzy transformational‐twilight‐zone into our future. This is exactly why The Role of Universities are an obvious part of the answer to addressing these challenges. 2

We are global, independent institutions, built on the same fundamental and universal values of honesty, transparency, credibility, facts and truth. Values that are independent of geography, religion, political beliefs, ideology, skin‐colour, gender … By the cheer nature of our institutions, we have and must have, a focus on the very long term perspective of progress for ALL humanity. This is why the 4 th role of universities is emerging – in my view ‐ as being so important, and why universities are a significant and massive part of the solution to solving some of the challenges mounting ahead of us. Basically, I have told you my view of why I think universities and democracies are here to stay. They form a most powerfull and formidable combination. However, the road ahead into the future, will be more uncertain and more bumpy than our generation has experienced. However, students and audience, do not despair. WSC also coined a quote for exactly this scenario: “Success in not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”. It is therefore also the role of OUR “global universities”, to encourage and build this spirit into our education, our students, and our institutions. It is not just an option, it is in my view A MUST. Per Holten‐Andersen 2019.11.07 3