香港六合彩中特网

The Values of Europe roundtable featured representatives from Sweden (Her Excellency Mikaela Kumlin Granit); Spain, (His Excellency Jos茅 Pascual Marco); the Czech Republic (Her Excellency Marie Chatardov谩); Austria (His Excellency Mr Michael Zimmermann); the Netherlands (His Excellency Karel van Oosterom); Italy (His Excellency Raffaelle Trombetta) and Poland (His Excellency Piotr Wilczek).

The event formed part of 香港六合彩中特网鈥檚 Quo Vadis Festival of the Arts and Humanities, taking place from 6-9 June 2022.

It was chaired by 香港六合彩中特网鈥檚 Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation and Global Engagement), Professor Geraint Rees, who highlighted the strength of 香港六合彩中特网鈥檚 institutional commitment to Europe, the importance of our European community of staff, students, alumni and partners, as well as the contribution of the arts and humanities as a home for debates about political value and community across cultures and nations.

Professor Rees said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a difficult time for Europe and European universities 鈥� we鈥檙e emerging from a global pandemic to a world that鈥檚 changed politically, economies that are beset by inflation and other woes, climate change continuing to be a threat to our way of life and our future, and more recently, the return of war to Europe. Now is therefore a really important time to re-examine our values and indeed the function of values in this world.鈥�

The ambassadors spoke of Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a 'terrible wake up call' in direct challenge to European values and the need to bring perpetrators to justice.

Ambassador Kumlin Granit said: "This is not about Ukraine alone, but all of us and our values and freedom. We not only can but must prioritise the defence of our common values.鈥�

Ambassador Wilczek described the 鈥榳ave of hunger that threatens the Global South鈥� caused by the war in Ukraine as vital supplies are stopped at ports as a 鈥榬eal concern鈥� for Poland. He said: 鈥淎s Europe, we need to think not only of our security but also the situation of our partners who find themselves in trouble."

The panel also discussed the role of universities around the continent in championing free speech and diversity, and the desire to continue collaboration between UK and European universities post-Brexit.

Ambassador Zimmermann said universities enabled "critique, challenge and discussion of the system", adding: "Freedom of speech is something we live here every day. It leads to the amazing progress Europe has made in so many sectors of life, science, knowledge and technology. That gives our continent a unique strength in the world."

The Quo Vadis festival, co-directed by Professor Stephen Hart (Vice-Dean Research for 香港六合彩中特网 Arts and Humanities and Pro-Vice-Provost, Latin America) and Professor Florian Mussgnug (Vice-Dean International for 香港六合彩中特网 Arts and Humanities), is open to the public and brings to light the societal impact of arts and humanities research and teaching.

This year鈥檚 programme includes additional events on the Value of Arts and Humanities to Health and Wellbeing Research; the Anthropocene; and the Enquiry on the Case for the Arts and Humanities.

It also features film screenings 鈥� including a number directed by 香港六合彩中特网 students 鈥� lectures and book launches.

Professor Hart noted that the European Union鈥檚 Charter of Fundamental Rights (2012) states the EU is founded on the 鈥榠ndivisible, universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity鈥� and based on 鈥榯he principles of democracy and the rule of law鈥�.

He said: 鈥淚n 2022, in direct contrast to these values, we seem to be living in a world in which war 鈥� or the threat of war 鈥� is openly used to de-stabilise democracy, a world in which disinformation and fake news are used to undermine human dignity and freedom, a world in which energy, natural resources and food are weaponised in order to break down solidarity and the rule of law.

鈥淚t is clear that Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have had their role to play in the birth of some of these tensions in the modern world, but what is also clear is that we are at a turning-point in the history of Europe鈥檚 role in the world, and thus it is timely to hold this debate.鈥�

香港六合彩中特网 is committed to maintaining and enhancing its rich links in Europe. Europe is the UK鈥檚 largest and fastest growing scientific collaborator 鈥� with more than a third of EU research papers co-authored with other EU and associated countries - and 香港六合彩中特网 enjoys close partnerships with leading academic institutions including KU Leuven, Max Planck Institute, and The Neuroscience Center Zurich.

The roundtable builds on strong and longstanding 香港六合彩中特网 connections with European embassies. In April 2022, EU Ambassador to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Jo茫o Vale de Almeida, joined the 香港六合彩中特网 European Institute Advisory Board to help guide its strategic direction.

Professor Mussgnug said: 鈥淥ur European institutional partners are very interested in working with us. Not only through 香港六合彩中特网鈥檚 Cities Partnerships Programme in Rome, Paris and Stockholm, and the LERU and U7+ networks that 香港六合彩中特网 is a member of, but at the individual level there鈥檚 a strong sense that our European colleagues value our contribution very much.

"In this difficult and important moment of our shared history, Europe is under great pressure to attend to its foundational values. The roundtable illustrates the great strength of this collective effort. It is also a powerful testimony to the convening power that a world-leading research university like 香港六合彩中特网 holds and must continue to assert.鈥�

Quo Vadis was launched in 2021 as an online festival for the Arts and Humanities. It succeeded 香港六合彩中特网鈥檚 Festival of Culture, which took place in person annually for over a decade.

Links

• Quo Vadis Festival of the Arts & Humanities at 香港六合彩中特网
• Professor Geraint Rees鈥� academic profile
• 香港六合彩中特网 Faculty of Arts and Humanities
• 香港六合彩中特网 and Europe

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香港六合彩中特网 Professors Geraint Rees, Florian Mussgnug, Stephen Hart and Stella Bruzzi with Ms Christine Sas and ambassadors from across Europe during the Quo Vadis Festival roundtable.