Center for Liberal Education and Civic Engagement

The Council of Europe

Declaration on Higher Education and Democratic Culture

American college and university presidents are invited to sign the Council of Europe's Declaration on Higher Education and Democratic Culture.

This transnational declaration seeks to promote citizenship, civic responsibility and democratic practices at higher education institutions around the world.

Forum on Higher Education and Democratic Culture

The declaration was developed and adopted during the two-day forum Higher Education and Democratic Culture: Citizenship, Human Rights and Civic Responsibility, sponsored by the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee for Higher Education and Research (CDESR). It was held in 2006 at the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg, France.

Designed to explore the responsibility of higher education for advancing sustainable democratic culture, the forum was organized in close cooperation with the U.S. Steering Committee of the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility and Democracy, led by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), the University of Pennsylvania and the American Council on Education (ACE).

The 150 person forum included a strong European presence and a delegation of 37 U.S. college and university presidents (among other academic leaders from the U.S.). The forum also hosted several top-level higher education representatives from around the world. This diverse representation of global leadership helped to enrich the dialogue further by adding valuable non-Western perspectives to the discussion.

In conjunction with the Council of Europe, the forum was planned under the leadership of Caryn McTighe Musil, Senior Vice President of AACU; Susan Porter Robinson, Vice President of Lifelong Learning at ACE; Ira Harkavy, Director of the Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania; and Henry Teune, Project Director of the Democracy and Local Governance at the University of Pennsylvania.

About the Declaration

The declaration states that “Democracy cannot exist without strong institutions and sound legislation, but it also cannot work without being based on democratic culture. Education and schooling are decisive forces shaping the democratic development of societies; and universities, in turn, are strategic institutions for the democratic development of schooling and societies.”

Campuses are encouraged to review and sign the declaration. By signing, the institution commits to taking action in their local, national and global communities to put the principles of democracy, civic responsibily and citizenship into practice.

The declaration builds on related previous Council of Europe activities such as the pilot project on the University as a Site of Citizenship, organized jointly with an international consortium of U.S. higher education organizations with the University of Pennsylvania playing a leading role, and the Council of Europe initiative for the European Year of Citizenship through Education in 2005.

AAC&U has an ongoing commitment to promoting personal and social responsibility as a learning outcome in a liberal education.

About the Council of Europe

Established in 1949, the Council of Europe defends human rights, parliamentary democracy and the rule of law, develops continent-wide agreements to standardize member countries' social and legal practices, and promotes awareness of a European identity based on shared values and cutting across different cultures.

Europe’s oldest political organization, the Council’s membership totals 46 countries, including 21 countries from Central and Eastern Europe. For more information, please visit the Council of Europe website.