Rector of the University of Rijeka, Prof. Snježana Prijić-Samaržija, Ph.D., participated in this year’s Global Forum on “Higher Education Leadership for Democracy, Sustainability, and Social Justice”, hosted by Dublin City University on June 16-17, 2022. The Forum brought together higher education leaders and representatives of public authorities and local, regional, national, and international organizations with a common goal: to provide an opportunity to critically explore and actively advance higher education’s role in constructing a more equitable, sustainable, democratic world.
Rector Prijić-Samaržija participated in the plenary session with the topic ”How does academia redesign and engage in social and racial justice work in democratic collaboration with others within and beyond its campus?” Also participating in the session were Josefina Ewins, Class of 2022, Rutgers University – Camden, Leticia Ivonne López Villarreal, Director of the Center for Solidarity and Philanthropy, University of Monterrey, and Renée T. White, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, The New School. The discussion was moderated by Sibongile Muthwa, Vice-Chancellor, Nelson Mandela University, and Chair of Universities South Africa.
The program of this year’s forum is available at the following link, and the biographies of all speakers are available here.
This was the seventh global forum that has developed as a core component of cooperation among the Council of Europe and the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility, and Democracy since 1999. In 2018, the cooperation was expanded to include the Organization of American States; and in 2019, the International Association of Universities joined. In January 2021, the partners established the Global Cooperation for the Democratic Mission of Higher Education.
The Global Cooperation for the Democratic Mission of Higher Education works to build a global movement to fulfill higher education’s democratic mission and strengthen the role of higher education in developing, maintaining, and sustaining democracy on campus, in the community, and in the wider society. The cooperation is comprised of four pillar organizations: the Council of Europe; the International Association of Universities; the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility, and Democracy; and the Organization of American States.
