The Magna Charta Universitatum (Great Charter of Universities) is a short two-page document signed in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in 1988 explicitly defining key principles underpinning the existence of universities such as

academic freedom Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teac ...

and

institutional autonomy Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teach ...

. The document is signed by higher education institutions with the aim to recognize and celebrate

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

traditions and to encourage cooperation among European universities. The document is intended to serve as a universal inspiration and is as such open to universities throughout the world and not only those located in Europe. The charter was established by the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

and the European Rectors' Conference (now EUA) in 1988, to mark the 900th anniversary of the

, with 388 original signatories. it has been signed by 889 universities from 88 countries.

History

The ''Magna Charta Universitatum Europaeum'' was formally signed by 388 university rectors on 18 September 18 1988 at

Piazza Maggiore Piazza Maggiore (''Piâza Mażåur'' in the Bolognese language) is a central square in Bologna, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The appearance in the 21st century, generally reflects the layout from the 15th century. The Northwest corner opens i ...

, to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the founding of the University of Bologna. The final text of the document was drafted in January 1988 in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. The ''Observatory Magna Charta Universitatum'' was established in 1998 and incorporated in 2000. It organised the first convention in 2001. 73 universities signed the charter at the annual convention on 18 September 2018, bringing the total to 889, with 13 more having been accepted in 2019.

References

External links

Document textObservatory Magna Charta Universitatum
{{Wikisource, Magna Charta Universitatum Educational policies and initiatives of the European Union 1988 works

History

See also

References

External links