The participants

• underline the important role of higher education in developing and maintaining societies based on democracy, human rights and the rule of law;
• reaffirm that sustainable democracies require citizens who value the diversity of their global society as well as of their individual countries, regions and local communities and who are willing and able to engage in intercultural dialogue;
• recognize that their societies are becoming increasingly diverse in terms of people’s backgrounds, social and ethnic origins, beliefs and convictions as well as in the increasingly wide diverse ages of those seeking higher education as are their higher education institutions that are, in most cases, still far from reflecting the composition of society at large;
• affirm their commitment, as higher education policy makers and leaders, to fulfilling the full range of purposes of higher education, including:
  • preparation for the labtheir market;
  • preparation for life as active citizens in democratic societies;
  • personal development;
  • the development and maintenance of a broad, advanced knowledge base;
• assume the responsibility to ensure that higher education advances knowledge on sustainable democracy, civic engagement, human rights, and diversity and provide its graduates with the subject specific and transferable competences needed for them to help build and maintain the kind of society in which they would like future generations to be able to live;
• underscore the crucial importance of cooperation among all actors and levels of education to improve the opportunity for all to benefit from higher education.