Document published aimed to put forth university commitment policies

On 7 July, the university community and different civil agents met in the UAB Casa Convalescència in order to work together on finding solutions for two urgent global challenges: the ecological crisis and armed conflicts. The meeting, entitled Universitats Compromeses: el compromís social universitari, a prova davant l’emergència ecològica i els conflictes armats [Committed Universities: social commitments put to the test under the ecological emergency and armed conflicts], was organised by the UAB's Fundació Autònoma Solidària (FAS) with the support of the Global Justice and International Collaboration Unit of the Barcelona City Council, and focused on strengthening the commitment of universities with Global Justice.

To do so, two working groups were created and a large part of the meeting was dedicated to reflecting on the ecological emergency and on the armed conflicts existing around the world. Thus, while one group looked into the need to implement radical university policies to fight against an environmental collapse, the other was preparing actions that the university community can put into practice to deal with the human drama of armed conflicts and work towards peacebuilding. Based on the results of the meeting, the FAS recently published a document with the most relevant proposals presented by each group.

The group dynamics at the meeting were set up in the following manner: pose a long-term objective and search for actions and policies to reach this objective and, finally, propose specific short-term actions that can be implemented immediately and which would be the first steps in implementing wider policies or actions.

Peace and sustainability proposals

As an example of one of the objectives to be reached, the Armed Conflicts working group proposed creating a university that is socially and politically committed with peace and demilitarisation processes, by seeking the truth behind and the reparation of conflicts. To reach this objective, the group highlighted the importance of acknowledging and strengthening the university's role as an institutional activist, and among the first steps to be taken would be focusing on the organisation of activities co-created by universities and social agents, or communication campaigns that would facilitate the link between university and civil society.

To reach a long-term objective of making universities environmentally responsible and sustainable in all of their practices (using renewable energy sources, sustainable materials, promoting internal ecological resistance practices, etc.), the Ecological Emergency and Environmental Justice working group proposed several different actions; incorporating an ethical protocol based on criteria of social and solidary economy and of ecological sustainability in all external contracts. Some of the first steps would include creating a technical commission for an ecological transition or ending contracts with suppliers having contaminating business practices or violating human rights.

The document published in Catalan and Spanish (document de retorn i incidència) contains all short, medium and long-term objectives proposed and has been shared with the persons and entities that participated in the meeting, as well as with key organisations at the UAB.

More information (document in Catalan): El compromís social universitari, a prova davant l'emergència ecològica i els conflictes armats al món. Document de retorn i incidència