Ceremonial signing of the Vienna Declaration at the FHK evening reception at the Forum Alpbach

Academic freedom, academic integrity in teaching and research, institutional autonomy, the significant involvement of students and academic and artistic staff in internal governance and public responsibility for universities are the achievements of the Enlightenment that are affirmed and recorded in the joint declaration. With the ceremonial signing of the Vienna Declaration, the FHK is sending a clear signal in favour of the importance of these fundamental values. The FHK thus joins the Austrian University Conference (uniko) and the Rectors' Conferences of Germany, Italy, Croatia, Poland, Switzerland, Slovakia, Serbia and the Czech Republic, which jointly formulated the declaration in December 2018 (Vienna Declaration, Universities for Enlightenment - www.u4e.eu).

"As application-orientated universities, universities of applied sciences have an educational and research mandate that is closely aligned with society and its needs. In this function, we see it as our responsibility to uphold the canon of university values as social values. People today are confronted with challenges, some of which are unsettling. Many of their questions concern important future fields such as health, social issues, sustainability, energy and the environment. Universities act here as a link between society and science, as they develop sustainable solutions to these challenges in the interests of the general public," says Raimund Ribitsch, who signed the joint declaration in Alpbach as President of the FHK.

On behalf of uniko, Secretary General Elisabeth Fiorioli said: "We are delighted that the FHK will be involved in the activities of our initiative in future. This also emphatically emphasises the common concern to publicly stand up for the fundamental values of higher education. These values are also indicators of the state and constitution of society," adds Fiorioli.