EUA Leadership Roundtable entitled “Europe’s Universities 2030: towards EUA’s vision for the future” took place on 11 September via Zoom.
Rector of the University of Split, Professor Dragan Ljutić, PhD, participated in the roundtable, where the leaders of EUA member universities shared opinions and ideas of their vision of Europe’s Universities 2030.

Introduction speech was given by Mr. Michael Murphy, EUA President. First part of the panel was dedicated to recognising key factors for development, COVID-19 pandemic impact to universities’ operation, rethinking universities and their mission today and in the future, their historical role and inevitable changes approaching in the new decade, as well as presentation of ideas for the future.

During the discussion, Rector Ljutić said: “Today we are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic impact, but in the future it can be something else. The University of Split has decided to pursue the usual face-to face teaching model, respecting all the safety measures. Universities are not only places where the knowledge is transferred, they are important for immediate social interaction between students, as well as students and professors, which cannot be substituted by any form of online teaching.” He also pointed out that the goal of universities is knowledge dissemination. The University of Split has opened towards its local community, offering your people perspective and education possibilities, giving as example our studies of Hotel Management and Gastronomy in Makarska. He emphasised that the future of universities in Europe is networking and exchange of visions and ideas. The best proof for it is the project of European Universities, in which the University of Split is participating as partner in the European University of the Seas SEA-EU.

Science and research of our professors are foundation for the quality knowledge transfer to our students. Consequently, position of the university in scientific rankings is the proof of what we are doing at the global level – Rector Ljutić concluded.
Core of the discussion were previously collected information from 800 EUA members from 48 European countries. The goal was not to find a model which would suit all, but rather gather ideas on the differences and similarities of Europe’s universities to create a joint vision for the future, respecting and recognising the diversity of institutional profiles, missions and approaches building the Europe’s university area.