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Partnership between Coimbra Group and Clasco expected to “foster common understanding of realities”
Academic groups in Europe and the Americas have an announced an agreement to cooperate on promoting research and education.
The Latin American Council of Social Sciences (Clasco) and the Coimbra Group agreement will create closer ties between academics in Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe, the groups said in an announcement on 24 October.
Clasco is an international non-governmental institution that brings together more than 900 research and postgraduate centres in the social sciences and humanities across 56 countries, while the Coimbra Group is an association of European multidisciplinary universities.
Ludovic Thilly, chair of the executive board of the Coimbra Group, said: “This partnership will foster a common understanding of Latin American, Caribbean and European realities.
“With [their] long tradition of universities immersed in society, Latin America and the Caribbean are of utmost importance for helping us in further strengthening the societal engagement of our members in a changing world. Consequently, together we are now better positioned to find solutions to our common challenges.”
Thilly said Clasco and the Coimbra Group shared core ideas and were both strongly committed to protecting and advancing academic freedom and open science.
‘A collective responsibility’
Karina Batthyány, executive director of Clacso, added: “The priority of safeguarding academic freedom and university autonomy in an increasingly complex social and political environment is a collective responsibility. Thus, partnering with the Coimbra Group is an important strategic action for us.”
She said the partnership was “a concrete expression of the construction of solid and relevant bridges between academics, students and societies in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean”.
The agreement runs for an initial period of three years and is expected to encompass joint workshops, conferences, publications and projects.
