We, the members of the BAUHAUS4EU European University Alliance, stand united today in defending academic freedom as the fundamental bedrock for the open enquiry and critical thinking so essential to the democracies we serve.

Our Alliance has recently witnessed troubling attacks on universities across Europe and around the world, as some seek to exert political pressure and place restrictions on the research we produce, the teaching we provide and the innovation which we generate.

Now, more than ever before, we need to emphasise and demonstrate that universities are not ivory towers. We are not separate from society. We serve society by producing independent knowledge, by challenging assumptions, by educating citizens and by informing good decision-making. We are pillars of public trust and of knowledge. When our autonomy is threatened, so is society’s ability to address its most pressing challenges.

From mRNA vaccines to the theory of evolution, from climate science to truth and reconciliation processes, from improvements in healthcare to innovations in urban planning – none of society’s most vital advances could possibly exist without the protections academic freedom provides, without the independent, curiosity-driven enquiry that is simply not possible under politically or ideologically controlled conditions.

A healthy society is one that is open: to challenge, to contradiction, to new ideas. A healthy society distinguishes fact from opinion, and universities are at the heart of that endeavour. Because we want to contribute to a healthy European society, on this day, we reaffirm the commitment of the alliance to protecting academic freedom. For scholars, researchers, teachers, and students, but also – above all – for the communities we exist to serve.