Mid Sweden University Signs the Magna Charta | 2013 |
When Mats Tinnsten travelled to Italy to sign the Magna Charta, it was an important statement – it demonstrated that Mid Sweden University will always work to promote the freedom in research.
Mats Tinnsten, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Mid Sweden University, went to Bologna in September of 2013 to sign the Magna Charta on behalf of Mid Sweden University. The signing took place during a grand ceremony – to which the author and professor Umberto Eco, among others, was invited as a speaker.
The Magna Charta is the European universities’ declaration of rights. Among other things, it states that freedom in research and training is the fundamental principle of university life and that those activities must be morally and intellectually independent of all political authority and economic power.The agreement was adopted in 1988, when the University of Bologna celebrated its 900th anniversary.
– Of course, we already work in this manner, but by signing the Magna Charta, we demonstrated publically that we support the declaration of rights. It felt like an important statement to make, says Mats Tinnsten.