UNIAPAC at the 26th General Assembly of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (3 October 2018, Dublin)

UNIAPAC at the 26th General Assembly of the IFCU

The International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) is a federation presently made up of more than 226 Catholic universities and higher education institutions from around the world. This triennial assembly brings together members and friends of the federation to engage them in a broad reflection on essential subjects. This year’s theme was ‘Catholic Universities, working in solidarity as responsible agents from the local to the global’ which focused on the social responsibility of the universities in their mission to teach, research, and serve communities, and on how to carry out this mission in humanistic ways that promote the advent of a fairer and more humane world.

The IFCU aims to promote collective reflection on their mission amongst Catholic universities and foster academic cooperation in the field of research, as well as the valuation and dissemination of research results towards decision-making communities.

With this in mind, UNIAPAC, through its Call for Contributions document, invited IFCU members to play a part in the Future of Work, Labour after Laudato Si project. Around 200 members of the federation and guests received this document which invited them to contribute to research and dissemination, collaborating on network building, or co-creating the digital academy. Project Coordinator and UNIAPAC representative Jacques Palami was present to answer questions, especially those concerning the project’s research track.

The UNIAPAC Digital Academy, an e-training program for the leaders of tomorrow, is done in partnership with Impact Campus. Its Scientific Director Romain Buquet facilitated a workshop during this conference, entitled Training responsible citizens, implication for curriculum and for teaching, which generated relevant insight from participants especially on identifying the different stakeholders that need to be involved in the process and the different challenges and opportunities specific to each one.

Another significant event at the assembly was the announcement of the first woman president of the IFCU. Dr. Isabel Capeloa Gil, Rector of the Catholic University of Portugal, was elected the new president alongside the renewal of the IFCU board of administration. This year’s General Assembly was hosted by St. Patrick’s College of Maynooth. The next assembly in 2021 will be hosted by Boston College (USA).