This event, organised by the Inter-Unviersity Centre Dubrovnik took place in Zagreb, on October 10, at the premises of the Representation of the European Commission in Croatia.

Panel discussion on Academic freedom for national and regional development brought together app. 40 representatives of diplomatic corps from Zagreb and members of the academic community, mostly IUC course and conference organisers. The event was opened by Ms Zrinka Ujević, Head of the EC Repersentation to Croatia and followed by short presentations from IUC representatives. Ms Nada Bruer Ljubišić presented the IUC as an institution building bridges regionally and globally, Prof. Ivan Šimonović addressed the topic of academic freedom within the IUC's framework, Prof. Gunn Elisabeth Birkelund talked about academic freedom as a public good, while Prof. Wieger Bakker opened up the further discussions by presenting academic freedom as a precondition for national and regional development. The programme can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

During the panel discussion following topics have been brought up:

Threats to academic freedom that have been accentuated by our participants were: funding insecurity and lack of funding; precarious work for younger researchers; influence of politics on research projects; threats to the work of academics from the wider society and from within - influences by the ideological ideas from students or academics themselves, bureaucratisation.

Suggestions to the academic community have been: In addition to addressing attacks on academic freedom, we should also address freedom of speech and expression; we should connect more with other institutions that address these issues and advocate for human rights, and we should engage in less popular, relevant and controversial topics of today.

Suggestions for all the stakeholders – we need to strengthen multilateralism on different levels, distribution of public funding is challenging since it is competing in different social areas.

The IUC regards this event as an opening for further discussion. Two more events on the topic of academic freedom will be organised and will take place in Dubrovnik and Zagreb in 2026. More information will be shared on the IUC web page and through social media. While citing one of our participants who stated that "academic freedom is an oxygen for creativity" we invite you to stay connected and contribute to the future IUC activities in this area.