[FR] Speech for the awarding of the ‘Sigillum Magnum’ by the University of Bologna

I truly appreciate the honour bestowed upon me today by your University. The Rector’s kind words have prompted me to reflect on the greatness and misery of political action and, more generally, of public action.

Returning here to my alma mater, and with memories of my participation in the anniversary celebrations of the University of Bologna in 1993, I feel as though I have never left the academic world, such has been the constant dialogue between it and myself. I thought about this at length while chairing the UNESCO International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century from 1993 to 1996.

Our analyses express a sense that the centres of influence in our societies are shifting. That is why we advocate the essential role of universities, not only in teaching and research, but also in affirming, in public debate, the values that make your institutions so noble.