The following speech was addressed by UNeECC President Prof. Dr. Flora Carrijn at the UNeECC Annual Conference 2026 on 15th October 2025 at the Unicersity of Avignon, France.
"Cher professeur Linares, Présidentt de l’Université d’Avignon,
Chère docteur Briasno, vice-rectrice pour Culture,
Monsieur Pascale Keiser, Représentant de madame le Maire Cécile Helle et de la ville d'Avignon,
Monsieur François Quintin, Directeur de la Collection Lambert,
Dear participants and guests,
On behalf of the Board of the University Network of the European Capitals of Culture, I too have the pleasure of welcoming you here today to our Annual Conference hosted by the University of Avignon and titled ‘CULTURAL BRIDGING’.
The European motto ‘in varietate concordia’ testifies of the ambition to share a harmonious common core that connects all people, individuals and the community, in order to build a society that still allows for different or diversified traditions and innovations. A peaceful European society and a European culture or identity is founded on a common vision of peace and prosperity, and shared values of democracy, respect and social responsibility, similar to the credo of the French Revolution in 1789 : ‘ Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité.
Culture and education can be considered as key-elements of European emancipation. UNeECC, the University Network of the European Capitals of Culture, builds the bridge between both foundations, with over 60 member universities at present, Our members share a true vocation in the development of a more outspoken European dimension and a ‘UNeECC’ly-added value , emanating from the interchange of ideas and a thirst for new challenges and opportunities.
The network started in 2006 in Pecs, Hungary, with a handful of founder universities who recognized that the ECoC initiative yielded new possibilities for international academic cooperation. Furthermore, itnew fostered possibilities for collaboration between the university and local stakeholders such as the municipal authorities, giving shape to the so called ‘town and gown’ tandem.
Our Annual Conferences bring together university scholars, professionals, local cultural and administrative authorities involved in research on ECoC and European culture in general. This interdisciplinary platform allows academics from all over Europe and beyond, to discuss ongoing projects, share insights and critically discuss methodological approaches.
And this brings me to our 2025 Annual Conference here in Avignon, appropriately called ‘CULTURAL BRIDGING’.
Challenges to society such as climate change, energy supply, migration and cultural identity, have recently and increasingly led to polarization and conflict in many places. Radical and even implacable fundamentalist viewpoints seem to deafen or at least temporarily stupefy our critical capacities. Shared responsibility, solidarity and rationality on an individual and collective level should form the antidotes to extremism and provide the foundations for tackling the present and future crises and preserve our civilization and humanity.
The crucial tool here is ‘dialogue’, that is the respectful open-minded encounter of participants, who may speak different languages or belong to different cultures, but who want to make the effort to objectively and critically try to explain and interpret reality, attempt to understand each other, and to work towards broad-based decisions for the well-being of all citizens and society as a whole. In other words, dialogue is what we might call ‘cultural bridging’. It relies on our ability to express and explain our views to others, but also capture and interpret the views and emotions of others.
In this communicative process, it is important to encode and decode the mental picture of reality brought forward. Hence, we have to grasp the NARRATIVE by analyzing the multifold dimensions, forms and aspects of its genesis, which all influence the interpretation and representation of cultural identities. ‘Narratives’ is the topic that will be dealt with in track one of this conference.
Track two then focuses on PARTICIPATION in and ownership of cultural heritage and identity as cornerstones for a renewed inclusive cultural democracy in Europe.
Track three entitled SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION, finally explores the continuous socio-cultural and ecological challenges on the one hand and opportunities of technology and science on the other, especially for the preservation and management of cultural heritage.
The title of the conference ‘CULTURAL BRIDGING’ in itself can be interpreted in different ways :
focusing on the community building strength of culture,
meaning ‘culture builds bridges’
focusing on the communicative and interactive capacity of culture
meaning ‘building bridges between cultures’
focusing on the holistic meaning as civilization.
meaning ‘encapsulating or transcending culture’
As such also the overall topic in itself promises a wide variety of presentations.
To end, let me come back to the ‘TOWN and GOWN’ relation.
By being actively involved in the lifescape of their city, universities can underscore their mission of research, education ànd service to society, and fortify their role in the socio-economic and cultural development of their region. As such, they bring added value to the efforts of the city authorities to ensure the prosperity and well-being of the citizens.
The positive image of a city reverberates on the attractiveness of the university located there. Inversely, the reputation of an internationally oriented university will certainly boost the economic life in the region. Hence, both ‘town and gown’ benefit from a dynamic cooperation, resulting in a safe, resilient, inclusive and sustainable habitat.
L’université et la mairie doivent se trouver unies par un mariage en parfaite harmonie,
Town and gown must find each other in a marriage made in heaven.
In the name of UNeECC, I wish to express our gratitude to the University of Avignon for hosting this event, and especially to Françoise Arfelli for coordinating the organization.
I also want to thank the speakers, the presenters and the participants for joining us by ‘bridging culture’, and I wish all of you an intellectually inspiring conference and a wonderful stay here.
Avignon is indeed a beautiful town, full of European cultural history and heritage with the Palais des Papes and the Pont Saint-Bénézet , but also full of vibrant cultural life with its famous yearly arts festival. UNeECC is proud to be your guest and participate in Avignon’s 30 years of UNESCO World Heritage a quarter of a century already after Avignon was European Capital of Culture.
Pour célébrer ces anniversaires et pour fêter cette croisement d’histoire et de vivacité culturelle, allons danser sur le Pont d’Avignon … mais seulement après la conférence! "