Vives Network of Universities demands Catalan as a strategic value for the training of qualified professionals

With this declaration, the Vives Network of Universities reinforces its commitment to being an innovative university network, rooted in the land and open to the world, aligning itself with the values of quality, sustainability and inclusion that define the European Higher Education Area. The document highlights the role of the university not only as a generator of knowledge, but also as an agent of social and cultural transformation.

In a context of growing linguistic diversity, the Vives Network is committed to a multilingual policy that trains competent professionals with an international vocation, while reaffirming its commitment to the promotion of Catalan in the university sphere. In this sense, the Declaration of Montserrat calls on its member institutions to guarantee the protection and promotion of the Catalan language as a common heritage and a key element for the quality of education and the professionalisation of its students, claiming official status in the European Union.

UAB Rector Javier Lafuente, one of the signatories of the document, defended the need to "guarantee and reinforce the presence of Catalan in the public and academic sphere". The text approved by the rectors also calls for the promotion of strategic alliances with academic, cultural and economic institutions; for expanding the impact of higher education in the region; and for consolidating the leadership of the universities of the Vives Network with inter-university research, teaching and knowledge transfer projects. The Declaration of Montserrat marks a step forward in the construction of a more open and plural higher education, aligned with the global challenges of the 21st century.

In the same line of defense and promotion of Catalan, the new Statutes of the UAB, in force precisely since 14 March, define Catalan as “the language of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and, therefore, of normal use in all its activities”. It also guarantees and promotes the use of Catalan “as a vehicular language of university education, as well as in its activities of research, management, transfer and exchange of knowledge".

In addition, in recent weeks the UAB has given support to organisations and institutions that defend and promote the Catalan language such as La Bressola in Northern Catalonia and Escola Valenciana in Valencia.