This week, two committees will start to investigate various collaborations that Erasmus University Rotterdam has with external partners: the Committee of Experts (CvE) will elaborate on the collaborations with the fossil fuel industry and the Committee on Sensitive Collaborations (CSC) will initially focus on our ties with Israeli universities.
Developments have been rapid in recent weeks, both in Gaza and on our campus. This has deeply affected our university community. Read the interview with Rector Annelien Bredenoord about the dire situation there and the complicated deliberation of the interests of all students and staff of our university.
The Commission for Sensitive Partnerships
The CSC, under the leadership of the rector of Institute for Social Studies prof.dr. Ruard Ganzevoort, will advise on collaboration with international knowledge institutions. The committee's task is to assess existing and planned collaborations with external partners in sensitive contexts and to advise whether and under what conditions these collaborations can be started or continued, suspended or terminated; taking into account scientific relevance, risks and benefits for vulnerable populations, relevant legal and human rights frameworks, knowledge security, and the mission and identity of EUR. The committee will work out the exact procedure, first examining ties with Israel and Gaza.
Rector Annelien Bredenoord: 'It is important that the committee has now started working under the leadership of Ruard Ganzevoort. Together with the 14 other universities, we at Erasmus have taken a principled position based on the importance of academic freedom. As universities, we don't categorically boycott an entire country, but we do look at collaborations at the institutional level. That is why we have set up this committee. It will now be the first to investigate the ties with knowledge institutions in Israel individually. As a university, it is especially important that we arrive at a careful picture and are able to make an assessment based on clear information.'
Collaboration with the fossil fuel industry
A Committee of Experts in the field of sustainability will also be launched: staff and scientists from various faculties and services will draw up the guidelines for collaboration with the fossil fuel industry under the chairmanship of prof.dr. Arwin van Buuren and Dr. Bas Karreman. They are scheduled to deliver their results in the autumn of 2024.
Bredenoord: 'The social impact we want to make as a university is inextricably linked to a sustainable future. As an impact university, we want to be a good ancestor and build sustainable foundations. We work with a large number of academic and other partners. When entering into collaborations with external parties, we as the Executive Board consider it important that a collaborating party has a credible and feasible 'divesting in fossil' policy. To do this in a consistent and transparent way, it is necessary to draw up clear guidelines for this.'
The committee builds on the results of the 14 university-wide dialogues that have been organised, in which staff and students were asked to contribute ideas about EUR's new sustainability standards.
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