Resolution passed by Association of University Museums
at International Conference
“Academic heritage for the future of science”.
University museums are aware of their place in both the cultural and academic world and therefore take responsibility for preserving, developing and presenting content related to the universities’ heritage and traditions. Alongside this awareness and responsibility, they contribute to the creation of specific cultural trails that take into account our very best understanding of locality, our cultural diversity, and at the same time our deep immersion in the European humanistic community based on the universality of knowledge.
University museums endeavour to present to the general public, and in particular to the university community [employees and students] and groups interacting with the museum, the achievements of intellectual thought and human work, as well as the potential and beauty of knowledge and learning. At the same time, especially in the context of the drama and atrocities of the war in Ukraine, and the threat of the irreparable losses that it brings – both in terms of human lives and buildings, and the items collected therein that are related to universities – the representatives of university museums realize that we are faced with the need to work intensively to safeguard, preserve, and even prepare catalogues of any potential losses.
Being aware of the value of the past and the requirements of the present, we are building the future through each of the decisions we make as individuals or communities. This is the future of subsequent generations, including our children and grandchildren, who in a dozen or so years will be applying to the universities where they will have the opportunity to use the heritage we have accumulated. The collections amassed in universities, which are unique and extremely valuable resources that require the utmost attention and care, stored both in museums and in a dispersed form, should serve the education of students and academic research.
The Association of University Museums should be a partner in coordinating these activities or mediating in the discussions of entities interested in the preservation and dissemination of this heritage.
28.04.2022, Warsaw