OBJECTIVES AND OVERVIEW

Although the term "university" was first used in 1088 for "Bologna University" in Italy, the history of universities goes back to a much earlier period. In ancient times, some of the schools established by philosophers provided education in a variety of subjects. In the Middle Ages, medresses in Islamic countries and monasteries and church schools in Europe began offering a curriculum that included subjects such as mathematics, logic, philosophy, theology, fine arts, and the natural sciences. Over time, these schools broke away from state and religious control to achieve more self-autonomy.

In the Sorbonne Declaration of 25th May 1998, modern universities emphasised the necessity of including and supporting European philosophical, cultural, social and technical dimensions in higher education, alongside the traditional functions of scientific research and vocational training. Following this, the Bologna Declaration of 19th June 1999 stressed the importance of cooperation in education to the development and strengthening of stable, peaceloving, democratic societies. It was further declared that different cultures, languages and rational education systems should be respected and that higher education institutions should play a leading role in fostering international cooperation.

The process of globalisation, which is taking place as a result of communication networks leading to raised borders, national economies becoming more integrated, and increasing intercultural relations, has brought with it not only new global opportunities but also wide-spread global problems. Efforts to prevent global warming, global terror and global poverty, to solve regional conflicts, to secure world peace, to protect our cultural heritage, to manage global migration, to redistribute income, to ensure equal opportunities in education or to prevent environmental pollution can only be successful through thinking globally and acting globally. It is clear that in order to solve global problems, reactions and organisations at local and national level are insufficient and the most effective means of tackling problems lies in actions organised at global level.

Every one of the global problems threatening the world today is waiting to be solved within the next few years. It is obvious that, in the existing global system, national, international and transnational institutions are not able to act effectively or fast enough to resolve these issues. Consequently, a great responsibility falls upon universities, possessing as they do a far-sighted, dynamic faculty membership. Universities must add new responsibilities and objectives to their three traditional functions of offering vocational training, undertaking research activities and providing public services. In the circumstances in which we find ourselves, it is essential that universities redefine themselves with a wider perspective, that they share, at an international level, their experience and years of accumulated knowledge with reference to global issues, and undertake projects which will lead to or facilitate decision-making by politicians, with a responsibility extending to the universe within which our universities exist.

We at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, conscious of our new obligations and responsibilities, invite you to meet and debate the global issues threatening this world, to seek ways to resolve them, to determine the new responsibilities and objectives of universities in this context and to seek the means by which universities can help to overcome them.