The University of Strasbourg is launching an initiative to draw up an ethical charter. From March to June, a series of conferences – to which the whole community is invited to attend – will address five key themes. An online consultation will be held to gather everyone’s input following the conferences. Specific working groups will then set about drafting proposals. Join us for the first conference on 26 March on the ethics of AI.
Driven by President Frédérique Berrod during her campaign and enshrined in the institution’s Sustainable Development & Social and Environmental Responsibility Master Plan, this project is being implemented under the leadership of Marie Lammert, Vice-President for Social, Environmental and Ethical Responsibility, and Étienne Muller, Ethics Officer.
The main objectives set for the University of Strasbourg’s Ethics Charter are to establish a common framework to reaffirm academic values and principles and to better address the challenges and changes arising from an unstable national and international context. The document will be developed through a participatory process to allow everyone to express their views on the charter’s five themes*. The charter is intended for the entire university community: research-active staff, teaching staff, administrative and support staff, and students.
A series of conferences open to all is being offered to the entire community to discuss and debate the challenges posed by the various themes for our university. These sessions, led by invited experts, will be combined with an online consultation to gather collective input. The results will inform the deliberations of working groups representing the university community. They will formulate the key principles of the Unistra charter to reach a consensus both on the concise form of the document and on the substance of its content. Certain topics may be the subject of supplementary reports aimed at informing the institution’s deliberations and decisions.
At the end of a process expected to last one year, the ethical charter will be submitted for approval to the relevant bodies in early 2027.
First conference on Thursday 26 March from 10am to 12pm
Beretz Lecture Theatre (President’s Building)
List of thematic groups and provisional conferences – Save the date:
All conferences will take place in the Beretz Lecture Theatre except for the one on 7 May, which will be held in the Terre Lecture Theatre at the Manufacture des Tabacs.
- AI Ethics, Thursday 26 March, with Jean-Luc Sauron and Yann Ferguson, moderated by Virginie Zint and Jean-Marc Deltorn.
- Professional Ethics and Institutional Functioning, Thursday 2 April, with Olivier Leclerc, Jacques Arrighi de Casanova and Elsa Supiot, moderated by Michel de Mathelin and Louis de Fournoux.
- Ethics of research, university teaching and academic freedom:
- - Academic freedom, Thursday 7 May, with Charles Fortier and Stéphanie Balme;
- - Ethics of research and university teaching, Thursday 11 June, with Michel Dubois and Hervé Maisonneuve.
- Both conferences will be moderated by Rémi Barillon and Eric Flavier.
- Ethics of partnerships, Thursday 21 May, with Etienne Bustarret and Joan Cortinas, moderated by Birte Wassenberg and Stéphane Cateloin.
- Social and environmental ethics, date and further details to follow
Latest information and news can be found in the collaborative space: Towards an Unistra ethics charter