Student Advocacy Day event at the University of Padua

On 5 June 2025, the University of Padua will host the “Academic freedom and Belarus: storytelling and advocacy” event within the Student Advocacy Day 2025. The Arqus community is invited to attend online from 9:30 to 11:00 CEST.

This event is the closing milestone of the initiative “Implementing academic freedom for responsible internationalisation in Arqus”. This project is financed by the Arqus Innovation Fund and developed as part of the Scholars at Risk (SAR) programme. This bottom-up initiative last year brought together academics, professional staff and students to discuss academic freedom at the University of Padua.

The “Academic freedom and Belarus: storytelling and advocacy” event on 5 June is an important occasion to raise awareness about global violations of academic freedom and to inspire our citizens to take a stand in its defence.

It will take place at the Beato Pellegrino Complex in Padua and it is open to the wider public via Zoom. The day promises insightful discussions, unique networking opportunities, and a diverse, engaging programme that brings together students, scholars, activists, and institutional representatives.

Join online and be part of this crucial conversation:

A year of work on research autonomy

At the heart of the event is the culmination of an in-depth research effort led by international and Italian students, who carried out a comprehensive analysis of how academic freedom is defined and framed at the European level. Through a lexical and frame analysis of key policy documents issued by the European Union, the European Commission and Parliament, the European Research Area (ERA), the European University Association (EUA), and the Bologna Process, the students traced how understandings of academic freedom are evolving within institutional discourse.

The result is a detailed research report that brings together this scattered policy landscape into a clear, accessible, and critical overview of the current normative framework on academic freedom. It also offers practical insights for universities within the Arqus Alliance—and beyond—on how they can more effectively protect and promote academic freedom in an increasingly complex international context.

A day of storytelling, research and resistance

The Advocacy Day delves into sessions connecting student-led advocacy, academic research, and firsthand testimonies from Belarusian students and human rights activists.

Highlights include:

• The segment “Can you raise your voice?”, where students from the University of Padua will share stories of courage and repression in Belarus, joined by Alana Gebremariam, former political prisoner and youth delegate of the Belarusian Coordination Council.
  
• Afternoon panels featuring the documentary “The Unbroken Generation”, testimonials from Belarusian student leaders, and a poetry reading from the anthology “Il mondo è finito. Noi invece no”, with contributions from poet Hanna Komar.

Following the live conference, participants will also have access to the full range of materials produced during the project—including not only the final report, but also a policy timeline, a podcast, and a set of shareable resources designed to foster greater awareness of academic freedom and its current challenges. These materials are intended to spark informed dialogue and support institutional action in defence of academic freedom.