Der Erwerb kultureller Kompetenzen als universitäres Bildungsziel

This article examines the possibilities European universities have of fulfilling the key role in forming a European university region, a role that was assigned to them by the Bologna Declaration of June 19, 1999. The governmental texts that are the basis of the Bologna Process, especially the Bologna Declaration is examined as to which general conditions the universities have to pay attention to whilst carrying out their designated role. The aim of the project set down in the Bologna Declaration proves to be both ambivalent and requiring assessment. It follows two divergent main targets that are not easy to combine: the promotion of university education as a motivating force for intellectual, cultural, social and scientific-technological development on the one hand and as a factor of economic productivity on the other. No guidelines are put down in the official governmental documents as to which of the two core targets should be most emphasized. Within the catalogue of measures priority seems to be given to those qualifications that are relevant to the employment market as well as the economic aspects. This ambivalence has caused uncertainty regarding the implementation of the measures.When organizing their degree courses under the present framework of measures that are in force, it is only with the greatest difficulty that the universities can realise their responsibility for the qualitative emphasis on the key targets. In order to overcome these difficulties 14 European universities have united to form a network. Two years of cooperation resulted in the presented model showing how cultural key competences could be acquired during the three stage university degree courses introduced Europe-wide by the Bologna Declaration.