10.2.2021 Categories: Blogs

Insights to the Protection of the Human Rights in Europe

The project team of FHWS 3IN, based in Würzburg, Germany organised a 3IN Alliance webinar as part of the Human Rights Week 2020 of the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg – Schweinfurt. The event gave several insights to the importance of the protection of human rights in Europe.

The Faculty of Applied Social Sciences of the FHWS has organized the Human Rights Week for several years now. The week is designed to encourage students, practitioners and scientists to consciously act within the framework of Human Rights when it comes to choosing values and to decision making as well as to raise awareness for arising problems related to social sciences and the Human Rights profession.

The week always takes place around the Human Rights Day (December 10) and consists of several lectures, seminars and presentations from different speakers who all focus on Human Rights and their importance in our modern world. Within the Human Rights Week on 2020, the project team of FHWS 3IN organised and hosted the webinar for 3IN Alliance Members across Europe.

Different insights to one topic across Europe

The topic of the webinar was the protection of fundamental rights within the EU, and the speakers from 3IN Alliance Members were invited to give 20-minute-long presentations to this topic from their home country’s perspective.

Prof. Dr. Achim Förster of the FHWS, Germany, started the session and talked about fundamental EU laws and their effect on German law. Prof. Dr. Julien Cazala of the University Sorbonne Paris Nord, France, critically presented the French Constitution and its lack of human rights and fundamental rights references.

Dr. Marja Katisko, a professor at Diak in Finland, talked about the refugee crisis and many undocumented refugees in the country and their complicated life situation. Prof. Dr. Hans Morten Haugen, a professor at VID University in Norway, compared the Norwegian Constitution to the EU Charta of Fundamental Rights and criticized the vague phrasing of the EU charter.

All four speakers managed to give different insights and transport important messages about which the plenum discussed together after the presentations.

Valuable in more than just one way

The webinar demonstrated that international lectures are an important asset for the participating institutions, as they deliver and enable an exchange about interesting, and most importantly, new input and insights to very contemporary topics in our society.

Thanks to the diversity of 3IN Alliance, the webinar participants were provided with comprehensive overview on European laws. Furthermore, the presentations proved that the European Union must work harder to implement human and fundamental rights in all member states.

From the education point of view, these international online lectures are also of great importance, as they provide new complementary ways to transnational teaching, and help to enhance the digitalization and internationalization of our institutions.

How to proceed from here

What is left to say is that this international discussion on European law and its implementation in national law would not be possible without the cooperation with the 3IN Alliance.

The Alliance enables international knowledge transfer on several levels as well as interesting discussions. Even with the challenges in organising the whole Human Rights Week 2020 online due to the Corona situation, the positive impact was to have the added value of international cooperation.

The event was such a great success, that the project team of FHWS 3IN is already planning to include the 3IN Alliance partners in the next Human Rights Week 2021. Like this, the speakers and participants get another chance to discuss the topic of EU law, stay on top of recent legal developments in other European countries and, above all, are updated about the issues the speakers referred to during the Human Rights Week 2020.

About the authors

Stefanie Witter (MA) is Scientific Researcher in the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences at University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt, Germany. She is also working as a FHWS 3IN Project Coordinator.

Jessica Bennewitz is a student assistant in the FHWS 3IN project. She is studying International Communication and Translation (MA) at University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt.

About the blog

3IN blog offers perspectives on Inclusion, Integration and Involvement. The writers come from the alliance of seven diverse higher education institutions across Europe, sharing a goal: a world where no one is left behind.

The core purpose of the 3IN Alliance, and our ambitious long-term objective, is to co-create an innovative European University. Read more from our website.