This month, universities will kick off the academic year with celebrations. But do they really have anything to celebrate? The challenges they face are considerable: significant budget cuts, pressure to publish, the impact of artificial intelligence, growing competition, cases of misconduct, and so on. The severe budget cuts announced last year in higher education by the Flemish Minister for Education are also a source of great concern.

Universities are going through a crisis of legitimacy. The wheels are stuck, and there is an urgent need to implement new forms and new content. One solution to achieve this would be to explicitly assume an increased social role. The university must be an intrinsic part of the surrounding communities and connect with the city and the region. Institutions must focus on activities with societal added value that clearly indicate what the university stands for. The university must be both urban and metropolitan: a university for, with and through the city.