99. Each tertiary / higher education institution should define its mission according to the present and future needs of society and base it on an awareness of the fact that tertiary / higher education is essential for any country or region to reach the necessary level of sustainable and environmentally sound economic and social development, cultural creativity nourished by better knowledge and understanding of the cultural heritage, tertiary / higher living standards, and internal and international harmony and peace, based on human rights, democracy, tolerance and mutual respect. These missions should incorporate the concept of academic freedom.

In establishing priorities in their programmes and structures, tertiary / higher education institutions should:

100. Take into account the need to abide by the rules of ethics and scientific and intellectual rigour, and the multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach;

101. Be primarily concerned to establish systems of access for the benefit of all persons who have the necessary abilities and motivations;

102. Use their autonomy and high academic standards to contribute to the sustainable development of society and to the resolution of the issues facing the society of the future. They should develop their capacity to give forewarning through the analysis of emerging social, cultural, economic and political trends, approached in a multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary manner, giving particular attention to:

103. Ensure, especially in universities and as far as possible, that faculty members participate in teaching, research, tutoring students and steering institutional affairs.

104. Take all necessary measures to reinforce their service to the community, especially their activities aimed at eliminating poverty, intolerance, violence, illiteracy, hunger and disease, through an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach in the analysis of challenges, problems and different subjects.

105. Set their relations with the world of work on a new basis involving effective partnerships with all social actors concerned, starting from a reciprocal harmonization of action and the search for solutions to pressing problems of humanity, all this within a framework of responsible autonomy and academic freedom.

106. Ensure high quality of international standing, consider accountability and both internal and external evaluation, with due respect for autonomy and academic freedom, as being normal and inherent in their functioning, and institutionalize transparent systems, structures or mechanisms specific thereto.

107. As lifelong education requires academic staff to update and improve their teaching skills and learning methods, even more than in the present systems mainly based on short periods of tertiary / higher teaching, establish appropriate academic staff development structures and/or mechanisms and programmes.

108. Promote and develop research, which is a necessary feature of all tertiary / higher education systems, in all disciplines, including the human and social sciences and arts, given their relevance for development are needed to ensure continued progress towards such key national objectives as access, equity, quality, relevance and diversification.

109. Remove gender inequalities and biases in curricula and research, and take all appropriate measures to ensure balanced representation of both men and women among students and teachers, at all levels of management.

110. Provide, where appropriate, guidance and counselling, remedial courses, training in how to study and other forms of student support, including measures to improve student living conditions.

111. While the need for closer links between tertiary / higher education and the world of work is important worldwide, it is particularly vital for the developing countries and especially the least developed countries, given their low level of economic development. Governments of these countries should take appropriate measures to reach this objective through appropriate measures such as strengthening institutions for higher/professional/vocational education. At the same time, international action is needed in order to help establish joint undertakings between tertiary / higher education and industry in these countries. It will be necessary to give consideration to ways in which tertiary / higher education graduates could be supported, through various schemes, following the positive experience of the micro-credit system and other incentives, in order to start small- and medium-size enterprises. At the institutional level, developing entrepreneurial skills and initiative should become a major concern of tertiary / higher education, in order to facilitate employability of graduates who will increasingly be required not only to be job-seekers but to become job-creators.

112. The use of new technologies should be generalized to the greatest extent possible to help tertiary / higher education institutions, to reinforce academic development, to widen access, to attain universal scope and to extend knowledge, as well as to facilitate education throughout life. Governments, educational institutions and the private sector should ensure that informatics and communication network infrastructures, computer facilities and human resources training are adequately provided.

113. By developing coherent mechanisms to recognize the outcomes of learning undertaken in different contexts, and to ensure that credit is transferable within and between institutions, sectors and states.

114. By establishing joint tertiary / higher education/community research and training partnerships, and by bringing the services of tertiary / higher education institutions to outside groups.

115. By carrying out interdisciplinary research in all aspects of adult education and learning with the participation of adult learners themselves.

116. By creating opportunities for adult learning in flexible, open and creative ways.