At the Plenary Assembly on 9 February, Yves Flückiger was thanked for his commitment as President of the Swiss university umbrella organisation during the three years from February 2020 to January 2023.
His successor, Luciana Vaccaro, emphasised that during his exceptionally turbulent term of office, Yves Flückiger had managed to hold the reins in times of crisis such as the pandemic, the classification of Switzerland as a third country in European research and education programmes and the consequential exclusion of many important projects, the development of the Confederation's transitional measures, the negotiations on Open Access with publishing houses, Russia's military invasion in the Ukraine and the energy shortages and economic consequences that followed. As President, Yves Flückiger led the Committee in making quick and joint decisions, convened numerous special meetings, and succeeded in bringing the different types of universities and their members together as a community.
At the end of three years of presidency, marked by challenges of unprecedented magnitude, Yves Flückiger is pleased to see that swissuniversities has continued on the path initiated under the previous presidencies, to become the voice of the Swiss universities, speaking on behalf of the chambers of higher education, universities of applied sciences and universities of teacher education.
Yves Flückiger thanked his colleagues for their trust and collegial cooperation. Turning his attention to the future: “The role of swissuniversities as the voice of Switzerland's universities will intensify in the coming years. On the one hand, it is a matter of continuing to strengthen dialogue, cooperation, and the exchange of best practices between the universities, but also of actively engaging in identifying and implementing solutions to the challenges our society is facing. As the umbrella organisation of the universities, swissuniversities serves as strategic instrument to identify and mobilize the skills and experts needed to meet the challenges and crises of tomorrow.”