Balancing Academic Freedom and Security in Times of Polycrisis

Balancing Academic Freedom and Security in Times of Polycrisis: Nordic Universities Chart a Path Forward

By Gunvor Kronman and Marcelo Knobel

A Gathering at a Critical Juncture

In mid-December 2025, university leaders from Finland and Sweden gathered at Hanaholmen, the Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre in Espoo, Finland, for a two-day conference titled "Universities and Nordic Values: Balancing Preparedness and Academic Values in Higher Education and Research." The timing could not have been more appropriate. We are living in what many scholars describe as an age of polycrisis—a convergence of refugee crises, pandemics, conventional and hybrid warfare, geopolitical tensions, climate change, and threats to biodiversity. Against this backdrop, democratic institutions and established forms of international cooperation are increasingly contested.

The conference brought together university board members, presidents, and security directors to grapple with fundamental questions: How can Nordic universities strengthen the democratic resilience of our societies against external pressure? How can universities serve as cohesive and stabilizing actors? What is the future role of universities for society?

These questions are anything but abstract. They go to the core of what universities are and what they must become in an era where the very foundations of open inquiry are under threat.

The Paradox of Research Security

In a world of intensified geopolitical tensions and fierce competition over technological leadership, science and research have moved to the very heart of national security concerns. Vetting international students and researchers, screening funding sources and collaborations, restricting fields with dual-use potential have become commonplace across Europe and beyond.

Within the European Union, "research security" has emerged as a key pillar of the broader strategic autonomy agenda. The term encompasses measures to protect scientific activities from misuse and undue influence by third parties, whether states or non-state actors, addressing concerns such as scientific espionage, intellectual property theft, cyberattacks, and dual-use challenges. National governments are following suit: the Netherlands, for example, has tabled legislation creating a legal basis for screening researchers and Master's students working with "sensitive knowledge."

The goal behind this securitization—protecting scientific research from external threats— may be legitimate but in practice it paradoxically creates new risks, pulling science into the orbit of political control. The research security narrative illustrates how closely research today is tied to state security agendas and market-driven innovation logics, bending it toward political and economic ends. In doing so, it risks undermining the very autonomy these measures claim to defend.

The Erosion of Academic Freedom

The challenge extends far beyond security measures. A comprehensive report on the erosion of academic freedom in Europe, commissioned by the Council of Europe and launched in November 2025, provides sobering evidence-based analysis. The study reveals a steady decline in academic freedom over the past 10-15 years, with structural violations identified in several states. Political interference emerges as a persistent threat, alongside pressures from internal restrictions, societal hostility, private sector influence, and security-related limitations.

From political interference and restrictive laws to the loss of institutional autonomy and intimidation of scholars, the space for independent research and academic debate is shrinking. Academics are silenced, and as a result societies lose critical voices that safeguard truth, accountability, and human rights.

These findings are in unfortunate parity with broader democratic decline. The global research project Varieties of Democracy, coordinated at the University of Gothenburg, documents a decrease in the absolute number of democracies and a relative weakening of indicators for democracy within many states during the past two decades. The correlation is no coincidence: when academic freedom is restricted and removed, spaces for open and honest debate disappear. And when the freedom to speak truth and hold power to account disappears, democracy goes with it.

No Region Is Immune

Unfortunately, there are no countries in the world which are immune to these trends. In various parts of the world academics receive threats because they engage with the media and present uncomfortable facts. There have been several cases where politically controversial thematic areas have been excluded from state-funded research programs.

Indeed, we are witnessing a strong and articulated movement aimed at downplaying or even denying major challenges facing humanity, often motivated by vested interests. This movement gains momentum in a world flooded with an excess of news from unverified sources and AI-generated content, rapidly spreading through social media. The so-called information disorders have thrived with the increased entropy of the internet, the lack of understanding of scientific reasoning, and the crisis facing traditional media.

The rise in global autocracy remains a grave concern. Universities attract some of the best minds in any country, whether in terms of faculty, researchers, or students. Science is the only path to overcoming major challenges, and universities, especially research-intensive ones, are best positioned to generate solid scientific evidence to create new solutions and help form public policies. Yet the voice of universities regarding tackling such global challenges remains barely audible.

Beyond Balance: Positive Commitments to Academic Freedom

The challenge is not simply to strike the right balance between openness, freedom, and security. Autonomy and academic freedom also require positive commitments to uphold science as a public good. The universities carry the responsibility for ensuring a safe environment for knowledge-sharing, education, and research while engaging with wider society. Bringing these responsibilities together is anything but easy.

One important aspect is stable and predictable funding that is not tied exclusively to short-term political or economic objectives. This means defending the idea that the value of science lies not only in producing useful innovations but also in the intrinsic pursuit of knowledge. If the freedom of science is protected only when it serves external ends, then it ceases to be freedom at all.

The Way Forward: Nordic Cooperation

The conference at Hanaholmen demonstrated the value of regional cooperation in addressing these challenges. Earlier in the same week, when Hanaholmen launched the Barometer Sweden-Finland measuring the quantity and quality of interaction between our countries, many in the audience stressed the importance of bilateral cooperation in higher education and research in general, and in safeguarding academic freedom in particular.

The workshops and discussions at the conference focused on concrete best practices for enhancing crisis preparedness through peer learning, while maintaining core academic values. Universities from both countries shared their experiences at the interface of values and preparedness, recognizing that these need not be opposing forces but can be mutually reinforcing.

Universities play a crucial role in addressing the major challenges threatening our global sustainable future and can help distinguish between fact and fiction. Universities need to find new ways and platforms to communicate with wider society, positioning themselves to defend science when it is challenged by interest groups. University leaders must also encourage faculty and students on their campuses to engage in frank and open discussion on major national and global issues, always guided by facts and empirical evidence.

A Shared Responsibility

Protecting autonomy, academic freedom and fundamental academic is a shared responsibility, essential to preserving democratic resilience. During the conference several academic leaders expressed interest in continuing these conversations. These discussions must lead to concrete action: defining core values, identifying vulnerabilities, and committing to defend the principles that keep open inquiry alive.

The conference closed a year of surprises and challenges by bringing together leaders who embody the so-called Nordic values (such as Democracy, equality, trust, transparency, and sustainability grounded in a commitment to human rights and social cohesion) strengthening collaboration for the difficult times ahead. The fundamental role of Universities in Society must continue and continuously evolve. Our democracies depend on it.

Gunvor Kronman is CEO of Hanaholmen – Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre in Espoo, Finland. Marcelo Knobel is the Executive Director of The World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Sciences in Developing Countries (TWAS) and Full Professor of Physics at the University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil.

Obs. MK is International civil servant currently serving as Executive Director at The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (UNESCO-TWAS). The ideas and opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of UNESCO