Abstract: It seems to be impossible to study education and pedagogy without considering the question of competences and abilities which are the new ID for European and worldwide citizenship. Our discussion starts from an analytical point of view with the aim of examining the conditions of learning in Europe and the future of our systems of higher education. Are we able to communicate the values and traditions of our common historical and cultural heritage or are we facing ungovernable challenges? The era of competences finds fertile ground in a pragmatist mind, while the construction of European citizenship navigates in the waters of the great Mediterranean Sea, cradle of ancient civilisations. Italy could be an interesting example of how Citizenship and Constitution become part of the school curriculum, at all levels, taking the place of Civic Education and Intercultural Education in teaching-training programmes. Introduction: triads spanned by system competences t seems to have become almost impossible to talk about education and teaching without referring to the abilities which should constitute the new ID, with which a European citizen presents himself to the world. This study analyzes the current situation in order to outline the present and future of a Europe that is increasingly trying to communicate, better and better, values drawn from common historical and cultural roots. Reading the news, aided by telecommunications and the transparency of online documents, often in the various languages of the countries of the European Union, necessitates an initial selection that corresponds with this article’s proposed research approach. Reading, selecting and planning are part of the educational policy we are experiencing and from which emerges clearly enough the intention of achieving ambitious objectives. They are, on the one hand, a logical consequence of the development determined by globalisation, while, on the other hand, they are the ‘structures’ conceived to manage a multiplicity of elements which have to be dealt with. To convey what the cultures of Europe have produced in the course of time requires not only the structural and formal command of a language, but, more Mediterranean Journal of Educational Studies, Vol. 14(2), pp. 93-115, 2009 94 importantly, it questions our willingness to be in a world in which civilisations must meet, even if, historically, they have not always followed the same path. To understand, in a European context, where we are going and which skills we have to develop, as teachers, students, citizens and people belonging to different traditions and cultures, means that our human and professional training should aim at combining our legacy from the past with the present, in order to enrich our common human heritage. A Europe of knowledge is an urgency, not just a computerised slogan. It is essential to interact with this situation in order to uphold the revitalization, in European universities, and try to propel them towards a better future. Science and technology are committed to accepting the challenge launched by a culture conceived as a connective tissue, uniting peoples and traditions. If interculture involves educating people towards dialogue, citizenship means establishing the rules for living together—valuing each person’s capacities—as individuals and as part of a community and a State, to deal with institutions and achieve justice in an ethically sound society. The rings of knowledge, interculture and citizenship intertwine in the Europe we are building, starting from the universities and aiming to include the whole of society (see Figure 1). It is not a question of standardisation, but rather of making the training systems consistent and mutually compatible, thereby avoiding the fragmentation and the limits stemming from multiple approaches. This undertaking is certainly as arduous as it is interesting. Intellectual evaluations and inventions will have to come to terms with the exchange of knowledge made possible through international communications. The European university and existing problems: origins, development, processes Among the oldest universities are Al Karaouine, Morocco University, founded in 859; Al-Azhar, Cairo University, Egypt, founded in 988; the University of Bologna, Italy, founded in 1088; Oxford University, England, founded around 1096; and Paris University, founded in 1150. One can observe how the culture of Africa, facing the Mediterranean, was linked to European culture, hereby passing through Italy. In the 7th century, the Aristotelian system encountered Arabian culture and the intellectual osmosis between West and East, Christianity and Islam, generated a profitable exchange of scientific and philosophical knowledge. The Syrians, disciples of the Greeks, taught the Arabs to appreciate the classics and preserve ancient science. In the East, the Abassid Caliphs created a
