During the 2021 UMAC-UNIVERSEUM joint conference many issues were raised and discussed by our community. Among them was our capacity to position ourselves among the many challenges our contemporary society are confronted to, to define our priorities and take actions, to enhance our ability to push the limits, experiment while being aware of our constraints and knowing how others made the best out of it. During the 2022 Universeum Annual Conference in Belgium, we would like to continue this debate and focus it specifically in relation to university museums (U-museums) and collections. Can, or should, U-museums be in the forefront of social and political change? And if so, how can they have more impact on society? Secondly: Across Europe there have been times of significant development, but also times of extreme violence and abuse, inside and outside of the European boarders. These pasts are often reflected in the European U-collections and other U-heritage. How can we deal effectively and appropriately today with the challenges of their past? What are the constraints and opportunities?

During the 2022 Universeum meeting, we want to explore different ways of encouraging discussion and debate around the main themes outlined above, as well as allow as many voices from the community to be heard as possible. We would like to combine short papers, with longer in-depth contributions that reflect more broadly on these themes rather than present specific projects, as well as invite dialogue and discussions from all participants. Under the main theme of “University Museums & Collections: Challenges of the Past – Responsibilities for Today”, we thus invite proposals for 5- or 15-minute talks on one of the following two sub-themes or for posters addressing the overall theme.