Contribution of universities to the socio-cultural progress of the Azerbaijan

tate cultural and educational policy of Azerbaijan at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries is carried out under the conditions of a new social system, the polarization of social stratification, the transformation of ideas about values, and absence of a nation-wide consolidating idea. In this regard, the role of spiritual culture of both the individual and society as a whole is growing immeasurably. Indeed, spiritual (intellectual and moral) culture and its flagship are the most important social institute of education that can ensure social stability and consolidate the state and society to solve the most important national problems. The state interests of Azerbaijan are closely related to the development of an intercultural dialogue. As long as the conference in Bologna defined the goals in education and in the cultural sphere, such guidelines were formulated by the intergovernmental conference on the use of cultural policy for development, at which the content of culture was determined as a complex of the most striking spiritual, material, intellectual, and emotional traits that characterize a society or a social group. Culture includes not only science and education, art and literature but also a way of life, basic human rights, a system of values, life support, traditions, and worldview. In such a broad interpretation as a holistic social system, it represents all the positive features of a human life. Due to its systemic nature, culture, affecting the quality of life of individuals and communities, is the key to sustainable development and potentially leads to an increase in economic and social benefits. Thus, the optimal cultural and educational policy should proceed from universal human norms and values, and domestic traditions. This approach takes into account the whole palette of ethnical and regional cultures, and combines them into single cultural space. There are three models for the development of the country's cultural and educational potential: