Encuentros Barcelona 2016: social equity challenges in Chile and worldwide
“Long petal of sea, wine and Snow” is the metaphor with which the poet Pablo Neruda remembers his country, Chile, a country with around eighteen thousand people -now in a process of educational system reform, with diverse initiatives to strengthen the quality of public education and access to education. Encouraging the exchange of ideas and experiences that result from project and effective solutions to social challenges in Chile and other countries regarding sustainability, agriculture, economy, participation in scientific fields, infrastructures and health -is the main objective of the 10th edition of the Encuentros Barcelona 2016 conference, to be held at the Historical Building of the University of Barcelona on the 26th, 27th and 28th of October.
“Long petal of sea, wine and Snow” is the metaphor with which the poet Pablo Neruda remembers his country, Chile, a country with around eighteen thousand people -now in a process of educational system reform, with diverse initiatives to strengthen the quality of public education and access to education. Encouraging the exchange of ideas and experiences that result from project and effective solutions to social challenges in Chile and other countries regarding sustainability, agriculture, economy, participation in scientific fields, infrastructures and health -is the main objective of the 10th edition of the Encuentros Barcelona 2016 conference, to be held at the Historical Building of the University of Barcelona on the 26th, 27th and 28th of October.
The opening ceremony will be at the Paranimph of the Historical Building on Wednesday, October 26 at 9.30 h, chaired by the temporary rector Jordi Alberch, and with the participation of the deputy mayor of the Barcelona City Council, Gerardo Pisarello; the president of the Encuentros initiative, Christian Hernández; Camila Salas, from the Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Jorge Friedman, and Pablo Rivera, professor at the Department of Teaching and Learning and Educational Organization of the University of Barcelona and president of Encuentros Barcelona 2016, among other academic and political authorities.
Dialogue with Nobel Prizes and experts on international projection
Encuentros Barcelona 2016 is regarded as an international observatory of initiatives to promote the construction of a fairer society for all citizens of this country. Over the course of the three days, more than a thousand participants -business people, investors, researchers and authorities from different fields- will debate with international distinguished experts, coming from NGOs, governments, academic institutions and business organizations, on social equity, one of the biggest challenges around current societies worldwide.
In the edition of Encuentros Barcelona 2016 there will be the participation of experts such as the chemist Ei-Negishi, awarded with the Chemistry Nobel Prize in 2010; glaciologist Gino Casassa, member of the Climate Change Intergovernmental Panel awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, sociologist Alain Touraine, awarded with the Prince of Asturias Award in 2010 and founder of the Center for Analysis and Sociological Intervention (CADIS); biochemist Cecilia Hidalgo, awarded with the National Science Award of Chile in 2006; Cristóbal Colo, expert on educational innovation and director of Centro de Estudios Fundación CEIBAL; Christian Nicolai, executive director of CONYCYT in Chile; Claudia Serrano, ambassador and representative of Chile at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and Pablo Valenzuela, co-founder and scientific director of Fundación Ciencia & Vida.
A unique platform for the interdisciplinary debate and expressing ideas
In the debate session on science policy in Chile and Europe, there will be the participation of the temporary rector of the University of Barcelona, Jordi Alberch, head of the consolidated Research Group on Pathophysiology of Neurodegenerative Diseases of the UB and researcher at the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), and Juan Manuel Zolezzi, rector of the Universidad de Santiago de Xile. This plenary session, which regards the Ministry of Sciences of Chile and funding new public universities as its horizon, will focus on the debate about future challenges in the policies of science promotion.
Creating critical dialogue about social challenges that bring urgency and consolidation of a society of knowledge is the main topic of the meeting that will invite professors Juana M. Sancho, from the Department of Teaching and Learning and Education Organization of the UB, and César Coll, from the Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology. The debate on knowledge barriers in the world of biomedicine will be driven by the experts Josep Dalmau, professor at the Department of Medicine and head of the Group in Pathogenesis of immune-mediated neurological disorders of IDIBAPS, and Pablo Valenzuela, awarded with the National Prize of Applied Science and Technology in 2002.
In other meetings, Gino Casassa and Miquel Torres, president of the wine company Torres and member of the Alumni UB Council, will debate on the uncertainty and opportunities of the new scenary that results from the water crisis and climate change. Then, the biochemist Cecilia Hidalgo and biologist Bernadita Méndez, president of Fundación Ciencia & Vida, will talk about the presence of women in the world of science.
For further information about the complete program and registrations, please see this link.