Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (EFE).- The Government of the Canary Islands and the universities of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and La Laguna have presented the Innovation Center for Sustainable Development, a new tool aimed at sharing the knowledge they generate with society the two academic institutions.
The coordinator of the center, which will be virtual for the moment, will be the director of Sustainability in the area of the rector of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria for Sustainability of the ULPGC, Ciro Gutiérrez, and each university will provide five professors from different areas.
The Deputy Minister of the Presidency of the Government of the Canary Islands, Antonio Olivera, pointed out at a press conference that this center will serve to promote the knowledge of universities to advance the Canary Islands Agenda for Sustainable Development, in which “the sustainability of the territory is essential ” in the three areas “social, economic and environmental”.
Olivera explained that the Center for Innovation for Sustainable Development seeks precisely to “put the knowledge of public universities, which is the main knowledge center of our society, at the service of citizens and specifically, of all institutions, people and organizations”.
The agenda, he said, contemplates “many lines of action” that are developed from organizations “committed to action plans” and to which is added “this transversal tool to support all organizations.”
With this center it is planned to advance in “doing differently in the Canary Islands, with a medium and long-term perspective” that “was born with the vocation of identifying interesting projects and initiatives”.
The center “does not start with a fixed budget but from a willingness to collaborate between the parties” that will identify “concrete initiatives” in order to give it “a lot of activity”, he has detailed.
Olivera stressed that it seeks to “attract a lot of interest and make the most of local corporations and that they take advantage of the knowledge of public universities”, for the benefit of society and companies.
Facing 2030, this initiative has the challenge that “knowledge, which is “key” for the “future and for the generation of economy, progress and the promotion of productivity, flow”.
The deputy minister wants this Innovation Center, which is based on the knowledge of public universities, “to end up consolidating itself as a key reference also for the private sector, that is, for Canarian companies.”
The rector of the ULPGC, Lluís Serra, has celebrated the launch of this center, which brings together the two universities to “cover the knowledge represented by the SDGs, as well as establish tools to help other administrations to undertake their actions in back to them.”
Serra has highlighted that “all projects that refer to energy transition networks, sustainability, economic aspects, poverty eradication, among others, will have a place in this center where the best solutions will be sought.”
The rector of the University of La Laguna, Rosa Aguilar, has highlighted that this Innovation Center for Sustainable Development “will help advance this Canarian Agenda for Sustainable Development” and it is “an honor”, she said, “to participate in the creation of this innovation center”. EFE