The EU-LAC Foundation was invited to the II Academic and Knowledge Summit of the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean by its organising committee, which took place at the Cidade da Cultura in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, on May 4 and 5, 2023.
The II Summit was convened to provide continuity to the dialogue process about the construction of a bi-regional space in higher education, science, technology and innovation that was initiated at the I Summit held in El Salvador in 2017. The event’s specific objectives were:
- To deliberate on strategies and instruments to promote the creation of a common Euro-Latin American and Caribbean space for higher education, science, technology and innovation and the exchange of knowledge.
- To advocate for the formulation of public policies, plans and national programmes promoting science and linkages between universities and their ecosystems.
- To provide orientation for academic action and the generation of knowledge towards the achievement of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda.
The Executive Director of the EU-LAC Foundation, Dr Adrián Bonilla, participated in the inauguration session and offered a comprehensive insight into the current moment of the EU-CELAC Strategic Partnership, whilst highlighting the field of academic and scientific cooperation between both regions as one of the substantial and vital expressions of mutual interest and benefits for societies on both sides of the Atlantic.
Dr Bonilla also moderated the roundtable addressing the question “Why is the EU important for LAC and LAC important for the EU?“, which was attended by the following experts:
- Maria Cristina Russo - Director of Cooperation at the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission (video message)
- Sandra Regina Goulart Almeida - Rector of the Federal University of Minas Gerais; President of the Association of Universities of the Montevideo Group - AUGM; President of the International Relations Commission of ANDIFES, Brazil
- Fabrizio Gagliardi - Senior Strategy Advisor, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC/CNS)
- Emmanuelle Garnier - Rector of U. Toulouse II Jean Jaurès; President of the European and International Relations Commission of France Université, France
- Luis Armando González Placencia - Executive Secretary General of the National Association of Universities and Educational Institutions of Mexico – ANUIES, Mexico
- Lidia Borrell Damián - Secretary General of Science Europe
- Antón Leis García - Director of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation – AECID, Spain
- Myriam Moïse - Secretary General of Universities Caribbean (UC)
- Eloísa del Pino - President of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain.
A short report by the Spanish Television rtve – Galicia featured a brief interview with Adrián Bonilla (report starting at minute 10:56).
For more information, please see the webpage of the event here.
