Discussions of the 2nd Funseam International Symposium focus on sustainability and innovation
Yesterday morning, the Catalan minister for Economy and Competitiveness, Andreu Mas-Colell; the rector of UB, Dídac Ramírez, and the UB professor and director of the Barcelona Economics Institute (IEB), Martí Parellada, opened academic session of the 2nd Funseam International Business Symposium on Innovation and Sustainable Energy, which took place on 27 and 28 January at Barcelona Science Park (PCB). The UB Professor M. Teresa Costa Campi, director of the Chair in Energy Sustainability UB-IEB and former president of the Spanish National Energy Commission, presented the plenary session entitled “Why and how to support energy R&D” in which Michael Pollitt, from the Cambridge Judge Business School participated.
Yesterday morning, the Catalan minister for Economy and Competitiveness, Andreu Mas-Colell; the rector of UB, Dídac Ramírez, and the UB professor and director of the Barcelona Economics Institute (IEB), Martí Parellada, opened academic session of the 2nd Funseam International Business Symposium on Innovation and Sustainable Energy, which took place on 27 and 28 January at Barcelona Science Park (PCB). The UB Professor M. Teresa Costa Campi, director of the Chair in Energy Sustainability UB-IEB and former president of the Spanish National Energy Commission, presented the plenary session entitled “Why and how to support energy R&D” in which Michael Pollitt, from the Cambridge Judge Business School participated.
During his speech, Mas-Colell emphasized the remarkable research on energy policies and the importance of the collaboration between private and public companies that take place in Barcelona. He mentioned the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) as an example of cooperation.
For his part, Dídac Ramírez affirmed that the energy sector “is key to economic growth”, and he enumerated some of the most important R&D challenges that must be faced regarding climate change. The rector of UB also highlighted that universities play a major role in researching and introducing improvements in the sector and the companies that compose it. In this sense, UB is committed to renewable energies thanks to the Chair in Energy Sustainability UB-IEB.
The symposium was organised by the Foundation for Energy and Environmental Sustainability (Funseam) and the Chair in Energy Sustainability of UB, affiliated with the Barcelona Economics Institute (IEB). It gathered executives from leading energy companies, representatives of government institutions and prestigious experts on R&D for two days in Barcelona. The session that took place yesterday was academic. It was organised by the Chair in Energy Sustainability; it gathered prestigious researchers and academicians in the field of energy economics and sustainability, from UB and worldwide prestigious universities and research centres, for instance Harvard University, the Centre for International Environmental Studies in Geneva (Switzerland), the University of Milan & IEFE, etc. Participants gave their opinion regarding the role that R&D plays in the energy sector.
About the Chair in Energy Sustainability UB-IEB
The Chair in Energy Sustainability of UB, led by M.Teresa Costa Campi, comes from an agreement between UB and Fuseam. The Chairʼs mission is to create a research field of excellence at UB in the area of energy and environmental sustainability, and to establish the unit as an international reference point. The Chairʼs activities, framed exclusively in the field of academic research, bring new ideas and influence private and public decisions in both Spain and at an international level.
About Funseam
The Foundation for Energy and Environmental Sustainability (Funseam), located at PCB, is a non-profit institution created in 2012. The Foundation, managed by Rodrigo Ramírez-Pisco, stands as a leading centre for the energy debate and the creation of opinion in society. It is shaped to be a forum for discussion as well as an academic research advisory centre, through the Chair in Energy Sustainability, bringing new ideas, improving information and influencing private and public decisions in both Spain, and at an international level.