URJC Hosts the First EULiST Global Conference to Advance Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Societies
The European university alliance EULiST held its first Global Conference on the Aranjuez campus under the title “Co-creating Sustainable Solutions for Climate-Resilient Societies”, in which 230 researchers from 34 countries debated for two days, with European companies and cities also in attendance.
The opening of this Global Conference was presided over by Abraham Duarte, the Rector of the URJC, together with María Luisa García Mínguez, Deputy Director of the European Commission’s Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), Miguel Gómez, Mayor of Aranjuez, and Pablo T. Salvadores, President of the Global Conference Organising Committee.
On 20 November, the rector highlighted the excellent figures and data that support the URJC’s commitment to sustainability, reflected both in global rankings such as “Green Metric World University”, where the URJC is among the most sustainable universities, and in the awards recently received for the best Spanish university in sustainability education and the Energy Efficiency award. Finally, he highlighted the URJC’s commitment to EULiST and the European Universities Initiative, which he considered key to building a more innovative, connected and sustainable Europe.
This Global Conference was structured around a Plenary Session in which various international experts have reflected on the joint work of cities and EULiST, and parallel panels on different topics, always with sustainability as the driving force.
During the final day, participants gathered in parallel thematic sessions and in the closing plenary session to reflect on the major global challenges related to climate change, urban transformation, international cooperation, and innovation in education and technology. In turn, a workshop on Science Communication was held, where this topic was addressed in a practical and interactive way for participants.
The closing ceremony of this exceptional event took place on 21 November and was led by César Cáceres, URJC Rector’s delegate for EULiST; Natia Gamkrelidze, EULiST Secretary General; and Pablo T. Salvadores and Antonia Lampopoulou, heads of the Global Conference Organising Committee.
Finally, as a closing ceremony, Rey Juan Carlos University handed over the baton to the National Technical University of Athens, with a gift for the celebration of the next Global Conference in Athens in 2027.
The conference reaffirmed the commitment of the EULiST alliance to foster cooperation, knowledge exchange and cross-sector collaboration for tackling climate change and promoting sustainable development.
