Around 700 rectors from around the world are meeting in Valencia starting this Monday to discuss how the University can contribute to the progress of society, turning the Spanish city into the world capital of Higher Education.
Academic representatives, political personalities, companies and national and international institutions will be present between Monday and Wednesday at the V International Meeting of Rectors of Universia, which will be inaugurated this Tuesday by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and the President of the Bank Santander and Universia, Ana Botin.
At the meeting there will also be 35 representatives of the main Portuguese higher education institutions, as well as international speakers such as the scientist Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, or the former Secretary of the Treasury of US President Bill Clinton and Chief Economist of the Bank World, Larry Summers.
The 2006 Prince of Asturias Award for Scientific Research, Ignacio Cirac, or Google’s head of Artificial Intelligence research strategy, Pilar Manchón, are other guests.
Under the motto “University and Society”, the debates will revolve around three main axes: Lifelong learning or continuous learning; promotion of entrepreneurship and innovation and, lastly, networks and interconnection between universities.
“The conclusions of the International Meeting of Rectors will be reflected in the ‘Declaration of Valencia’, which will include the commitment of the rectors so that the university advances, in several specific lines of action, in its purpose of continuing to contribute to the progress of the society”, explains the Santander press office.
The bank allocated more than 2,200 million euros and supported more than one million students, professionals, entrepreneurial projects and SMEs through agreements with more than 1,300 universities in 25 countries.
Source: TSF
