Academics and institution members debate on how to connect university and business
19/12/2019
On 9 January, the board room of the Faculty of Economics and Business Studies played host to a workshop entitled "Universities, Business, Entrepreneurship and the Role of University Facilities". It began at 11 a.m. and formed part of the European project InnoHEIs, with the UAB as one of its members. During the workshop, experts in the field offered their opinions and initiatives to delve deeper into the connection between university and the business world.
The workshop was inaugurated by UAB Rector Margarita Arboix, President of the UAB Social Council Gabriel Masfurroll and Dean of the Faculty Héctor Sala. Following their speeches, an introduction to the debate was made by Vice Dean for Entrepreneurship David Urbano and by Ricard Esparza, lecturer of economic analysis and main researcher at the InnoHEIs project.
The debate was structured into four sessions corresponding to four different themes. The first session was entitled "How to make universities more attractive to businesses and what role can their services and facilities play?" The second session focused on "What is needed for university faciliites to be used to their full potential and not become obsolete?" The third session was entitled "How to boost entrepreneurship and social innovation within universities and how to favour the use of facilities within this context?" And the fourth and final session closed the workshop with a colloquy on "What public policies can foster the use of university facilities for businesses and entrepreneurs?"
Participating in the workshop were lecturers from the UAB (Salvador Barberà, Guillem Perdrix and Lluís Rodríguez, in addition to those mentioned above) and from other academic institutions: Mercedes Teruel (URV), March Bernadich (UVic), Francesc Solé (UPC), Joan Torrent (UOC) and Jaume Valls (UB). Speakers also included administrative members of the Government of Catalonia (Glòria Cugat, Deputy Director General of Agrofood Inspections and Control, and Iolanda Font, Deputy Director General of Research) and representatives of associations such as Jordi Mabras, founder of "Economía para Millenials".