The IED Barcelona community celebrated this first decade of contributing to the application of the design process and mindset, in collaboration with the rest of the disciplines, as one of the cornerstones to face future challenges in terms of economic, social, environmental sustainability, as well as AI
News
10 years designing for economic, social and environmental sustainability
Date
12 April 2024
Over the last 10 years, more than 400 students of over 20 nationalities have experienced a journey towards innovation and creativity with the Challenge Based Innovation (CBI) programme, promoted by IdeaSquare and the Department of Innovation of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), with recent editions taking place under the umbrella of the European ATTRACT Academy project.
The CBI experience has brought together students from interdisciplinary teams from IED Barcelona, the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) and Esade to address challenges faced by society in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), together with IdeaSquare, the CERN innovation space, and its scientists and researchers, where they have been working on and presenting projects with a common objective: training students to apply innovative technologies to solve specific challenges.
Combating environmental pollution, addressing climate change, responding to health needs or those derived from the COVID-19 pandemic, improving the sustainable development of cities in particular and the planet in general. These are some examples of the latest challenges posed within the framework of the CBI initiative, which has also addressed emergency aid systems, human interaction with the environment, and the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI).
Three discussion panels with participants and companies
Both students and teachers shared this experiential learning experience within the framework of the 10th anniversary celebration gala, which took place on 11 April at The Social Hub Barcelona.
The ceremony began with welcome speeches and expressions of gratitude for this decade of multidisciplinary work by Andrea Marchesi, IED Barcelona Director; Joan Rodon, Dean of Esade Business School; and Climent Molins, Vice-rector for Transfer, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the UPC. Next, Manuela Procopio, Ramon Bragós and Nanita Ferrone, the academic leaders of the programme from lED Barcelona, the UPC and Esade, respectively, together with Ole Werner, from CERN’s Ideasquare, started the first panel debate, moderated by Laura Bellorini, Manager of Fusion Point.
The event also brought together representatives of entities and companies linked to innovation, technology and creativity through the second panel discussion: Margarida López, Head of Innovation at TMB; Albert Soret, Head of the Earth System Services group at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC); Manel Peiró, Director of the ExMaster of Hospital Management (Esade); and Ruben Bonet, Co-Founder, President and CEO of Fractus. The talk was moderated by Imma Rueda, Experimental Learning and Industry Relations Manager of Fusion Point.
Likewise, graduates from the three academic institutions participating in the programme were also present at the event, making up the third panel of the day, moderated by Mireia Serra, Esade-ATTRACT Academy Manager and Fusion Point Research Lead. This was the case of Ola Rajska (IED Barcelona), Roser Batlle and Marçal Garcia Boris (UPC), and Diego Pacheco (Esade).
Manuela Procopio during her intervention.
Andrea Marchesi giving the “The Most Systemic Solution” award to the project “The Asbestos Team”.
Ola Rajska shared her memories with the audience. She took part in the programme in 2022.
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