International experts and social agents debate in Bilbao about the relationship between university and city

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International experts and social agents debate in Bilbao about the relationship between university and city

Univercity

International experts and social agents debate in Bilbao about the relationship between university and city

Under the motto “Educating with and for the city,” national and international experts, municipal representatives and social agents debate about the possibilities for collaboration among different agents and the academic world.

2019·12·18

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December 18 saw the opening of the UniverCity conference organized by Mondragon University under the motto “Educating with and for the city.” For two days at the Bilbao Berrikuntza Faktoria (BBF), anthropologists, sociologists, international educators and social agents from Bilbao will reflect on the relationship between the university and the city. Jordán Guardo, representing the Bilbao City Council, and Mondragon University researcher Monika Madinabeitia took part in the opening event.

In the opening event, Jordán Guardo, Adviser to the Mayor of the City Council of Bilbao, explained the Bilbao City Council’s plan for the island in his presentation “A place to live, work and enjoy life. An ecosystem in which universities, social agents and businesses will coexist; with special attention to creativity and the environment.” In Guardo’s words, “the objective is not to bring universities to a new more central space, but rather to integrate them into the city.”

For her part, Mondragon University Global Digital Humanities degree coordinator Monika Madinabeitia explained the purpose of the conference: to delve deeper into a new concept: the UniverCity, whose main idea is to extend the university campus to the whole city, thereby creating an ecosystem of collaboration between social agents and the academic world.

The conference brought together representatives from various fields, not only academics who research the new role of the university and its relationship with its surroundings, but also social agents from those surroundings such as municipal and private representatives, and businesses and other entities located in Zorrotzaurre, with the ultimate objective of building mutual understanding for the purpose of creating an ecosystem of collaborative interaction on the island.

 

THREE TASK GROUPS

The participants were divided into three task groups. The “Cultural heritage and community memory” group will reflect on the cultural heritage and community memory of Zorrotzaurre in order to identify elements that would be valuable in making it possible for the new university campus to integrate appropriately into its surroundings. In the task group entitled “The role of the university in the 21st century,” they will identify the function of the university in the 21st century by reflecting on its role as an instrument of change and an agent of social transformation. Finally, in the “Relationship between the university and social agents” group, they will work with local actors and agents to compare impressions of the research-action paradigm and the relationship between academia and social agents. Research-action, as opposed to traditional academic research, sees research as a tool for social transformation that works by studying specific problems and interacting with the involved agents.

UniverCity participants include experts Paul R. Mullins, Joseba Zulaika, George Belinga, Ruth Mayoral, Ziortza Etxabe, Jone Belausteguigoitia, Ibai Etxezarraga, Lucía Agirre, Eva Salcedo, Sue Wright, Jan Masschelein, Keri Facer, Ignacio Otalora, Gaizka Zuazo, Luis Berasategi, Arantza Ozaeta, Txema Egaña, Ixone Soroa, Sue Hyatt, John Andersen, Karim Asry, Marta Alvarez, Koldo Díaz, Arantxa Mendiharat, Ricardo Mutuberria, Andoni Eizagirre, Xabier Barandiaran and Oihana Eizmendi.

The UniverCity conference is programmed within the framework of the new degree in Global Digital Humanities (GDH), which will be offered by Mondragon University in Zorrotzaurre beginning in September of 2020. This degree hopes to modernize the present system of higher education by working beyond the classroom and taking advantage of the city as a learning space.

More information on the conference can be found at UniverCity.mondragon.edu.