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Sustainable economy, the theme of the X APTE International Conference

By 23 de October de 2012November 18th, 2020No Comments
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The inaugural conference was held by Juan Verde, advisor to U.S. President Obama. Source: APTE.
 23.10.2012

Sustainable economy, the theme of the X APTE International Conference

Under the theme "Economy and Sustainability: the Model of Science and Technology Parks" the X APTE International Conference was held at the Alava Technology Park on the days 17, 18 and 19 of October. The meeting, which brought together 200 park representatives, was attended by the Director General of the Barcelona Science Park, Salvador Maluquer. The city of Victoria, named "European Green Capital 2012" also hosted simultaneously the workshop "Green opportunities and challenges for science and technology parks, organized by the International Association of Science Parks and Innovation Areas (IASP).


The General Assembly of the Association of Science and Technology Parks of Spain (APTE) was held on the first day of the international conference where parks analysed the activities and future strategies that the Association is currently undertaking and planning. One of the most important events of the conference was the accreditation of the Huelva Science and Technology Park as a partner park, which bringing the total number of APT operational parks to 48 parks, in addition to the 28 affiliated parks and one collaborating member.

The second day of the international conference began with a welcome ceremony, which was attended by the Minister for Industry, Innovation, Trade and Tourism of the Basque Government, Bernabé Unda; the mayor of Vitoria, Javier Maroto; the deputy general of Álava, Javier de Andrés, the president of the of the Basque Country Technology Parks Network, Francisco Berjón, and APTE´s President, Felipe Romera. They all agreed that science and technology parks are part of the solution to the current crisis, and that the model of Basque parks, immersed in expansion projects, is an example to follow.

After the welcome ceremony, the inaugural conference was held by Juan Verde, president of the Biosphere Foundation and advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama. Verde stressed the importance of commitment to the future for green economy as a key sector to promote economic growth. He also stressed that climate change is real and that we will live an economy of low emissions of CO2. Verde also highlighted that it will be the development of innovation and clean technologies what will generate business opportunities, aspects in which science and technology parks are playing an important role.

Three roundtables were then conducted. The first one, called ‘Business opportunities in the renewable energy sector, “was moderated by José Ignacio Hormache, director general of the Basque Energy Board (EVE), and involved the participation of Iñaki López Gandásegui, president of Aernova; Julio Cortezón, director of Repsol Renewable Energy; Agustin Delgado Martin, director of Innovation of Iberdrola; and Daniel Fuster, director of the Fossils, Renewables, Oil & Gas Division of Siemens.

The next round table was moderated by Itziar Martin, general director of Technology Parks and Innovation Spaces of the Castilla and Leon region. Elements of sustainable economy in cities were discussed under the title “Mobility, city planning and building, sustainability factors”. Participating in this table were Ignacio Alcalde, Vicepresident of the Metropoli Foundation; Salvador Rueda, director of the Urban Ecology Agency of Barcelona; Juan José Marquínez, chief of the Division of Mercedes Benz Prototypes in Vitoria; Ander Elgorriaga, Manager of the Production and Sustainable Consumption Department of Ihobe; and Jon Asin, responsible for Electric Mobility at Ingeteam.

The third and final roundtable discussion, called ‘Science and technology parks as instruments for the development of sustainable strategies, “was moderated by Paco Negre, director general of Espaitec, Science, Tecnològic and Business Park of the Jaume I University. The round table was attended Marian Ibarrondo, director of Innovation of the Science and Technology Park of Bizkaia; Jose Luis Latorre, Director of European Business and Innovation of Aragon; Josep Piqué, head of 22 @ Barcelona; and Soledad Diaz, managing director of APTE.