Partners
University of Granada
The University of Granada (UGR) has worked on University Cooperation for Development (CUD) intensively for a long time, although its most recent action is based on three basic pillars. The first one is the Ley Orgánica de Universidades of 2007, which established for the first time in the higher degree of university legislation an explicit reference to international cooperation and solidarity, pointing out that universities motivate participation of university community members in international cooperation and solidarity activities and projects, and promote activities and initiatives to encourage culture of peace, sustainable development and environment protection as essential elements for solidarity progress.
The Ley Andaluza de Universidades (Andalusian Law of Universities) and the Statutes of the UGR are the other two pillars, because they also explicitly incorporate the need for joint commitment between our academic institutions, indicating that university funding programs contemplate assistance to programs which are oriented to contribute to "… development cooperation, interculturality, culture of peace and non-violence encouragement, equality policies and practices (and specially gender equality), and attention to particularly underprivileged social groups". In particular, in the Statutes of the UGR it is pointed out that "development cooperation is the University joint commitment to the most disadvantaged countries and social sectors; it will drive training, educative, research, care and promotional activities aimed at achieving a fairer society by supporting culture of peace, sustainable development, environmental protection, as well as volunteer platforms organization.”
In addition to these basic pillars, the Conferencia de Rectores de las Universidades Españolas (CRUE) (Conference of Spanish Universities Rectors) approved the Código de Conducta de las Universidades en Materia de CUD (Code of Universities Behaviour in University Cooperation for Development) in June 2006, which was endorsed by the University of Granada in 2007 and that points out which should be the University Cooperation for Development (CUD) hallmarks. The Code of Behaviour defines the University Cooperation for Development (CUD) as "set of activities carried out by the university community and oriented to social transformation in the most disadvantaged countries, in favour of peace, equity, human development and environmental sustainability in the world, transformation in which the academic and institutional strengthening has an important role". Also, it stresses that "the University work in the development cooperation field is closely linked to its natural sphere of action: teaching and research, issues that are essential for students integral training and for a better understanding of the problems that threaten the achievement of sustainable and human development on a universal scale. In addition, institutional strengthening of the university systems (through transfer of knowledge and technology, infrastructure, delivery of equipment and other resources, etc.) and technical advice and support to development programs (specially those associated with higher education and those in which scientific capabilities and university reviews can offer added value), along with university community awareness, are priority areas of the University work in this field".
Website: http://www.ugr.es