Target day: October 2020.

Coordinators: 

Professors: Ana Isabel Vázquez Cañete y Elena Mut Montalvá.

Department of Social Work and Social Services of the UV.

On a global scale, there is a consensus that universities are the institutions with the greatest capacity for social transformation and therefore, have a greater responsibility in addressing the major challenges of nowadays. In response, Universitat de València is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda proposed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, implementing them based on the principles of shared responsibility and subsidiarity, as a qualified actor committed to reality (Alcaraz and Alonso, 2019) ^[1].

By means of the Chair for Cooperation and Sustainable Development, Universitat de València favours the implementation of different activities that support this commitment among Valencian society. And, specifically, this Chair links its actions to the main point of this Agenda: people, and addresses the first five Sustainable Development Goals: the end of poverty, zero hunger, health and well-being, quality education and gender equality.

Social Work has traditionally been linked to development cooperation, also from Universitat de València, as evidenced by many actions carried out and the areas of research and training in their curricula and classrooms.  Moreover, within the framework of Human Rights, the discipline of Social Work maintains a close link with the basic principles of cooperation such as respect for the dignity of all people, the quality of life of individuals as a manifestation of social progress or the free participation of citizens as a tool for development (Izquerdo Hidalgo y Fernándezz, 2007)^[2]. These principles are now also part of the Sustainable Development Goals and the People-centred axis of action.

Likewise, researchers from different disciplines of the UV, including Social Work, have analysed the role of the university as an agent of social transformation.

However, the current context, in which changing scenarios determined by the effects of global pandemics are taking shape, makes it necessary to reflect on the challenges to be addressed, the needs, but also the experiences that should be made visible, as well as the need to establish collaborative networks between the different actors that are part of this commitment.  For this reason, an initiative is proposed to upon up channels for reflection and analysis, as well as to identify new needs.

Activity

The action proposed here aims to offer a meeting space that favours debate on the role of the university in the promotion of human development, as well as the presentation of experiences, reflection and debate, and to identify the new challenges towards which research linked to development cooperation should be directed from the social sciences and, specifically, in Social Work, social intervention and human development.

As a specific area of interest, always within the framework of the People Axis of the 2030 Agenda, it is proposed to address Health and Well-being and Gender Equality, Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 5 respectively. The close relationship between both Goals invites us to carefully consider the real living conditions of half of the world’s population such as women and girls, and how the guarantee of health and wellbeing not only constitutes a barrier to violence and inequality but also guarantees the promotion of their capacities and potential, a clear commitment to their development.

Goals 

• Raise awareness in Valencian society and the university community about the SDGs ad the axis of international development policies.
• Generate knowledge about the new reality, framed within the People axis of the 2030 Agenda, specifically SDG 3 Health and Wellbeing and SDG 5 Gender Equality.
• Offer a space for the exchange of experiences and debate between social actors linked to cooperation.

Development: 

Conference on SDGs, Cooperation and Social Work:  This activity will be made up of a panel of experts in various fields related to cooperation and a round table to exchange experiences with NGDOs (Assembly of Cooperation for Peace...) 

Duration: One day, 6 hours long.

 Aimed at: 

The global commitment of the Universitat de València with the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda, invites the involvement of the Valencian society as a whole in the actions related to this task. In this way, the action presented is offered as a privileged space for knowledge, analysis and debate between the different actors of the whole of society, and, in a singular way to PDI of the Department of Social Work and the Social Sciences of the UV; in the first place, and of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the UV; Students of the Degree in Social Work; different actors of development as members of REEDES, social entities, ONGD and Area of cooperation of the Universitat de València linked to cooperation. At the same time, it favours the connection and involvement of the entire university community: undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students, PDI, PAS, etc.

Expected results:

• Favouring the approach of Valencian society to the new challenges of development in the framework of the 2030 Agenda and the SDG, and the visibility of the new realities arising from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on health, living conditions and gender equality in the various populations.
• Identify new challenges like the SDG and the new global situation in the field of Health and Well-being and Gender Equality.
• Establish cooperation networks and alliances between UV researchers and other entities that enable collaboration between actors linked to this field.
• Offer students new spaces of knowledge and capacity from the approach of the SDG and the principles of Education for Sustainable Development.
• Increase the visibility of the reality of the peoples and awareness of the SDG among teaching and research staff, students and, therefore, the university community.  

Date and venue: October 2020 in the Assembly Hall of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

[1] Alcaraz, A. and Alonso, P. (2019). La contribución de las Universidades a la Agenda 2030. València: Unitat de Cooperació, Servei de Relacions Internacional i Cooperació. 

[2] Izquierdo, J.; Hidalgo, A., and Fernández, T. (2007). Cooperación al Desarrollo y Trabajo Social. Madrid:

Ediciones Académicas.

[3] Lloret Català,C; Martínez Usarralde, MJ; Mut Montalvá, E; Revert, X. en Iborra Eres, J.J. and Soriano del Castillo, J.M.  (2018). Desarrollo Humano y Transformación Social. El papel de la Universitat desde la percepción del alumnado. Publicacions de la Universitat de València.