On July 21, 2022, the agreement was signed between the UPC and the Metropolitan Technological Institute (ITM). The agreement is made through the ties established with the ITM by the UPC's UNESCO Chair on Sustainability.
The Rector of the ITM, Mr. Alejandro Villa Gómez, signed with the rector of the UPC, prof. Daniel Crespo. The firm was also attended by the Vr. of International Politics, the prof. Lourdes Reig, the Vice Chancellor of Social Responsibility and Equality, prof. Josefina AntoniJuan, Mr. Eduard Alberto Garcia Galeano, Financial Vice Chancellor of ITM and Mr. Brent Villanueva, Technical Secretary of the UNESCO Chair on Sustainability.
The agreement is part of the "Alliances for Climate and Health Emergency in the Aburrá Valley" project, presented by the UPC's UNESCO Chair on Sustainability, and selected by the Barcelona Global Justice Cooperation Program, in its call of 2021.
The Territorial Alliance that involves the academy, the local government, the company providing water and sanitation services, the environmental authorities, as well as civil society organizations, constitutes a participative model of governance in rural-urban basins, that is articulated in the territory through the co-design and realization of resilient eco-infrastructures appropriate for the climate and health emergency, which at the same time are instruments for the appropriation and recovery of degraded urban space, through dialogue and conciliation between social actors and institutional
This project will develop comprehensive and innovative model interventions in 3 urban basins of Medellin, articulated in 5 axes of work:
Participatory governance based on the collective construction of citizen processes for the ecological transition and the culture of peace,
Co-design of climate-resilient infrastructures and the protection and restoration of biodiversity through nature-based solutions,
Reducing vulnerability in informal settlements (communes) by promoting food security and articulating healthy, safe and adaptive city territories and environments,
Reduce inequality and strengthen the productive fabric to promote post-covid recovery based on the creative and solidarity economy and
Creation of educational and cultural initiatives for the ecological transition and the culture of peace.