CamBio’s bid, led by the seven youngest Andalusian universities and the CSIS, includes over 180 partners.
The CamBio project, led by the seven youngest Andalusian universities and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) and coordinated from Universidad Pablo de Olavide, already has the support of almost 200 specialised companies and organisations in its bid to become an Campus of International Excellence in the Ministerio de Educación call to be resolved in October 21
The number of partners included in the campus, focused on Environment, Bio-Diversity and Climate Change, in the final stage is treble last year’s figure. The incorporation of large financial institutions (Santander and BBVA) and international agenciess, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Smithsonian, the Jane Goodall Institute or the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) must be highlighted.
The involvement of important national public research agencies (OPI), such as Instituto Español Oceanográfico (IEO), el Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME), el Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (Ciemat), la Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (Aemet) y el Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA), among others, is also of note; we must also highlight the partnership with the Andalusian scientific and technological parks and with a number of multinational companies such as Abengoa, Acerinox, BASF, E.ON, Air Liquide, Cepsa, IBM or Siemens, among many other private partners.
In total, the number of partners so far is 180, showing unparalleled support from the private sector among the candidates to the CEI programme and also reflecting the project’s commitment with society, because one the its key targets is to promote joint actions for the encouragement of wealth-generating synergies. CamBio aims to help to attract external resources, cooperation with regional agencies and enhancing the mobility and attraction of researchers.
The whole project is thus aimed at the creation of an innovative ecosystem in which members can interact in a physical and virtual way with the ultimate target of generating new transferable products, processes and technologies for the market. In this regard, CamBio’s director, Pilar Paneque, highlights the involvement of specialised bodies in the fields of R+D, prospective technology studies and the promotion of innovation and competitiveness, such as the Corporación Tecnológica de Andalucía (CTA), Centro de Innovación y Transferencia de Tecnología de Andalucía (CITAndalucía), Centro de Servicios Europeos para las Empresas Andaluzas (CESEAND) and Instituto Andaluz de Tecnología (IAT), among others.
Additionally, last June the Ministerio de Educación already handed the project a 1.5 million euro grant for the development of several actions towards the preparation of the project, the second largest of all CEI candidates. These actions involve all academic coalition members, which are present in the whole of Andalusia.
Cambio aspires to become an international reference in teaching, research and innovation from Andalusia, a region which enjoys unique conditions for the study of ecosystems and which occupies a foremost position bio-diversity, climate change and renewable energy related research.