International congress on higher education begins in Cuba

Havana, February 7 (RHC)-- The use of innovation for sustainable development will guide the debates of academics, professors and students at the International Congress on Higher Education University 2022, which will be held in Havana until Friday.

The event, headquartered at the Convention Palace, will open with a lecture by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, "Government management based on science and innovation: advances and challenges".

The program will also include workshops, symposiums and forums that will focus on the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals, the university-business link, knowledge management, the role of student and union organizations, and the training of competent professionals.

According to the organizers, the meeting will discuss the challenges of this teaching in virtual and face-to-face activities, due to the conditions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The director of International Relations of the Ministry of Higher Education (MES), María Victoria Villavicencio, informed at a press conference that the congress will also be a space for the signing of collaboration agreements between Cuba, Russia, Bulgaria and Mexico.

According to MES statistics, 1,786 papers were selected from the total number of papers received, including more than 200 from foreigners from some 20 countries who will participate virtually or in person.

Among the personalities who will attend Universidad 2022 are the Brazilian theologian Frei Betto and the Argentine political scientist Atilio Botón, as well as the president of Russia's Skolkovo Technological Science Park, Victor Vekselberg.

The event will also be attended by Stefania Giannini, Unesco's Deputy Director General for Education, as well as ministers and representatives of international organizations.

This is the thirteenth edition of the congress, which since 1998 has hosted in Cuba the analysis of the most pressing issues affecting higher education.