|
|
|
 |
Activities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FORUM ON ENERGY & SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
 This
activity is jointly organised by the BP Chair on Sustainable
Development and the Club
Español de la Energía. Its main purposes
align with those of the BP Chair:
a) To be a centre for
debate
b) To create knowledge
c) To spread and to create
social awareness
The Forum is an annual
or biennial meeting of a stable nature which is focused
on current issues regarding energy and sustainable development.
Every Forum counts on the participation of internationally
known experts. The format of each meeting is different,
in order to better adapt to its specific character and
objectives. The approach of the topic is as multidisciplinary
as possible, taking into account technical, legal, economic
and social aspects.
On the basis of attendance
by invitation, a limited number (25-30) of specialists,
both national and international, meet to tackle a topic
in depth. In principle, every year’s topic is different.
The group of specialist is made up of a permanent core
together with a group of experts that may change depending
on the chosen topic.
The Chair, along with
the Club Español de la Energía, is responsible
of publishing and spreading a summary of the conclusions
by the meeting. In order to broaden its scope, a public
act is organised after the closing of the meeting, where
two or three representative participants give their
opinions on the selected topic.
Find the list of the past
meetings below.
BP Forum I: On 3rd -
5th November 2004 "Energy,
Sustainable Development and European Competitiveness".
BP Forum II: On 6th -
8th November 2005 "Towards
a Sustainable Energy Model: Our Short-Term Challenges".
BP Forum III: On 15th
- 17th November 2006
"Towards
a Global Climate Change Strategy: The EU ETS and Beyond".
BP Forum V: On 16th -
18th April 2008 "Promoting
Investment in Low-Carbon Energy Technologies".
BP Forum VI: On 1st -
3rd Junio 2009 "Sustainable
Transportation Policies".
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
REFLECTION GROUP ON ENERGY
& SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
In
2001 the Reflection Group on Energy & Sustainable
Development, based at Comillas University, took
its first steps. It was conceived as a discussion group,
opened to anyone willing to take part. Debate is encouraged
on a variety of matters concerning energy and sustainable
development according to a preestablished annual programme.
The programme is designed in accordance to the most
important and current issues. The meetings of this group
are opened to the general public. The Group has also
published several articles about its subjects of concern
in economical and general newspapers.
The Chair supports the
activities of the Group, helping to broaden its scope
of action.
In December 2009, the
Group issued some recommendations
on the priorities that the Spanish Government should
consider to achieve the goal of a sustainable energy
model at the Spanish and European level during its presidency.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
WORKING GROUP ON SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY POLICIES |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
The
Working Group on Sustainable Energy Policies represents
an evolution of the Reflection Group on Energy &
Sustainable Development of the "Aula
de Solidaridad". It aims at increasing its
operational capability concerning the decision making,
its spreading , and the specification on the considered
subjects. The Group is coordinated by Pedro Linares
and Gonzalo Sáenz de Miera. It is made up of
a stable number of specialists on different aspects
related to energy and sustainable development. The Group
meets every two months to discuss about an already defined
subject, according to a preestablished
annual programme. The programme is designed in accordance
to the most important and current issues every year.
The Group's goal is to study options in depth and contribute
to the formulation of necessary policies in order to
obtain a sustainable energetic model in Spain.
Given that the Group's primary objective is to contribute
to the debate about the definition of sustainable energy
policies, its main product is a set of documents, open
to general public, which clearly expresses the different
attitudes for the subjects discussed. Points of consensus
are specially emphasized.
For this purpose, a document, with a maximum length
of 5 pages, is prepared to be spread in different institutions
or companies, and a 2 page document is published in
"Energías Renovables" magazine.
The Chair supports the Group's activities, increasing
its capabilities. All the documents issued by the Group,
as well as any other related material, will be available
on the BP Chair's website.
Previous presentations and summaries are available on
the links below:
Presentation
(meeting 16th of January 2008 - In Spanish)
Summary
(meeting 16th of January 2008 - In Spanish)
Presentation
(meeting 4th of March 2008 - In Spanish)
Summary
(meeting 4th of March 2008 - In Spanish)
Summary
(meeting 22nd of April 2008 - In Spanish)
Summary
(meeting 24th of June 2008 - In Spanish)
Summary
(meeting 21st of October 2008 - In Spanish)
Summary
(meeting 16th of December 2008 - In Spanish)
Previous
presentation (meeting 19th of February 2009 - In Spanish)
Summary
(meeting 19th of February 2009 - in Spanish)
Summary
(meeting 21st of April 2009 - in Spanish)
Summary
(meeting 9th of June 2009 - in Spanish)
Summary
(meeting 2th of February 2010 - in Spanish)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OBSERVATORY OF ENERGY &
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN SPAIN |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
aim of this activity is to spread and develop social
awareness about Energy and Sustainable Development among
Spanish citizens, spurring a needed debate on the serious
consequences of energy on sustainability.
Thus, the Chair, through the work of a permanent and
qualified team and the support of external collaborators
coming from several institutions, has created an Observatory
on Energy and Sustainable Development. This Observatory
was conceived to issue an annual report, or occasional
reports according to exceptional events, on the evolution
of a set of energy indicators or other aspects, such
as new sectorial regulation. The report highlights whether
this evolution has been positive in terms of sustainability.
The Observatory's reports concern the Spanish case exclusively,
involving its national, sectorial (i.e. transportation,
production, services, etc.) and energy business dimension.
It also compares our situation to other countries',
especially those of our economic area. The reports are
grounded on the analysis of public and reliable sources
of information and research papers. A critical analysis
and assessment of the obtained information is added
to the sistematic work of obtaining reliable and relevant
indicators of the evolution of energy production and
consumption and of their effects on sustainability.
This task is performed by the BP Chair's staff in collaboration
with the support of external experts.
The annual report of the Observatory is presented in
one of the annual events organised by the Chair.
The presentation of the 2008 report took place on Wednesday,
December 10th at Comillas School of Engineering (ICAI).
2008
Report (in Spanish)
2004
Report (in Spanish)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PLAN OF ENVIRONMENT &
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT COMILLAS UNIVERSITY |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aiming to spread and develop
a social awareness on Sustainable Development at the University,
this activity intends to design, to propose to University
authorities and, if passed, to implement an Environmental
and Sustainable Development Plan at Comillas University.
Actually, the main incidence of the University in society
takes place through its graduates. In the long run, this
plan seeks to train and make the future professionals
who are studying at our University aware of all that concerns
Sustainable Development. Although the Plan claims promoting
Sustainable Development as its main objective, environmental
elements will have priority since they are more clearly
understood by the public and easier to be implemented.
This Plan will be designed taking into account similar
experiences in other Universities, particularly the results
achieved by the Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña,
which stands out as a clear example. The Plan will include
the following elements:
1.
Undergraduate courses
The goal is to include suitable Environmental &
Sustainable Development issues (E&SD) in our students'
training, specifically in the program of the existing
subjects of undergraduate courses. The steps to be followed
are:
· To establish
the required profile of E & SD knowledge for each degree;
· To design the curriculum which meets this requirement;
· To design an action plan in the short term to prepare, if necessary, the faculty
members to teach the needed topics.
In addition, Departments can design their own plan
where their priority lines, targets and actions are
developed according with the previous points.
The Chair's website will be a useful tool for both
the students and professors. It will provide specific
links for each subject to bibliography, support material,
websites with relevant issues about E&SD and some
other useful resources for sustainability education,
such as specific problem collections.
Other possibilities are to offer free configuration
subjects about E&SD, as well as formation courses
about E&SD for professors or seminars aimed at students.
2. Graduation Theses
An interesting issue, particularly suitable to addressing
Environment & Sustainable Development topics, is the
graduation theses that engineering students have to
prepare to obtain their degree. Although it formally
belongs to undergraduate courses, already mentioned
in the previous section, it deserves a specific treatment.
The objective is that every thesis, as far as it is
reasonable, includes explicitly suitable considerations
of E&SD. A guide for professors and students to facilitate
the inclusion of these issues to the theses will be
developed. A group of professors concerned with this
activity, who may provide support to both thesis directors
and students will also be coordinated from the Chair.
Furthermore, the Chair have instituted an annual award
for the thesis with a deeper approach to the E&SD
topic. It is the "BP
Chair award to the Sustainability of Graduation Theses".
Although in the first edition it will be limited to
the Comillas University Engineering School, in successive
years it might be open to the participation of students
from engineering schools of other Universities or
to dissertations, graduation theses or even doctoral
theses from other Faculties or Schools.
3. Doctorate
and graduate courses
The aim is either offering doctorate and graduate courses
which specifically deal with Environment & Sustainable
Development, or include the E&SD issues in the most
suitable manner in the existing subjects, as it has
been detailed for undergraduate courses. The University
may study the possibility of offering in the future
a master o even intensify existing doctorate programs
in this way. We will set out from the current situation
in the Comillas University, in which there are significant
activities running in this field, specially the Sustainable
Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Help Master's
degree.
4.
Research
A primary task would involve listing an inventory of
significantily linked to E&SD research carried out in
the Univerisity. On this basis, common actions and directions
might be planned in future lines of research. Furthermore,
special research projects may be proposed according
to this Plan.
The Chair will try to be informed of financing opportunities
for research on E&SD, which might exist at local, national
or international level, with the aim of stimulating
the launch of proposals on these topics.
5.
University life and awareness
It is quite hard to teach values if the student do not
feel that the behaviour of the University agreed with
that which professors intend to teach. Thus, including
the principles and teachings concerning E&SD to the
real life of Comillas University is essential. The approach
has different aspects as, for instance:
i) Waste management (in cooperation with the ongoing
program, which has recently finished the diagnosis
stage);
ii) Implementation of environmental criteria in the design, construction and use of buildings;
iii) Monitoring University energy consumption and proposing improvement plans;
iv) Implementation of environmental criteria in the list of clauses of cleaning and other supplying University contracts as well as in the job profiles.
The Chair will also try to spread the interest and knowledge
in E&SD through the members of the University and outside
it. Thus, the Plan should consider activities such as
technical conferences on concrete issues, competitions
of ideas about E&SD or campaigns in cooperation with
other groups or organizations existing inside Comillas
and concerned about these issues.
As it has been said before, the real relevant effect that this Plan might cause on Environment and Sustainable Development will not
be on either the energy or water saving or the waste management but on the attitude that students of Comillas University will adopt
about these problems when they face their duties in their professions.
6. Indicators
Finally, an idea which is potentially interesting
and might be applied in all the activities included
in the Plan would be to design an assessment system
to monitor the level of implementation of the plan
at the University. It would set a group of indicators
that may include, for instance, the number of subjects
which have incorporated E&SD issues, the opinion of
graduates declared in opinion polls, the number of
students enrolled either in free configuration courses
or in graduate courses, the volume of waste collected
by means of the corresponding program, the energy
and water consumption, and so on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RESEARCH |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Chair tries to stimulate
the development of research on different subjects which
may improve the knowledge about energy and sustainable
development. As far as possible, this activity is supported
by undergraduate, master or doctoral theses, focusiong
on the total or partial development of the previous research
aspects. The Chair also intends to find external financing
for the abovementioned projects and theses.
The
preferential research lines, are the following:
Design of integral and standardizable strategies of energy supply for
sparse populations without access to the traditional networks of energy distribution.
Comparative analysis of the
different schemes of Renewable Energy Development.
Need of armonization
of these mechanisms in case of electricity international
markets and study of the interaction among the different
existing or foreseen mechanisms.
Markets of emission of greenhouse gases rights and their
connection with the mechanisms of renewable development.
Added value that the commitment with Corporate Social
Responsibility in relation with Energy and Sustainability implies for the companies.
Designs of simple technology devices promoting energy
savings and sustainability.
Planning and investment in energy infrastructures
based on sustainability principles.
Models of energy and gas integral markets operation.
Specification
of actions aimed at sustainability in the industrialised
world.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"EL INGENIERO DEL
ICAI Y EL DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE" BOOK |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
The writing of the book “El
Ingeniero del ICAI y el Desarrollo Sostenible” has
been promoted by the BP Chair on Sustainable Development.
The goal of this activity is to make the society aware
of the need to include sustainable criteria in the sphere
of action of the ICAI engineers. The publication and the
spreading of the book constitute a first milestone of
the celebration of the ICAI Centenary and mean a reference
frame in order to adapt the education system to the European
Higher Education Area.
For more information,
please press on the following link: "El
Ingeniero del ICAI y el Desarrollo Sostenible".
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
