Unicaja Banco, together with the Department of Sustainable Development of the Government of Castilla-La Mancha, through Fundación Impulsa and Asociación Ciencia a la Carta, has launched the project ‘SDGs&Science’, aimed at students of primary, secondary and baccalaureate in the region. This is a science outreach initiative linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda, which will reach around 250 students.
In total, ten workshops are being held in schools and high schools of Castilla-La Mancha, where students can learn about and work on the Sustainable Development Goals from a scientific approach. The aim is for them to understand, in a very practical way, how they can collaborate in their everyday life to achieve the 17 SDGs.
The programme was presented today, during one of the workshops held at IES Azarquiel in Toledo, by the General Director of 2030 Agenda 2030 and Consumption, Ramón Lara; the Head of Sustainability and CSR of Unicaja Banco, José María López; Alberto Arcediano, Manager of Unicaja Banco’s branch at Calle Berlin in Toledo, and one of the Coordinators and Founders of Ciencia a la Carta, María José Ruíz, together with the Head of the IES, Jesús García, and the provincial respresentatives of Sustainable Development, Tomás Villarrubia, and of Education, Culture and Sports, José Gutiérrez.
The General Director of 2030 Agenda and Consumption, Ramón Lara, highlighted that ‘this project is part of the training and awareness objectives of the 2030 Agenda Strategy of the Government of Castilla-La Mancha, which aims to make visible and transmit the importance of compliance with the SDGs, in the three dimensions they cover: social, environmental and economic’.
José María López explained that Unicaja Banco ‘takes the SDGs as a reference for the management of its sustainability strategy’. ‘The relevance of informative initiatives such as 'SDG&Science' is that they bring the 2030 Agenda closer to young people in a practical way, demonstrating that the SDGs, in addition to being a global aspiration, can be integrated into everyday life’, he said.
Next, first-year Secondary Education students participated in the workshop ‘We light up with the wind’, given by Ruth Domínguez Martín, industrial engineer and professor at the University of Castilla-La Mancha and Brescia (Italy), in which they experienced how to use wind and solar energy by assembling various models.
Thanks to these workshops and linking them to the various SDGs, students will learn what electric energy is and how clean energy works (SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy), they will learn about the existence of the main types of microorganisms and how they interact with humans (SDG 3: Health and well-being, and SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy), experience healthy habits with 'super grandparents' (SDG 3: Health and well-being), discover the growing interest and participation of girls and young women in the so-called 'STEM careers' (SDG 5: Gender equality) or learn about the 17 SDGs through the behavior of birds.
This outreach project ‘ODS&Science’ is carried out in collaboration with Fundación Impulsa and is given by Ciencia a la Carta, an association whose main goal is to promote scientific culture and which is made up of more than 50 scientists from the universities of Castilla-La Mancha and Complutense de Madrid, as well as the Spanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CSIC).
Sustainability and CSR strategy to contribute to the SDGs
Unicaja Banco joined the United Nations Global Compact and the Spanish Global Compact Network and it incorporates the 2030 Agenda into its Sustainability and CSR strategy, contributing to the achievement of those Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) most closely related to its activity as a financial institution and with its social and environmental commitment.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted in 2015 by all member states of the United Nations to address social, economic and environmental challenges, in order to improve people’s lives, end poverty, reduce inequalities, protect the planet and achieve peace and prosperity. In 2020, the so-called Decade of Action was launched, which calls for a greater commitment from governments, institutions, companies and entities to drive the necessary transformations to achieve the goals set.
