Giving focus to the Cultural Scientific and Social Dimension of EU-CELAC Relations (EULAC Focus)

EULAC-Focus is a bi-regional collaborative project seeking to reinforce a common vision between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin America and and Caribbean States (CELAC).

During the past decade relations between the two regions were characterized by a fragmentation of political spaces and institutions as well as diverse and even diverging interests on both sides of the Atlantic. In order to regain a joint direction, the project seeks to identify contributions, potentials and challenges of the cultural, scientific and social dimension of bi-regional relations. The analysis will lead to a set of strategic recommendations.

In the project 19 institutions— 9 from Europe and 10 from Latin America and the Caribbean— work closely together. The consortium encompasses not only universities and non-university research institutions; it also includes ministries of research and funding agencies as well as science-policy institutions.

Thus, the main objective of the EULAC Focus project is to ‘give focus’ to EU–CELAC relations. To do so, it pays special attention to bi-regional relations between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), in three dimensions: social, scientific and cultural. Each of these dimensions is addressed in a specific thematic Working Packages (Work Package 3: social dimensions, Work Package 4: scientific dimensions; Work Package 5: cultural dimensions). These three thematic pillars are complemented by two horizontal Work Packages. While Work Package 2 analyses the cross-cutting topics: mobility, inequality, diversity, and sustainability, Work Package 6 is in charge of the vision building process.

The Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut (IAI) coordinates Work Package 2: Cross Cutting Pathways. The four cross-cutting topics: mobility, inequality, diversity, and sustainability, are analysed for each thematic dimension. In addition, overlaps and interconnections among them are also explored. This work is led by Dr. Barbara Göbel at Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut and co-led by Prof. Dr. Moacyr Martucci (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil). The main deliverable of Work Package 2 is a Synthesis Report on Cross-Cutting Topics that will feed into the final vision building process of the project.

The research team at IAI cooperates closely with the Trans-Sectorial Board of EULAC Focus, consisting of the general project coordination, the leaders of Work-Packages 3, 4, 5, 6 and five external experts: Paola Amadei (EULAC Foundation, Alemania); Prof. Dr. Rigas Arvantis (IFRIS/IRD Francia); Prof. Dr. Alan Cobley (UWI Jamaica); Prof. Dr. Enrique Saravia (UFRJ, Brazil); Prof. Dr. Hebe Vessuri (UNAM, Mexico/CENPAT, Argentina).

EULAC Focus Consortium
• Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spanien (Gesamtkoordination)
• Consejo Superior Universitario Centroamericano (CSUCA), Guatemala City, Guatemala
• Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Bonn, Deutschland
• Fundação de Apoio à Universidade de São Paulo (FUSP), São Paulo, Brasilien
• Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut (IAI), Berlin, Deutschland
• Instituto Italo-Latinoamericano (IILA), Roma, Italien
• Metcenas OPS (METCENAS), Pilsen, Tschechien
• Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva (MINCyT), Buenos Aires, Argentinien
• Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), Den Haag, Niederlande
• Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (OEI), Madrid, Spanien
• Pontífica Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP), Lima, Peru
• Samui France Sarl (SAMUI FR) Les Onchets, Frankreich (technische Koordination)
• Sercretaría Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (SENESCYT), Quito, Ecuador
• Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Buenos Aires, Argentinien
• Universidad de Chile (UCHILE), Santiago de Chile, Chile
• Universidad de Investigación de Tecnología Experimental Yachay (YACHAY), Quito, Ecuador
• Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexiko Stadt, Mexiko
• University of the West Indies (UWI), Kingston, Jamaika
• Zentrum für Soziale Innovation GmbH (ZSI), Wien, Österreich

Events organized / co-organized by WP2

• 29 August 2016: Public Discussion "Mobility and the Geopolitics of Knowledge: Challenges of the Scientific Exchange between EU and CELAC" at Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut, Berlin, Germany;
• 28 November 2016: Public Lecture by Leonel Fernández Reyna, Ph.D. (former President of the Dominican Republic and President of  the EU-LAC Foundation, Hamburg): "Europa – América Latina y el Caribe: ¿Asociación estratégica o distanciamiento paulatino?" at Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut, Berlin, Germany;
• 20 February 2017: Public Lecture by Dr. Rigas Arvanitis (Director, Institut Francilien Recherche Innovation Societé IFRIS, Paris): ¿Rebasar la brecha científica? La circulación de conocimiento como alternativa a la dependencia at Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut, Berlin, Germany;
• 12 July 2017: Public event on the cultural relations between EU and CELAC (¿Cuál es el papel de la cultura en las relaciones entre la Unión Europea, América Latina y el Caribe?) at Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut, Berlin, Germany;
• 24 November 2017: Public event on “Brazil in the context of EU – CELAC relations” at Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil;
• 21 December 2017: Workshop on "Mobility, Inequality, Diversity and Sustainability in the Scientific Dimension of EU-CELAC Relations“ at Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut, Berlin, Germany;
• 18 April 2018: International Seminar "Desarrollo humano, interculturalidad y políticas sociales: experiencias y perspectivas desde América Latina y Europa“ at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima, Peru;
• 24 May 2018 (WP2 / WP4): Panel "The scientific dimension of relations between Europe and Latin America: complexities and challenges" at LASA 2018 Conference "Latin American Studies in a Globalized World“ in Barcelona, Spain;
• 26 May 2018: Participation at EULAC Focus Panel “How to Give Focus to EU – CELAC cultural, scientific and social relations: Who, What, Where and How?“ at LASA 2018 Conference "Latin American Studies in a Globalized World“ in Barcelona (Spain).