CaixaForum Macaya, named UNESCO International Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities

The General Conference of UNESCO has ratified the designation of CaixaForum Macaya of the "la Caixa" Foundation as a UNESCO Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities, the first of its kind in the world. It will thus become a global think tank, joining a worldwide network of excellence that works to contribute to the implementation of UNESCO's strategic priorities, programmes and development agendas on an international scale.

The designation was approved under the chairmanship of the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay; the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez; and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares.

In her speech, Audrey Azoulay highlighted the collaboration with the "la Caixa" Foundation and its president, Isidro Fainé. This UNESCO Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities is, for Azoulay, "a demonstration of shared values, just as this alliance is a stimulus for institutions of impeccable reputation".

The appointment as UNESCO Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities has taken into account precisely these shared values between UNESCO and the "la Caixa" Foundation. Both institutions have social inclusion, education, science and culture as their priority lines of action.

UNESCO has also highlighted the decade of experience of CaixaForum Macaya as a space for reflection and debate which, through the mediation of knowledge between different actors in our society, analyses the great challenges of our time in the social, economic, industrial-technological, humanistic and environmental spheres.

To achieve this, this centre of the "la Caixa" Foundation programmes and encourages dialogue and the exchange of ideas through conferences, debates and round tables with leading national and international speakers.

CaixaForum Macaya has the "la Caixa" Foundation's Social Observatory programme. This is a space for analysis and reflection that studies current affairs and the challenges facing society. Its aim is to disseminate knowledge of the social sciences and humanities, with special interest in the areas of action of the "la Caixa" Foundation and now also of UNESCO.

CaixaForum Macaya is also the headquarters of the European School of Humanities, which works to disseminate, train and debate on the humanities. In addition, the centre is home to the Barcelona headquarters of the Club of Rome, whose mission is to act as an independent catalyst to identify and research the most crucial problems of humanity and bring them to the attention of public officials, private decision-makers and the general public.

UNESCO's appointment coincides with the integration of the centre into the "la Caixa" Foundation's CaixaForum network, with the aim of bringing together the organisation's cultural, scientific and social offerings. As a result of this change, the facility has been renamed CaixaForum Macaya.