The Director-General of UNESCO inaugurates the International Centre for Human and Social Sciences at CaixaForum Macaya

The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, has inaugurated the UNESCO International Centre for Human and Social Sciences at the CaixaForum Macaya of the "la Caixa" Foundation. Also taking part in the inauguration were Juan José López Burniol, Vice-President of the "la Caixa" Foundation; Elisa Duran, Deputy Director General of the Foundation; Ángel Simón, CEO of CriteriaCaixa; Miquel Iceta, Permanent Delegate Ambassador of Spain to UNESCO; and Maria Eugènia Gay, Deputy Mayor for Social Rights, Culture, Education and Life Cycles of Barcelona City Council.  

Audrey Azoulay expressed her satisfaction with "the fruitful collaboration with Spain, the "la Caixa" Foundation and its president, Isidro Fainé, a key player in this magnificent partnership". "The purpose of this centre reflects the historical conviction of our organisation: that public policies are more effective, precise and relevant when they include contributions from the social and human sciences. Together with "la Caixa", a leading social and human sciences institution, we aim to become a global incubator of science and knowledge: organising more and more meetings of the great thinkers of our time, both here in Barcelona and in Paris, at UNESCO's headquarters," said Audrey Azoulay. 

For his part, Juan José López Burniol, Vice-President of the "la Caixa" Foundation, stated that "the Foundation has historically been aligned with the principles of UNESCO, promoting social inclusion, education, culture and science as agents of social transformation", and added that "CaixaForum Macaya, as a UNESCO International Centre for Social and Human Sciences, will contribute to articulating knowledge and culture, thus helping to promote reflection on the main challenges of human development and fostering inclusion and social justice".  

CaixaForum Macaya consolidates its role as a global think tank and becomes part of an international network of excellence that works to contribute to the implementation of UNESCO's strategic programmes and development agendas. Designated by UNESCO's General Conference in November 2021, it is the first centre of this category in Spain. 

Among the programming planned for this year at the International Centre, a report on Just Climate Transition and the organisation of conferences and activities related to the challenges and opportunities of technology and the digitised society are planned, working on issues of great social and human impact. 

The launch of this centre also reflects the shared values between UNESCO, the United Nations organisation for social and human sciences, and the "la Caixa" Foundation. Both institutions have social inclusion, education, science and culture as their priority lines of action.

CaixaForum Macaya has a decade of experience as a space for reflection and debate which, through the mediation of knowledge between different actors in 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 promotes dialogue and the exchange of ideas through conferences, debates and round tables with leading national and international speakers. 

This centre will build on UNESCO's global network for the social sciences: almost 950 university chairs in 110 countries; the Inclusive Policies Laboratory, a leading international UNESCO forum; and 30 years of experience and partnerships carried out through UNESCO's Management of Social Transformations Programme (MOST).