THE BARCELONA MANIFESTO
FOR A CITY-LED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DIPLOMACY
To everyone who is shaping the future today,
Science and technology have become a crucial tool to build strategic leverage in diplomacy and international affairs. This new role emerges from a redefinition of global challenges such as climate change, food and water security, global health and digitalization. Scientific values of rationality, transparency and universality can help underpin a better global governance and build trust between nations and societies. The soft power of science and technology enables participation and free exchange of ideas, thus contributing to progress, innovation and peace.
This new global order driven by the power of science and technology is also defined by an increasingly relevant geopolitical actor: global cities. By 2025, the 600 largest urban economies in the world will produce 65% of global economic growth. By 2050, nearly 70% of the world population will be urban. Cities are innovation powerhouses, transforming the international scene and bypassing nation-states and their borders. They have become the early adopters of emerging technologies, testbeds for scientific change and autonomous diplomatic players.
In this exciting context Barcelona has to take the lead. Our city can –and must– become a laboratory for solutions to challenges that respond to a global logic but are manifested at a local level. It is time to place innovative solutions at the service of the city, its citizens and the international community in areas as diverse as energy transition, inequality, the refugee crisis, bioethics, cybersecurity and the impact of artificial intelligence in democracy and human rights. It is time to mobilize our scientific and technical expertise and skills to a broader strategy. It is time for a new urban renaissance. We are ready.
SciTech DiploHub, the Barcelona Science and Technology Diplomacy Hub, is a non-profit, civil initiative by an interdisciplinary, international team of scientists, engineers and foreign affairs professionals committed to making Barcelona the first city in the world to implement a science and technology diplomacy strategy. Our goals are:
1. To consolidate Barcelona as an innovation capital, ready to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through science and technology.
2. To position the city as an influential geopolitical actor through science diplomacy. Becoming a reliable partner thus paving the way for other global cities committed to developing their own science and technology diplomacy strategies.
3. To promote a sound and inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogue to design and deploy Barcelona’s science diplomacy action plan, through partnerships among the scientific community, startups, policymakers, NGOs, the diplomatic corps, the private sector and civil society.
4. To empower a global network of top scientists and technology experts educated in Barcelona to foster international cooperation, showcase our scientific strengths abroad and help us to better understand and interpret key global issues
5. To become a world-class think tank where scientific expertise and innovation can be harnessed in support of an evidence-based local and foreign policy.
We who have signed this manifesto will hold ourselves and each other accountable for putting these ideas into practice with responsibility and integrity. This is our commitment.
Manifesto signatories:
A
Antoni Abad
Chairman of the Catalan employers’ organisation CECOT
Mar Alarcón
CEO at Social Car and Partner and co-founder at 19N Strategies.
Esteve Almirall
Associate Professor at the Department of Operations, Innovation and Data Sciences in ESADE. World Bank consultant, Council member of the European Network of Living Labs and member of the Open Innovation Policy and Strategy Group at the European Commission
Luís Alonso
Tenured Lecturer of the Department of Signal Theory and Communications at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC)-BarcelonaTECH
Oriol Amat
Professor of Financial Economics and Accounting at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and ViceDean of the Catalan Economist Association
Francesc Amat
Research Fellow at the Institutions and Political Economy Research Group (IPErG) at the University of Barcelona (UB) and Junior Leader Fellow by La Caixa Foundation
Xavier Amatriain
Cofounder and CTO at Curai, former Research Director at Netflix and Engineering VP at Quora (Palo Alto, California)
Marta Amengual-Gual
Research Fellow in Neurology (EXT) at the Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School (Boston, USA)
Guillem Anglada
Research Professor in Astrophysics at Queen Mary University (London, UK)
Manuel Armayones
Development Director of the eHealth Center at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC)
Francesc Xavier Avilés
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), and former Director of the Institute for Biotechnology and Biomedicine (IBB)
Marta Aymerich
Vice Rector for Strategic Planning and Research at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and former Research Director of the Catalan Government
B
Xavier Barcons
Director of the European Southern Observatory ESO (Munich, Germany)
Miguel Ángel Barja Yáñez
Director of the Center for Higher Interdisciplinary Education at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (CFIS-UPC)
Germà Bel
Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Barcelona (UB) and Director of the Observatory of Analysis and Evaluation of Public Policies
Ignasi Belda
Entrepreneur in Life Sciences
Joaquim Bellmunt
Director of the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and Director of Research at Parc de Salut Mar (PSMAR). Former Chairman of the Committee of Advanced Bladder Cancer in the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC).
Jaume Bertranpetit
Professor of Biology and group leader in the Evolutionary Biology and Complex Systems Program at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). Promoter of the Institute for Evolutionary Biology (IBE)
Albert Biosca
Head of the Innovation Growth Lab at Nesta (London, UK)
Caterina Biscari
Director of ALBA Synchrotron
Xavier Bofill-De Ros
Research Fellow at the National Cancer Institute NCI (Frederick, USA)
Susana Borras
Professor on Innovation and Governance at Copenhagen Business School (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Pere Botella
Former Dean of the Barcelona School of Informatics (FIB) of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC)-BarcelonaTECH
Ramon Brugada
Director of the Cardiovascular Genetics Center at the Doctor Josep Trueta University Hospital in Girona
Joan Bruna
Researcher in Machine Learning and Assistant Professor in the Departments of Computer Science and Mathematics and the Center for Data Science at the Courant Institute in New York University (New York)
C
Jordi Camí
General Director of the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) and Pasqual Maragall Foundation for Alzheimer’s Research
Josep Maria Campistol
Nephrologist at Hospital Clínic – University of Barcelona (UB)
Enric Canela
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Barcelona (UB)
Cristian Canton
Research Manager at Facebook, Seattle (USA)
Francesc Cardellach
Dean of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
Pere-Joan Cardona
Head of the Experimental Tuberculosis Unit at the Germans Trias i Pujol Institute (IGTP), Scientific Director of the Comparative Medicine and Bioimatge Centre of Catalonia (CMCiB) and CEO/CSO at Manremyc.
Jaume Casals
Rector of the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF)
Xavier Castañer
Full Professor of Strategy at the Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC) of the University of Lausanne (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Núria Castell
Associate Professor and former Dean of the Barcelona School of Informatics (FIB) of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC)-BarcelonaTECH
Juan Ignacio Cirac
Director and Head of the Theory Division at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics. Recipient of the Max Planck Medal of the German Physical Society and the Prince of Asturias Award (Garching, Germany)
Bonaventura Clotet
Director of IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute
Montserrat Cols
Senior Lab Manager at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, USA)
Joan Comella
Director of Vall d’Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR)
Pere Condom
Director of Catalunya Emprèn at the Catalan Government
Pia Cosma
ICREA Research Professor and Group Leader of the Reprogramming and Regeneration Lab at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)
D
Josep Dalmau i Obrador
Research Professor ICREA at Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS)
Raül Delgado
Scientific Manager at Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research (IDIBELL)
Lluc Diaz
Business Incubation and Technology Transfer Officer at the European Space Agency ESA (Noordwijk, Netherlands)
Mara Dierssen
Senior Group Leader at the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and President of the Trisomy 21 Society
Xavier Duran
Scientific journalist at TV3 – Televisió de Catalunya
E
Joan Elías
Rector of the University of Barcelona (UB)
Oriol Estela
Coordinator of the Strategic Metropolitan Plan of Barcelona (PEMB)
F
Jaume Farrés
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Full Professor at Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)
Jaume Franch
Dean of the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC)-BarcelonaTECH
Dani Franco
Director of the School of Engineering of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)
Xavier Freixas
Research Professor of Economics at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and the Barcelona Global School of Economics (BGSE), Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and Chairman of the Risk Based Regulation Program of the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP).
G
Josep M. Ganyet
CEO at Mortensen. Professor of Audiovisual Communication at Pompeu Fabra University Member of the Internet Society (ISOC) and founding member of the Association of Personal-Computer Interaction (AIPO)
Pilar García Lorda
Director of Health Sciences Studies at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC)
Antoni Garrell
General Director of Fundació pel Diseny l’Innovació i la Tecnologia (FUNDIT – ESDi) and Cofounder of Cercle per al Coneixement
Anna Gener
Chairman-CEO at Savills Aguirre Newman and Board member at Barcelona Global, Barcelona Urban Cluster, Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and PIMEC
Joan Gispets
Tenured Lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC)-BarcelonaTECH
Carles Grau
Director of Mobile World Capital Barcelona
Carme Gual
Director of the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD)
Marc Guerrero
Prince Fellow Professor of International Relations at EU Business School
Roderic Guigó
Research Professor ICREA, Senior Group Leader at the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and Associate Professor at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). Catalan National Research Award 2017
Enric Guinovart
CEO at Avatar Cognition
H
Jordi Hereu
President of Idencity and former Mayor of Barcelona (2006-2011)
I
Oriol Illa
Director of International Relations and Cooperation at the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB)
J
Rafel Jordá-Siquier
CEO at Open Cosmos (Harwell, UK)
Jacint Jordana
Director at Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) and Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF)
L
Marta Lacambra
Director of Catalunya – La Pedrera Foundation
Mario Lanza
Research Professor and Group Leader of the Nanotechnology Lab at the Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials of the Soochow University (Suzhou, China)
José Ignacio Latorre
Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Barcelona (UB)
Laura Leal-Taixé
Research Professor of Computer Vision and Deep Learning at the Technical University of Munich (Munich, Germany)
Frederich Llordachs
CEO at Doctoralia
Carolina Llorente
Coordinator of the Studies Center on Science, Communication and Society (SCS-UPF)
Josep Maria Llovet
ICREA Research Professor and Group Leader of Translational Research in Liver Cancer at Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) and Hospital Clínic of Barcelona (Spain). Director of the Liver Cancer Program and Professor of Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York (USA).
Xavier López
Corporate and Operations Managing Director at EURECAT-Technological Center of Catalonia
Guillem López Casanovas
Professor of Economics at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Health and Economics (CRES -UPF) and Expert Adviser for the World Health Organization (WHO)
M
Salvador Macip
Associate Professor and Researcher at the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Leicester (Leicester, UK)
Ana Maiques
CEO at Neuroelectronics and Founding Partner at Starlab (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Rosina Malagrida
Head of the Living Lab for Health at IrsiCaixa
Daniel Marco
Director of SmartCatalonia at the Catalan Government
Jordi Marin
Board member at UPF Ventures
Rafael Marín
Director of the Catalan Foundation For Research And Innovation (FCRI)
Miquel Martí
CEO of Barcelona Tech City
Josep Maria Martorell
Associate Director at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) and former Research Director of the Catalan Government
Andreu Mas-Colell
President of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST). Former Minister of Finance and Minister for Research, Universities and Information Society in the Catalan Government
Lorenzo Melchor
Science advice and science diplomacy practitioner. Former science coordinator at the Spanish Embassy in London. Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT)
Ernest Mendoza
CEO at Astrea Materials
Antoni Millet
Director of CEI International Affairs
Ramon Miquel
Director of the Institute for High Energy Physics of Barcelona (IFAE) and ICREA Research Professor
Oriol Mitjà
Researcher and consultant physician in Infectous Diseases at the Lihir Medical Centre in Papua New Guinea and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). Technical advisor for the World Health Organization. Prince of Girona Foundation Award 2013 (Londolovit, Papua New Guinea)
Miquel Molins
President of Banc Sabadell Foundation
N
Elisabeth de Nadal
Co-Founder and Manager of the Barcelona International Public Policy Hub (BIPP HUB)
Jordi Naval
CEO at Biocat
Arcadi Navarro
ICREA Research Professor, Group Leader of the Evolutionary Genomics Lab at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and former Secretary of Universities and Research in the Catalan Government
O
Daniel Oliver
CEO at Capital Cell
Bernat Ollé
CEO at Vedanta Biosciences (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Anna Omedes
Director of the Natural Science Museum of Barcelona (NAT)
P
Miquel de Paladella
Cofounder and CEO of UpSocialBCN
Olga Pané
Manager of the Barcelona MAR Health Park Consortium
Oriol Pascual
Director of IQS Tech Factory
Alicia Pérez-Porro
Research Associate at the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution), Chair of the Commission for Women in STEM at the Chapter of Spanish Scientists in the USA (ECUSA) and 2018 Women InPower fellow (Washington DC)
Miquel A. Pericàs
Director of the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ)
Josep Miquel Piqué
President of the Network of Science and Technology Parks of Catalonia (XPCAT), Executive president of La Salle Technova Barcelona and former President of the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP)
Antoni Plasència
Director of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)
Emilià Pola
Executive Director of the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA)
Xavier Pont
Founder and General Manager of Ship2B
Xavier Prats
Special Advisor of Teach For All and Former General Director for Health and Food Safety at the European Commission (Brussels, Belgium)
Marco Pugliese
Director of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Health
Miquel Puig
Economist and Managing Director of the Catalan Universities Shared Services Consortium (CSUC)
Jesus Purroy
CEO at Ávida Biotech
Q
Arnau Queralt
Director of the Advisory Council for the Sustainable Development of Catalonia (CADS) and Chairman of the European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils Network (EEAC)
Xavier Querol
Research Professor at the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDÆA)-CSIC) and Scientific Coordinator of the Natural Resources Research Centres at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Romain Quidant
ICREA Research Professor and Group Leader of the Plasmon NanoOptics Lab at the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO). Catalan National Research Award for Young Talent 2014
Octavi Quintana
Director of the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) Foundation and former Director of the European Research Area at the European Commission
R
Marc Ramis
CEO at Senolytic Therapeutics
Ángel Raya
Director at Center of Regenerative Medicin of Barcelona (CMRB)
Martí Renom
ICREA Research Professor and Group Leader of the Structural Genomics Lab at the Spanish National Genome Analysis Center (CNAG-CRG)
Gema Revuelta
Director of the Studies Center on Science, Communication and Society (SCS-UPF)
Ignasi Ribas
Director of the Institute of Space Sciences of Catalonia (IEEC-CSIC) and the Monstec Astronomical Observatory. Scientific Researcher at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
José Luís Riechmann
Director of the Institute of Space Sciences of Catalonia (IEEC-CSIC) and the Monstec Astronomical Observatory. Scientific Researcher at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Anna Ripoll
President of the Bioinformatics Barcelona Association (BIB) and former rector of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)
Genís Roca
CEO at RocaSalvatella and member of the Advisory Boards on Information and Communication Technologies at the Catalan Government and the Barcelona City Council
Joan Roca
Emeritus Dean of the Library Services at Minnesota State University (Mankato, Minnesota)
Xavier Roca
Director of the Terrassa School of Industrial, Aerospace and Audiovisual Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (ESEIAAT-UPC)
Inma Rodríguez
Director of the Barcelona School of Building Construction at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (EPSEB-UPC)
Joan Romero
CEO of ACCIÓ – Catalonia Trade and Investment at the Catalan Government
Xavier Ros-Oton
Researcher in Elliptic and Parabolic Partial Differential Equations at the Institute for Mathematics at the University of Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland)
Meri Rosich
CDO and VP/Head of Data Science at VISA Asia Pacific (Singapore)
S
Oscar Sala
President of the Quantum World Association
Josep Samitier
Director of the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC)
Marta Sanz-Solé
Professor at the Department of Mathematics and Informatics at the University of Barcelona (UB) and Director of the Barcelona Graduate School of Mathematics (BGSMath)
Narcís Serra
Chairman of the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI), former Mayor of Barcelona (1979-1982) and former Vice President of the Spanish Government (1991-1995)
Luís Serrano
Director of the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), ICREA Research Professor, Chair of the Severo Ochoa Centres and María de Maeztu Units of Excellence Alliance (SOMMa) and member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
Anna Simó
Former Minister of Social Welfare and Family Affairs of the Catalan Government, former First Secretary of the Catalan Parliament and former Spokeswoman for the Education Commission
Ricard Solé
ICREA Research Professor and Group Leader of the Complex Systems Lab at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF)
Francesc Solé
Scientific Director of the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (IJC) Campus ICO-GTIP
Laura Soucek
CEO at Peptomyc
Francesc Subirada
Director of the UPF initiative Ciutadella del Coneixement and former Research Director of the Catalan Government
T
Josep Tabernero
Director of Vall d´Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO)
Teresa Tarragó
CEO at Iproteos
Maria Terradas
Director of the Barcelona Science Park (PCB)
Xavier Testar
Vicedirector of the Barcelona Entrepreneurship Institute (BIE) and Professor in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Barcelona (UB)
Xavier Tiana
General Secretary of Medcities
Raül Toran
President of the Catalan Association of Science Communication (ACCC) and Head of Science Outreach at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)
Lluís Torner
Director of The Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO). Catalan National Research Award 2016
Francesc Torres
Rector of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC)-BarcelonaTECH
Antoni Torres
Research Professor at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, University of Barcelona and Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS)
Xavier Trias
Former Mayor of Barcelona (2011-2015) and former Minister of Health from the Catalan Government (1988-1996)
Jordi Tura
CEO and Co-founder of XKELET
V
Anna Veiga
Director of R&D at the Biology Area of the Reproductive Medicine Service of Dexeus Dona, Director of the Stem Cell Bank at Barcelona at the Centro de Medicina Regenerativa de Barcelona (CMR[B]) and Associate Professor at the School of Health and Life Sciences at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF).
Montserrat Vendrell
Partner at Alta Life Sciences, former CEO at the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) and Biocat and former General Director at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB)
Cristina Ventura
Chief Catalyst Officer at The Lane Crawford Joyce Group. Former Apple Asia, Prada IPO Asia, Gucci Europe & Middle East and LVMH Europe & Asia Angel investor. (Hong Kong SAR)
Guifré Vidal
Research Professor at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada (Ontario, Canada)
Miquel Vila-Perelló
CEO at Proteodesign
Josep Maria Vilalta
Executive Secretary of the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP) and Executive Director at the Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi)
Oriol Vinyals
Research Scientist at Google DeepMind (London, UK)
* All the supports to the Manifesto are on an individual basis and do not necessarily represent the views of the signatories’ current and former employers.
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