The conclusions of the On Social PARCTEC project will be a reference for the implementation of the entrepreneurial program in the social and technological field.

Today the closing day of the project took place “On Social PARCTEC: Innovation and social entrepreneurship as a challenge for science-technology parks.” A project co-financed by the Diputación de Castellón and General Foundation of the Jaume I University which aims to promote innovation and social entrepreneurship in the province of Castellón. This fourth and final session has served to learn about the main conclusions drawn from the set of sessions held since June, where it should be noted that not considering the social variable in any innovative or entrepreneurial project is a loss of opportunity.

The day has been inaugurated by david cabedo, academic director of Espaitec, and Salvador Aguillella, deputy for economic promotion, collection and finance of the Castellón Provincial Council. During his speech, Cabedo highlighted that this project is closely linked to the third mission of the university. On Social PARCTEC aims to help us identify social challenges to which the university can respond, thus transferring the knowledge generated at the Universitat Jaume I to the solution of problems in Castellón society. In addition, the conclusions of the project will be of great help to start “Entrepreneurial program in the social and technological field” that the UJI will launch among its students in the month of October.

For his part, Aguilella has highlighted the commitment of the Castellón Provincial Council to follow European, national and regional guidelines to promote innovation and social entrepreneurship in the province of Castellón. Projects such as On Social PARCTEC are pioneers at the national level and represent a great opportunity for the province with a double aspect. On the one hand, generate new job and economic opportunities in Castellón, and on the other, improve the quality of life of society through business projects that generate local social benefit.

During today's session, they presented three new projects in social innovation. Julia Salom has presented the initiative City of Valencia Chair developed jointly by the University of Valencia and the Valencia City Council to promote social innovation. Imanol Gorriaran has explained the success of the project koopera, an initiative in which social initiative cooperatives and insertion companies promoted by Cáritas participate. Finally, Isabel Baixauli has presented Zero Harassment, a project to prevent bullying that was selected for the program BBVA Momentum 2017, an initiative that aims to support the expansion process of scalable social companies, which combine a high social impact with sustainable business models.

Conclusions and action plans

Juan Antonio Bertolin, management director of Espaitec, was in charge of closing the day and presenting the main conclusions drawn during the project. In his speech he stated that science and technology parks are very far from having mechanisms to support and help groups that are committed to innovation and social entrepreneurship. Bertolín has highlighted that the European Commission is developing a series of measures to include society in the solution of social projects. For this reason, not considering the social variable in any innovative or entrepreneurial project is a loss of opportunity.

In this line, innovation and social entrepreneurship represent an opportunity for science and technology parks to open new strategic lines based on promoting this type of projects with triple impact: social, economic and environmental. Espaitec has detected the opportunity and, taking into account the trends marked in Europe, it is positioning itself along these lines to become a national reference. “With the launch of the social and technological entrepreneurial itinerary, the Universitat Jaume I will be the first nationally to have a social strategy. While the rest of the parks are currently only betting on economic impact, Espaitec is also betting on a social impact that returns the investment made to society,” says Juan Antonio Bertolín.

Further information:  https://espaitec.uji.es/proyecto/on-social-partec/