A quantum leap to

sustainable development and competitive growth

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Renato Toffanin

Advanced Research Centre for Health, Environment and Space (Italy) SAGCEE-13, 9-11 December 2013, Salem, India

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green computing

carbon foot printing

Sustainable approaches for green computing,

economy and environment (SAGCE-13)

e-waste

clean technologies

ecosystems

e-healthcare

renewable energy

eco-informatics

product design and innovation

corporate governance

benchmarking

smart power grids

green market dynamics

green data centers

environmental legislation

climate change

environment and social policies

…

…

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Green economy

The concept of a green economy has become very popular in sustainability discourses, particularly in light of the United Nations

Conference on Sustainable Development held in June 2012

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There are several definitions of green economy. However, in its simplest

expression, a green economy is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive.

Green economy

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Different strategies are currently used worldwide to achieve these goals. For example, Europe 2020 is the growth strategy of the European Union (EU)

for this decade.

Green economy

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In a rapidly changing world, the EU intends to become a smart, sustainable and

inclusive economy.

Europe 2020 strategy

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Smart through more effective investments in education, research and innovation. Sustainable thanks to a decisive move towards a low-carbon economy. Inclusive with a strong emphasis on job creation and poverty reduction.

Europe 2020 strategy

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In times of severe economic crisis, the European Union has set five ambitious objectives on employment, innovation,

education, social inclusion and climate/energy to be reached by 2020.

Europe 2020 strategy

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Horizon 2020 is the financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union, a

Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe's global competitiveness.

Running from 2014 to 2020 with a budget of just over €70 billion, the EU’s new

programme for research and innovation is part of the drive to create new growth and

jobs in Europe.

Horizon 2020

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Research and innovation together with education represent the key drivers of a knowledge-based society and they are

commonly referred to as the “knowledge triangle”.

Knowledge-based society

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Knowledge-based society

This new type of society is nowadays needed to compete and succeed in the changing economic and political dynamics of the

modern world.

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Knowledge-based society

To meet the challenges outlined above, a number of policy options are suggested across the multi-faceted scenarios of the knowledge

triangle.

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Knowledge-driven global economy

Among those policies, higher education policy is increasingly important on national agendas.

The widespread recognition that higher education is a major driver of economic

competitiveness in a knowledge-driven global economy has made high quality higher

education more important than ever before.

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Quality in higher education

Clearly, the rapidly expanding demand for higher education constitutes a big challenge

for the quality of the higher education system in developing and emerging countries.

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Equity in higher education

Moreover, issues of equity in higher education in many countries need to become more prominent in national debates and policy

making. In particular, the question of differences in participation rates among

groups of students - by gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status –, should receive more

policy attention.

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A quantum leap to sustainable development

Making the quantum leap to a sustainable development paradigm will depend heavily on high quality higher education, especially if we

facilitate the access to higher education for disadvantaged groups.

Contacts

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toffanin@arches-centroricerca.org

www.arches-centroricerca.org