In the exercise of the powers granted by the European Commission to the Agencia Ejecutiva de Educación, Audiovisual y Cultura (EACAE), though the program “Erasmus +: Higher Education – International Capacity Building”, the “GRANT AGREEMENT FOR AN ACTION WITH MULTIPLE BENEFICIARIES” was completed with the Universidad de Caldas, under project number: 610032-EPP-1-2019-1-CO-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP (2009 – 2006 / 001-001). The project’s goal was: to strengthen applied research and innovation capacities in Latin America through co-creation laboratories for mitigation and adaptation to climate change – ClimateLabs. The project began its activities on Jan 15, 2020 and will remain in force until Jan 14, 2023.
ClimateLabs seeks to strengthen the applied research and innovation capacities of ten universities in Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, by structuring and implementing social innovation labs to mitigate and adapt to climate change. In a network involving from universities from Spain, France and Italy, as well as Ashoka as a non-academic specialist partner, the project aims to build interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder laboratories that will institutionalize applied research and innovation to climate change in the territories of partner institutions.
Over a three-year period, the project will form team leaders in climate change, who will design and implement laboratories according to the needs, strengths, challenges and characteristics of the institutions and countries of which they are a part. During this period, each university will implement a pilot project, build physical and virtual infrastructure essential to the laboratory’s operation and develop strategies to ensure the sustainability and scalability of the project.