AGBAR CHAIR OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN INSTITUTIONAL COMMUNICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

This Chair was born from UPF-BSM and the Agbar Group working together to promote the study and knowledge about the future of the 2030 Agenda and the field of sustainability. The aim is to promote research and dissemination of the study of institutional communication for sustainable development and growth integrated into the implementation of the objectives of the 2030 Agenda. To this end, the Chair seeks to address the different challenges of the 2030 Agenda, offering an interdisciplinary vision based on the intersection of different areas of research and knowledge, while seeking to provide useful knowledge for the academic and private world. 

• The Chair seeks to bring the university community and the Catalan population closer to the main debates and challenges surrounding the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Promote the study of the paradigms of sustainable growth and development through the analysis of the field of institutional communication and its relationship with other disciplines.
• Promote high-impact applied research, developing possible indicators for the evaluation of policies and international experiences in the world of institutional communication and its intersection with other related fields. To do it, the Chair will seek to expand knowledge of the 2030 Agenda, emphasizing the following specific thematic areas:
  • Institutional and political communication.
  • Country brand and international political/economic effects of the 2030 Agenda.
  • Finance, international markets, and their influence on new economic policies and economic development paradigms.
• Conducting knowledge dissemination and transfer activities related to the 2030 Agenda and sustainable growth, through the organization of both academic activities and the dissemination of knowledge derived from the Chair's scientific production. 

• Rules for participation in the Award for Best TFM in the field of Sustainable Development
  Participation in the 3rd Award for Best Master's Final Project in the field of Sustainable Development is open, and the competition rules are available on our Awards page.
• Director of the Agbar Chair Recognized at the 2024 Acknowledgement Day (Spanish publication)
  [12/12/2024]
  The Knowledge Transfer Award, which acknowledges the activities carried out by faculty members in the field of knowledge transfer, was presented to Professor Toni Aira, Director of the Agbar Chair of International Studies in Institutional Communication for Development and Sustainable Growth.
• The Agbar Chair presents the 2nd Prize for the best Master’s Thesis in the field of Sustainable Development
  [14/10/2024]
  Dr. Toni Aira presented the 2nd Prize for the best Master’s Thesis (TFM) in the field of Sustainable Development. The winner was Marcel Torra, who presented his TFM during the 2023-24 course of the Master’s in political and Institutional Communication at UPF-BSM.
• The director of the Agbar Chair co-organizes and participates in a NATO-supported conference on disinformation
  [01/07/2024]
  With the support of the NATO, the UPF-BSM organized its 1st conference on disinformation in minority languages, led by Professor Rodrigo Cetina, Associate Dean of Education and Academic Affairs, in partnership with Professor Toni Aira, director of the Agbar Chair of International Studies in Institutional Communication for Development and Sustainable Growth.
• Toni Aira takes part in the 3rd Agenda 2030 Conference
  [21/12/23]
  Toni Aira shares his insights on the current state of sustainable development, both in the city of Barcelona and worldwide.
• The Agbar Chair presents the Award for the Best Master’s Thesis in the Field of Sustainable Development
  [18/12/23]
  Toni Aira presented the first ever Award for the Best Master’s Thesis in the field of Sustainable Development. The objective of these awards is to encourage applied research that directly or indirectly addresses the issue of sustainability and/or sustainable development.
• The Agbar Chair launches the first podcast series "Horizonte ODS: más allá de un compromiso". [22/02/2023]
  Toni Aira, director of the Agbar Chair, will meet with important social and business actors to analyze their commitment to the ODS set in the Agenda 2030.
• The AGBAR UPF-BSM Chair is going to participate in the next International Conference Disrupting Thinking Research Event, hosted by the UPF BSM on October 5-7, 2022
  AGBAR Chair researchers participate in the organizing committee of the International Conference Disrupting Thinking Research Dublin Technology Event this year entitled "Geo-economics and Geopolitics of Sustainability: A Multidimensional Approach".
• AGBAR UPF-BSM Chair participates in the International Conference Disrupting Thinking Research Event [06/12/2021]
  AGBAR UPF-BSM researchers participate in the organizing committee of the International Conference on Disrupting Thinking  Research Event at the Technological Univesity Dublin devoted to the study of Covid-19 Global Challenge.
• Award for the best Master’s Final Project in the field of Sustainable Development
  [01/12/2022]
  The Agbar Chair at UPF-BSM announces the Award for the best Final Master's Project that addresses the topic of Sustainable Development.
• UPF-BSM and Agbar create a chair on institutional communication and sustainable development [28/06/2021]
  The Agbar Chair in Institutional Communication for Sustainable Development Goals was created with the aim of promoting study and knowledge about the future of the 2030 Agenda.

• D. Rajmil, L. Morales, T. Aira (2024) "Trump's COVID-19 entangled vaccine race". Cogent Social Sciences.
• J. Coetzer, R. Kuehr, A. Severino, (2022) "The need for a new social contract in higher education to deliver on the promise of the sustainable development goals". Vídeo debat Barcelona UPF-BSM DiT 2022.
• L. Morales, D. Rajmil, JH. Coetzer (2021) “The United States of America and its "Lost American Dream" - Economic Development without Immigration and a Weakening Educational”, World Humanitarian Forum Magazine.
• D. Rajmil, L. Morales, B. Andreosso-O'Callaghan (2020) “China's Ecological Civilization: Geopolitical and Geo-economic Insights”, Sustainable Development and Energy Transition in Europe and Asia, 45-64
• D. Rajmil, L. Morales, T. Aira, M. Cardona (2021) "Afghanistan: a multidimensional crisis". Peace Review, 2022. 

Master in political and institutional communication
Learn how to design effective political communication campaigns and political and corporate speeches, and how to manage their communicative impact through online and offline channels.

Postgraduate Course in Executive Development in Sustainable Business
Upskill to become the leader of the Green Transition of your organization. Create value as a manager in one of the central axes of the business strategy: Sustainability.

Contact us if you need more information or if you want to be updated about work and latest news of the Chair.

Toni Aira
Chair Director
catedra.comsostenibilitat@bsm.upf.edu