The Government of the Province of Santa Fe presented this Tuesday the Science Week, which will take place from 19 to 31 October in different parts of the province. This event, which aims to bring scientific and technological knowledge closer to society, will include fairs, exhibitions, forums, open days and multiple activities for children, teenagers and the public.
Regarding the objective of the event, which is to promote scientific vocations and encourage creativity and innovation, the Minister of Productive Development, Gustavo Puccini, pointed out that ‘for us science is a strategic ally of the productive world, we have considered it so since we arrived’, and said that ‘it is a state policy of the province, because for more than a decade science has been linked to the development of Santa Fe, through what was initially the creation of the Secretariat itself and the Agency for Science and Technology and Innovation, convinced of this path that has allowed us to position ourselves nationally and internationally.
‘With Science Week we want to strengthen ourselves, to make all this visible, that all the activities in the territory can be shown, and to confirm what our governor Maximiliano Pullaro asks of us, that science should be at the side of productive and social development’, said Puccini.
In addition, the minister stressed that ‘we do this with those who have to do it, with the universities and with the entire innovation platform that we have in the territory. Today, in many industrial parks, there are research centres, innovation platforms, many start-ups at the service of production, and that is what we have to work on.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Culture, Susana Rueda, said: ‘We are going to support the promotion of creativity and scientific and technological vocation in adolescents and children. We are going to have a large number of devices at our disposal, crossing languages between science, technology, production and culture to awaken these vocations’.
Strengthening Science and Technology
For his part, the rector of the UNL, Enrique Mammarella, said that ‘showing the science that is produced in Santa Fe, being able to reach the most incipient stages, young people, children, allows us to show that science is also part of everyday life, of what we do, what we need and that it is what we need to continue growing, to continue developing our province and our country’.
Elena Gasparri, secretary of the Science and Technology Area of the UNR, pointed out that ‘the idea is to put scientific production in dialogue with social problems. Therefore, the public communication of science in a context as particular as that of science and education in Argentina constitutes its most political role, which is not only to legitimise what the University produces, but also to transform our way of producing from this dialogue with what society needs’.
Carlos Piña, director of Conicet in Santa Fe, said that ‘together with the universities, we have 90 events of different science and technology activities that we want to communicate, of which 60 will be here in the city of Santa Fe, in La Redonda, where they will be held on the 24th and 25th with schools, and on the 26th for the public. The idea is to show their impact on society.
Finally, Jorge Vega, Secretary of Science UTN Regional Santa Fe, said that ‘it is a crucial moment for science and technology in the country and also, of course, for university activity in general terms, so I think we have to be very united, work together and do all the actions that can lead to strengthening university activities in science and technology’.
The presentation took place in the Yellow Room of the Ministry of Productive Development in the provincial capital and was also attended by various authorities from public universities (UNL, UNR, UNRAF and UTN) and Conicet research centres.
