Faculty from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), Antonio Miguel Nogués and Irene Belmonte, have signed a framework agreement with the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar (UASB), Sede Ecuador. This agreement will enable mobility of students of master’s and PhD programs, in addition to faculty, from both universities. Furthermore, this agreement will also help facilitate the continuity and development of future cooperation and research projects in Ecuador. Attendees at the signing ceremony included the UASB rector, César Montaño, the director of the Service of Internationalization at the Ecuadorian university, Richard Salazar, and investigator at Culturdes-UMH, Cristina Soler.

The relationship with the UASB began with past work carried out by investigators from both academic institutions. Currently, investigators from the UMH Department of Social and Human Sciences, Antonio Miguel Nogués and Irene Belmonte, are involved in the international university cooperation project for achieving the goals of sustainable development, The Role of Governance in the Sustainable Development Goals. This project is advancing along with UASB investigators with the objective of strengthening and coordinating mechanisms for effective application of the dimension of governance in the cycles of cooperation projects for the implementation of the Agenda 2030, the plan of action adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

This project is part of actions financed by the 2017 University Development Cooperation project that the UMH has undertaken along with the Generalitat Valenciana.