Chega CILAC 2016, one of the largest regional activities in science, technology and innovation in recent times. From September 7 to 9, the Uruguayan capital receives the facilities of the Uruguayan Technological Laboratory, and also in various places in the city, with the participation of approximately 200 exhibitors, from 20 countries around the world, resulting in more than 100 simultaneous activities.
Ministers and international authorities, scientists, entrepreneurs, business leaders, universities, artists and scientific dissemination centers from all over the region will be protagonists of CILAC. For Lidia Brito, Director of UNESCO's Regional Science Office, CILAC is “an opportunity, an exceptional platform for dialogue that will reinforce in our region the importance of the power of science, technology and innovation for the transformation of Latin America and the Caribbean.”
The President of the Republic of Uruguay, Tabaré Vázquez, gave the opening speech of the event, for which the participation of ministers and authorities of science, technology and innovation from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, has not yet been confirmed. El Salvador, Spain, Guiana, Paraguai, Portugal, and Uruguay. International organizations are also integrated into activities such as OAS, UNASUR, SEGIB, OEI, IDB, CAF and ECLAC.
The results obtained during the days of the event will be important elements for the debates on the development of public policies of science, technology and innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean. Likewise, they will be regional inputs for the next World Science Forum: “Science for Peace”, which will take place in Jordan, in 2017.
Simultaneously, CILAC occupies different points of public space in the Uruguayan capital with the intention of generating a synergy between science and innovation with aspects
diverse everyday life: art, music, entertainment and others. The purpose is to transcend the limits of political and scientific practice to find science in the most unexpected places. The city's programming begins on September 7.
Among the participants is the winner of one of the two main UNESCO awards for the Popularization of Science (Kalinga Prize, 2015) Diego Golombek, Argentine biologist, communicator and scientific disseminator. Also on the list is Bardo Científico, a group of Uruguayan stand-up comedians, presenting the show “Feminiciencias: women e ciências” and D+ Chemistry, a program of activities developed at the Centro de Educação Flexível of the Faculty of Chemistry, of the University of the Republic, aimed at children and adolescents . And outstanding creatives and involved with scientific innovations of the Poper Científico Stand Up initiative of Argentina.
The objective is to connect, dialogue, debate, combine interests to achieve the creation of a common regional path for science and innovation. The enormous challenges of our time, marked by Development Agenda 2030, demands interdisciplinary and multisectoral collaboration of every society in Latin America and the Caribbean. The public involvement, in search of the discovery of new knowledge is essential for sustainable development, SEJA PARTE.