Two Spanish delegations made up of three senior officials from the city of Almería and four directors of FUNDECYT-PCTEX from the region of Extremadura carried out their study visits to the city and region of Piura, within the framework of the International Program for Urban Cooperation and Regional in Latin America (IURC-LA), financed by the European Union.
The Almería delegation visit took place between May 16 – 20, while the Extremadura delegation took place between May 16 – 19.
These study visits were accompanied by Mr. Víctor Velarde, Projects Officer with the Delegation of the European Union in Peru, and Javier Sánchez Checa, Director of the Decentralized Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the city of Piura.
The Mayor of the Municipality of Piura, Juan José Díaz Dios, and the General Manager Mario Otiniano, received the Spanish delegations, the representative of the Delegation of the European Union in Peru and the representatives of the IURC program at the headquarters of the Regional Government in Piura. Mayor Díaz Dios highlighted the importance of international cooperation and the support of the European Union. For his part, Velarde stressed that cooperation should not end in the exchange of experiences after the completion of the program, but that the cities and regions should use this opportunity to take advantage of the range of support instruments that the European Union has available for future cooperation and development interventions.
In the last six months of virtual technical sessions, the cities of Almería and Piura have shared lessons learned related to the development of sustainable agriculture and the promotion of sustainable urban food systems. Likewise, and within the theme of Urban and Regional Renewal and Cohesion of the program, the cities focused on intelligent land use planning and regeneration of the historic center of Piura.
Meanwhile, the regions of Extremadura and Piura held work sessions in which they exchanged experiences related to the definition and management of a governance model in a regional science, technology, and innovation (STI) ecosystem, and the formation of a park or network of science and technology parks for the Peruvian region. They have also worked on identifying ways of collaboration for the exchange of talent between the Jesús Usón Minimally Invasive Surgery Center (CCMIJU) in Extremadura and the Center for Studies for the Prevention and Correction of Abdominal Diseases (CEPCEA) in Piura.
The IURC program constitutes the second phase of the International Urban Cooperation program (IUC, 2016-2020) and aims to lead and develop a decentralized form of international urban and regional cooperation in the fields of sustainable urban development and regional innovation. The program supports pairings between cities and regions of the European Union with their counterparts in six Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. In total, the network of cities and regions of IURC Latin America is made up of 24 cities and 20 regions.
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