This morning, Rosa Balas, Director General for External Action and President of the Executive Commission of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation, presented the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation in Mérida, which results from the merger of the European Academy of Yuste Foundation and the Extremadura Centre for Studies and Cooperation with Ibero-America (CEXECI). In this presentation, she was accompanied by Juan Carlos Moreno, Director of the new foundation, and César Chaparro, Academic Director of the foundation.
Balas stated that this merger responds, on the one hand, to fulfilling the commitment to restructure foundations and public entities, and on the other, that this new foundation is the result of a vision and a new way of working on Extremadura’s external action, going from the vertical to the horizontal and the transversal.
The President of the Executive Commission of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation pointed out that the foundation, having a European and Ibero-American scope, “represents a vast potential for Extremadura that we must take advantage of”. In addition, the Ibero-American sentiment “allows us to face common challenges on both sides of the Atlantic, such as migration, adaptation to the digital society, to face the challenge of the Sustainable Development Goals or quality employment, always “with a very clear vision of mutual benefits, promoting actions to learn, show and share, an essential balance in the international relations of the External Action developed by the Board”.
In this same line, Balas stated that the new Foundation will allow us to delve into issues such as the field of security and defence, the essential role played by women in peace processes, and the integration between Europe and Ibero-America. She also commented on the cultural aspect, highly valuing the Spanish language in the Ibero-American community spoken by over 500 million people, “a potential that contributes to the value” she stressed. She added that the Ibero-American part outstandingly developed by CEXECI will continue having a strong presence in the new foundation.
Furthermore, the head of External Action detailed that the Carlos V European Award, which is the Foundation’s activity with most influence, will continue being of a European nature, and reminded us that it will be delivered annually every 9th of May, at the Royal Monastery of Yuste, under the presidency of His Majesty the King.
Balas stated that this new foundation “is one of Extremadura’s most valuable instruments for external visibility”, and she also pointed out that one of the main objectives is that it be better known in our region, “so that they feel that the foundation is theirs”. This objective includes the will to involve schools, seeking the involvement of students and families, to transmit to them the “double European and Ibero-American component of the people of Extremadura”.
Meanwhile, Juan Carlos Moreno, Director of the European and Ibero-American Academy Foundation of Yuste, assured that the sum of both the Yuste Foundation and the CEXECI will give more relevance to the new foundation by combining Europe and Ibero-America. In addition, he detailed the pillars of the new foundation’s programme, which include the Carlos V European Award; the Yuste Campus training programme; research scholarships for doctoral students, analysis and reflection on social issues or alliances with educational centres in Extremadura, “since we need to have a pool of subjects to spread the values of respect, tolerance, diversity, freedom and democracy”.
On the other hand, César Chaparro, Academic Director of the European and Ibero-American Academy Foundation of Yuste, stated that the merger has renewed the ideas, proposals and illusions that were established in 1992 when the Yuste Foundation and CEXECI were created, and now “inertias have become synergies”.
European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste
Chaparro has made a stop at the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste, a meeting place where intellectuals, artists, scientists and politicians met to exchange opinions and make them public. He now wishes to bolster and empower it to be a forum where scholars meet with doctoral students of the Alumni Network and with students of the Yuste Campus, because “we must highlight new researchers, as our future lays in turning a spotlight on Europe and Ibero-America for young people”.
In this section, Rosa Balas asserted that the goal is to reactivate the Academy “to be European and Ibero-American, and to work on making it intergenerational, seeking gender parity”. In addition, she anticipated that the next appointment, which will take place in 2018, will be Ibero-American, so that there is a territorial balance between Europe and Ibero-America.
About the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation
The European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation was incepted as a public entity, under the Presidency of the Regional Government of Extremadura, a non-profit, cultural, scientific, research and disseminating organisation that aims to contribute to bolstering and consolidating the promotion of democracy, respect for human rights, promotion of peace and international harmony. The foundation has its main headquarters in the Royal Monastery of Yuste and offices in Mérida and Brussels.
The merger of the European Academy of Yuste Foundation and the Extremadura Centre for Studies and Cooperation with Ibero-America (CEXECI) began in December 2016, following the agreement of the Governing Council of the Regional Government of Extremadura and the approval by the board of trustees of both foundations, and aimed at taking advantage of the common work and integration of the heritage and resources of both institutions. The union between the European scope of the European Academy of Yuste Foundation and the Ibero-American scope of CEXECI gives rise to a new entity that is extraordinarily powerful and strengthened, which will operate as a transfer and gearing vehicle between Europe, Extremadura and Ibero-America, aimed at creating new bridges of union between their territories, spaces and cultures.
