Cajasiete and the University of La Laguna strengthen their relationship and highlight the importance of the social economy

The management team of Cajasiete This week, he met with the Rector of the University of La Laguna, Francisco García, who was accompanied by several members of his governing board. The meeting served to share lines of work and explore broader avenues for collaboration. The importance of the cooperative sector, which needs greater recognition and support, was also emphasized.

The rector emphasized the importance of this strategic relationship for the university, which is very likely to develop with full understanding, given that these are entities that have been collaborating for a long time and are united by their interest in the social progress of the islands.

In addition to the collaboration agreement itself, which outlines preferential access to certain products offered by the cooperative for the university community, Cajasiete has supported the university in other areas, such as enhancing employability through its internship program, promoting academic excellence through the Outstanding Admission initiative, and other significant institutional matters like supporting university chairs. In fact, it funds the institutional chairs of Social and Cooperative Economy and of Big Data, Open Data and Blockchain, These two initiatives, which have a long history at the educational institution, have yielded excellent results in research and knowledge transfer to society. Given the positive results achieved and the strong institutional understanding, this collaboration will be strengthened this year through an agreement that is being finalized for signing in the near future.

The president of Cajasiete, Fernando Berge, emphasized the social character of the organization he leads and its status as a cooperative, which does not distribute dividends. He also noted that it is an entirely Canarian organization, which represents a clear competitive advantage, as was pointed out at the meeting. He further indicated their commitment to increased training support in the field of social economy, an area in which the University of La Laguna could be a strategic partner. This partnership would strengthen some of the existing lines of action, such as specialized courses, which could even meet the needs of the organization's employees, facilitating their professional development.

The university, the rector noted, is preparing to strengthen its specialized training offerings in various fields for the productive sector through, for example, the provision of micro-credentials, and he suggested that cooperatives and the social and solidarity economy could be among them. These are, Francisco García opined, areas of activity of paramount importance, especially at a time of great socioeconomic uncertainty, and particularly in a region like the Canary Islands, with its significant social inequalities.