{"id":5794,"date":"2026-04-24T11:33:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T09:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/2026\/04\/24\/ull-celebra-demoday-rurallab\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T11:09:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T10:09:48","slug":"ull-celebra-demoday-rurallab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/2026\/04\/24\/ull-celebra-demoday-rurallab\/","title":{"rendered":"The University of La Laguna (ULL) celebrates the RuralLab Canarias DemoDay to promote innovation in rural areas"},"content":{"rendered":"

The University of La Laguna held yesterday, Thursday, April 23, the DemoDay of RuralLab Canarias, a closing day and presentation of results of this innovation laboratory designed to respond to the challenges of the primary sector in the archipelago.<\/p>\n

The initiative, which combines training, fieldwork, and collaboration with local stakeholders, aims to connect university talent with the real needs of rural areas and foster sustainable and innovative solutions. The program is part of the project \u201cUniversity of La Laguna\u2019s Commitment to the Canary Islands Agenda 2030 (2025-2026),\u201d promoted by the Government of the Canary Islands.<\/p>\n

The opening of the event included the participation of Marta Dom\u00ednguez, Vice-Rector for Infrastructure and Sustainability of the University of La Laguna; Eduardo Garc\u00eda, Deputy Minister of the Primary Sector of the Government of the Canary Islands; and Julio Brito, Managing Director of the General Foundation of the University of La Laguna.<\/p>\n

Dom\u00ednguez emphasized the university's commitment to the 2030 Agenda through projects such as RuralLab, highlighting "the value of shared knowledge between teachers, students and society.".<\/p>\n

The deputy minister thanked the students for their involvement in finding solutions for a sector facing continuous challenges and highlighted the institution's role as a bridge between research and the agricultural sector, emphasizing "innovation as a key tool to address current problems and promote life opportunities in rural areas with low population density.".<\/p>\n

For his part, Brito emphasized the project's methodology, "centered on the active participation of those who understand the realities of the sector," since solutions must be developed collaboratively. He also mentioned the importance of rural areas in the Canary Islands as the foundation of their identity, culture, landscape, and economy.<\/p>\n

Following the intervention of the authorities, Jos\u00e9 Francisco G\u00f3mez, one of the principal investigators of RuralLab, explained the origin and methodology of the project, structured in four phases within a university extension course with academic recognition. The work was carried out in collaboration with the La Frontera Agricultural Cooperative (El Hierro), the El Jable Agricultural Transformation Society (Lanzarote), and the Tenerife Rural Action Group.<\/p>\n

Next, the participating teams presented the challenges addressed and the solutions designed: \u201cBatatApp\u201d, an application for the real-time control of sweet potato cultivation in Lanzarote; the \u201cTropical Talent\u201d campaign, aimed at recruitment and training related to pineapple cultivation in El Hierro; and various proposals for the revaluation of M\u00e1sidra, cider from El Sauzal, which include farm experiences, digital tools, innovative packaging and loyalty strategies.<\/p>\n

The day continued with a round table discussion where institutional representatives and students reflected on the future of the agricultural sector. During the debate, issues such as the need to provide accessible technological tools for farmers, the increased value of local products, improved marketing, and the role of innovation in the sector's sustainability were addressed. The importance of the primary sector as a means of tackling social challenges such as rural depopulation and access to housing was also highlighted.<\/p>\n

As a final touch, the Canarian chef Rayco Arbelo, from Raro Food Lab, gave a brief presentation focused on the value of the product from a contemporary perspective, presenting a tasting of products worked on in this program, together with his colleague Eva Mar\u00eda Sanabria.<\/p>\n

\"Una<\/a>

One of the presentations developed during the event.<\/p><\/div>\n

RuralLab Canarias<\/strong><\/p>\n

For two months, the students participating in the RuralLab program were trained in applied innovation methodologies such as Design Thinking and Systems Thinking, developing sustainable, technological and contextualized solutions for the challenges of the primary sector.<\/p>\n

Through this rural innovation laboratory, students from different disciplines worked in direct contact with agricultural agents through field visits, workshops and co-creation dynamics, which made it possible to identify real problems and propose technological and social solutions.<\/p>\n

This initiative is promoted by the Deputy Ministry of the Presidency of the Government of the Canary Islands and has the collaboration of the DISA Foundation Chair for Young Entrepreneurs of the University of La Laguna and the support of Pueblos Remotos SL.<\/p>\n

The RuralLab Canarias DemoDay reinforces the University of La Laguna's commitment to the sustainable development of rural areas, consolidating its role as an active agent in generating applied knowledge and connecting the university with society. The program, developed in collaboration with various entities and within the framework of the Canary Islands 2030 Agenda, aims to promote innovative solutions to the archipelago's agricultural, demographic, and territorial challenges.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

La Universidad de La Laguna celebr\u00f3 ayer, jueves 23 de abril, el DemoDay de RuralLab Canarias, una jornada de cierre…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":5797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,37,10],"tags":[1050,2755,639,2756,2757,2758],"class_list":["post-5794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destacado","category-investigacion","category-portada-ull","tag-agenda-canaria-2030","tag-demoday","tag-emprendimiento","tag-rurallab","tag-sector-agrario","tag-sector-primario"],"acf":[],"primary_category":null,"featured_image_thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/10\/demoday-rurallab-002-1-300x200.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5794"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5796,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5794\/revisions\/5796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}