Elena Bou at Esade: “The university has a unique opportunity to lead the energy transition by promoting research”
“Technological innovation cannot, in itself, create a more sustainable world. Every energy transition is interwoven with changes to the economy and social values. Against this backdrop, the university has a unique opportunity to lead this transformation by driving scientific and tech research towards a net-zero model, developing economic and management theories for a circular, sustainable economy, and building frameworks to foster new social values and fairer, more inclusive behavior,” said Elena Bou, professor in the Esade Department of Operations and Innovation Management. Bou, who is also a co-founder of EIT InnoEnergy and the winner of the first Nobel Prize for Sustainability, gave the opening speech of the 2024-25 academic year, entitled “Knowledge and innovation communities in Europe: research, university-business partnerships and entrepreneurship for a more sustainable world.”
Another speaker at the opening ceremony of the Ramon Llull University (URL) and the Esade academic year, was Jaume Guardiola, president of the Esade Foundation Board of Trustees. He highlighted the international diversity of this year’s Esade students, with more than 1,700 new students of 103 nationalities, which bolsters Esade’s global mindset. “This geographical diversity contributes a wide range of approaches and visions of the world to our programs and also enables us to convey our effort and purpose around the globe,” he commented. Other participants included Antoni Millet, president of the URL Board of Trustees; Jesús Vilar, URL general secretary; Daniel Traça, Esade director general; Joan Gómez Pallarès, director general of Research at the Generalitat de Catalunya, and Josep Antoni Rom, rector of the URL, who highlighted “the three challenges that underpin a university education: the challenge of educating, the challenge of identity and the challenge of integration.”
A lesson about innovation and sustainability
During her speech, Elena Bou talked about the experience of creating EIT InnoEnergy, a project stemming from academic research that became a benchmark company for innovation in Europe. As a result of this work, Bou was awarded the first sustainability award by the Nobel Sustainability Trust and the Technical University of Munich in acknowledgement of her work in sustainable energy research and development, and her company’s contribution to promoting green energy among European start-ups.
Professor Bou also reflected upon the importance of interdisciplinary research and partnerships between universities and companies, and asked the audience key questions: “Why do research groups often function as specialized islands when social issues require multiple approaches? How can we measure the impact of the university and teaching staff upon society?” This allowed her to emphasize that active cooperation not only shares ideas, but “is essential in order to generate innovative, sustainable solutions.”
