History of 2004
When the UPC decided to create Research Groups (2004), the UNESCO Chair in Sustainability (CUS) immediately decided to create the STH Research Group, tied to the research activities that were being carried out in the CUS, primarily around the STH Doctorate Programme, created in 1999, which was managed and directed by the CUS, leading to the creation of the IS.UPC (2009). The CUS decided, in the new context of the IS.UPC, to create another associated research group and, because of this, the STH operates with a small number of members but, in spite of this, with a far from negligible scientific output, always – from its very creation - under the coordination of professor Dr. Xavier Álvarez. During a meeting held on 12-06-13, members of the group decided to revitalise and empower the STH Group, reaffirming and updating the aims and areas of work, and, above all, receiving new members, from other structural units of the UPC as well external collaborators from outside the university itself.
Description of 2004
As is stated in the founding document of the STH PhD programme, both the programme, and later the STH Research Group, considered that "the new paradigm in sustainability (resulting from a perception of limits to current models of the development of human life on Earth) is only conceivable and approachable if carried out from almost all disciplines, sectors, areas, etc. Thus, the name and the concept of the group is: “SUSTAINABILITY, TECHNOLOGY AND HUMANISM.” On the other hand, our university, with its commitment to society, cannot remain on the margin of this work direction, at least from two perspectives: that of acquiring scientific and technological knowledge and development, and that of training future specialists in the country. This is because they must rethink and develop technologies that make sustainability possible, and because, as the institution was founded a long time ago, future specialists and professors must increasingly incorporate ethical and social responsibility into their professional practices. Because of all this, the analysis of the new paradigm of sustainability, the study of limitations of current models of human life development on Earth, the reflection on the role and impacts of science and technology in the society and world that creates and utilises them, the analysis of various possible technological policies, the prospective future in the framework of globalisation and indispensable sustainability are, among others, the programme’s areas of work".
