TEChNOLOgIES FOR SuSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT : A WAy TO ...

2012 EPFL- UNESCO Conference on Technologies for Development | 3To this end, 4 main lines of action are followed:- Creating joint laboratories in the universities of the emerging countries which form part of thenetwork;- Setting-up joint educational programs and student exchanges;- Developing partnerships with industry;- Fostering a solidarity action with two universities in Haiti.It is a challenge, that of further advancing science, to increase its performance and adapt it to the needsof emerging and developing countries, by involving high-standard institutions from all continents thatgenuinely work together, with their own resources and the contributions of private and public sectors.The final example, Essential.*, is the most recent program launched by EPFL in order to foster thedevelopment of technologies which are most essential for development and can significantly promoteand/or accelerate the reaching of one or several of the 8 Millennium Development Goals. It stems fromcollaboration with the EssentialMed foundation, a partner of EPFL. We have adopted their principles andmethods and shall extend them to all EPFL’s key areas of focus.The fundamental philosophy guiding the development of appropriate essential technology is thefollowing:- The technology or product must be affordable to acquire and maintain;- The technology or product must be durable and sustainable;- The technology or product must be adapted to the context;- The technology or product must be scientifically sound.All these examples show how EPFL envisions the future in a globalised society, in which ourresponsibilities, as scientists and more broadly as academic institutions, consist in producing knowledge,innovative technologies, and high-level graduates that are aware, adapted to global challenges as well asequipped to cooperate with our colleagues from the four corners of the world, especially where seriousproblems of survival, development and progress remain to be solved.