AC4’s Josh Fisher presents findings from Sustainable Human Development (SHD) project at the University of the Basque Country

On October 14, 2015, AC⁴ Director Dr. Josh Fisher presented the latest findings from the Sustainable Human Development (SHD) project at a daylong event at the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao. Hosted by the Agirre Lehendakaria Center for Social and Political Studies (ALC), the event highlighted the work of the ALC and its collaborators over the past three years, while also proposing new directions for the future. The title of the event, “The K is the Key” is a phrase that Lehendakari Juan Jose Ibarretxe, ALC Director and former President of the Basque Government, uses to represent the importance of grounding the pursuit of sustainable human development in local culture and contexts.

The day began with a media presentation featuring brief talks by Lehendakari Ibarretxe; Fernando Plaziola, the Vice President of Research at the University of the Basque Country; Andrea Bartoli, the Dean of the School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University, and Josh Fisher.

This presentation was followed by an academic seminar in which ALC collaborators from various institutions and disciplines discussed their work related to the Basque Case of sustainable human development. In addition to Dr. Ibarretxe, speakers included Ricardo Aguado from the University of Duesto, Miren Azkarate from the University of the Basque Country, Christian Tiel from London School of Economics, Antton Enciondo from LKE Sarea, Armando Geller from Scensei, and Gorka Espiau and Amaia Agirre from ALC.

In the evening, a public presentation was held as part of Open Akademia, ALC’s recent knowledge-sharing initiative. About 250 attendees learned about the ALC’s current projects and vision for the future. Dr. Josh Fisher outlined the findings and products of the SHD project to date. He also presented the latest empirical modeling work related to the project, which investigates the relationship between characteristics of institutions and outcomes related to the provision of basic needs and environmental performance. Finally, Dr. Fisher posed directions for continued study.