The research in social sciences and cultural issues can improve the quality of life of people and the Economics of a region. This was stated by Juan Carlos Prieto, director general of the Fundación Santa María la Real del Patrimonio Histórico, during the 6th annual meeting of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) of the University of Navarra. The activity is supported by partnership of the Obra Social "La Caixa" and Fundación Bancaria Caja Navarra.

The expert participated in a roundtable together with Jaime Nuño, director of the Centro de programs of study del Románico, and Leopoldo Gil, architect of the Historical Heritage Service of the Institución Príncipe de Viana of the Government of Navarra. Julia Pavón Benito, director of department of History, Art History and Geography of the University of Navarra, acted as moderator.

For Prieto, "social impact is not only media impact", but also achieving repercussion in the environment: "We must ensure that our research generates jobs, generates Economics, generates visibility...".

In this sense, he stated that "the research provides the knowledge and the necessary tools to improve the quality of life of society, as well as economic growth, and the improvement of the environment, which would encourage other people to visit and get to know a region, said Prieto. "We can live better because we are going to have the resources at our disposal," he explained.

In addition, the Foundation's director has stated that the exchange with society allows to enrich the research and to obtain support from public and private entities: "To the extent that we lead the changes, we will be able to involve society and the institutions that provide resources much better".

"This creates a circle of value: the research centers contribute to society, which in turn supports them through entities and thus can improve the research and their contributions to the world," he added.

Working together to go further

On the other hand, Prieto defended the importance of the partnership between different disciplines to enrich the research. He concluded that "it is necessary to collaborate in the tasks of research and to collaborate with other sectors so that my research can have a social and economic impact".

The Santa María la Real del Patrimonio Histórico Foundation, located in Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia), promotes the conservation, restoration, promotion and dissemination of cultural, natural and social heritage assets with a national and international projection.

It was created in 2014 with the integration of the Fundación Santa María la Real and the Fundación del Patrimonio Histórico de Castilla y León. It is constituted as a private non-profit cultural foundation.