Students from the University of Navarra evaluate the strategic plan of the six areas of work of the Spanish Red Cross in view of the impact of COVID-19.

The 3rd year students of the Degree at Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) of the School of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Navarra have audited the 2019-23 strategic plan of the Spanish Red Cross. The students have analyzed from an international perspective and multidisciplinary the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has meant for the organization, with the goal to propose an action plan in the areas of financial aid Humanitarian and International Cooperation; Social Inclusion; employment; Health; Education; and Environment.

In an event chaired by Julia Pavón, dean of the School of Philosophy and Letters, the students presented the results of their analysis and proposed some measures that could be addressed in this new context in which we find ourselves. Due to the consequences of the last storm in the Peninsula, which has prevented some of the 31 students to travel to Pamplona to start the second semester, several students have participated remotely fromvarious locations in Spain, Mexico, United States, Paraguay, Nicaragua and Colombia, their places of origin. The event was also attended by Rafael Huarte, president of the Red Cross of Navarra, who said that "we are delighted with the experience and contributions of the students. There are some things that they have proposed for the organization and that we have already implemented". Also, the heads of several Departments of the Spanish Red Cross, who have tutored the work of the students, have been connected to the event. 

This activity is part of the subject "PPE LAB", a laboratory of socio-political analysis around a project applied service-learning that students have worked on from September to December 2020. With the goal to integrate the knowledge of the different areas of the Degree, in order to analyze some contemporary social problems, the PPE students have simulated the consultancy service "PPEinsights", with which they have advised the Red Cross. As explained by Alejandro Néstor García, Senior Associate Professor of the subject, "despite the difficulties and limitations imposed by the pandemic, with the effort of adaptation and flexibility the students have been able to develop their plan of work and apply their knowledge and skills to the analysis of consultancy service real on the strategic plan of this important institution. The final result has been very satisfactory and the learning for the acquisition of competences very valuable".

The Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) began to be taught at the University of Navarra in 2018. It is a degree program that is currently taught in half a hundred prestigious universities, such as Oxford, Yale or Duke. The PPE counts in its faculty with professors from various disciplines, such as Philosophy, the Economics, Political Science, Sociology, History, Geography, Law or Communication, who train these future thinkers to develop in the field of politics, the consultancy service strategic business, diplomatic services, the management public, senior management or big data, as well as the research doctoral or the teaching.