Danone and the University of Navarra have signed an agreement partnership agreement to develop continuous training activities aimed at future Nutrition and Dietetics professionals. The goal of this alliance is to provide students with tools that will enable them to acquire new knowledge in subject of nutrition and food sustainability.    

The signature and presentation of agreement took place at the framework of the conference of update in Nutrition held at the University of Navarra. The event was attended by María Javier Ramírez, dean of the School of Pharmacy and Nutrition, and Isabel Pérez, from area of Nutrition and Sustainability of Danone Iberia.

The agreement is part of the "Feeding the Change" movement, which the company launched at partnership with other entities to move towards a more sustainable food model . The aim of purpose is to empower today's university students, who will be responsible for communicating to society the importance of food for health and the impact it has on the planet.

"We are aware of how important it is for students that the university and companies join forces to create synergies. It is an opportunity to bring them closer to the challenges they will face as professionals and train them to be able to address them with the necessary skills and competencies," says Isabel Pérez. "Being a BCORP company encourages us to be demanding and to work so that new generations have up-to-date, science-based information that makes it possible to move towards a healthy and sustainable food system," she concludes.

"Sustainability is one of the proposals core topic in the Strategy 2025 of the entire University, and from the School of Pharmacy and Nutrition we believed that this agreement is a good way to transmit to the university community, starting with our students and professionals, how everyone can contribute their bit in this field," explains María Javier Ramírez. "So, thanks to this partnership, we are going to promote several activities this academic year".

The agreement will run throughout this academic year under the coordination of academic staff of department of of Food Science and Physiology of the University of Navarra. During this year, it is planned to hold training activities aimed at encouraging students to become agents of change towards a model diet that respects the planet and people's health. In addition, development will facilitate the final projects of Degree in Nutrition in which students can work on aspects of sustainability linked to the per diem expenses, application workshops internship cooking and discussion forums on these issues, among other activities.

Leading the way partnership between academia and the professional world

This new agreement, is in addition to the agreements that the company has already signed with other entities such as the Spanish Federation of University Dietitians-Nutritionists (FEDNU), with which Alimentando el Cambio works to support training activities for university students of Human Nutrition and Dietetics.

Likewise, since 2015, Danone has a agreement of partnership business - University with the University of Barcelona, through the Chair UB - Danone and, since last year, with the CEU San Pablo University, with the birth of classroom Universitaria Danone - CEU: Alimentado el Cambio (Danone - CEU: Feeding the Change). The purpose of these alliances is to develop platforms that facilitate the activities of teaching, research and knowledge dissemination in the field of food and health from university institutions.