Dr. Fernando Pesantez Aviles, UPS Academic Vice President, was the keynote speaker in the International Conference on Academic Sustainable Development in Ecuador which was held on March 21 and 22 at Universidad Nacional de Educación (UNAE).

The conference was organized by Universidad de Lovaina (Belgium), Universidad Nacional de Educación (Ecuador) and VLIR – USO (Flemish community of Belgium).
In the conference they analyzed the different aspects of academic development such as research, academic teaching and quality assurance, locally and internationally, based on four principal topics: 

•    Topic 1: Educational research program in Ecuador
•    Topic 2: Training for professors, including technical training
•    Topic 3: Quality assurance in research and teaching

Dr. Pesántez spoke about technical education for a paradigm change that will contribute to sustainability of the Ecuadorian student population.

Participants in the conference highlighted this proposal and said it is a valuable experience that represents an innovative way of seeing higher education in Ecuador.