17 July 2019, Curitiba, Brazil- The International Training Centre for Authorities and Leaders in Curitiba (CIFAL Curitiba) jointly with the Federation of Industries of the State of Parana (FIEP) System and Faculties of Industry held a workshop on “Innovating 2030: Thinking about the SDGs” on 29 June 2019. This event provided a venue for dialogue amongst industrial automation and mechanical manufacturing students to think and discuss innovative solutions to social, environmental and economic problems. Students as future leaders are pivotal in order to tackle urgent global challenges through innovation.

The overarching theme for this meeting was SDG 9 “Building resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”. In this regard, achieving inclusive and sustainable industrialization is triggered by generating employment and income, facilitating international trade and the efficiently use of resources. This SDG also relates to modernize and equip industries to make them efficient and sustainable, in other words, using less resources and with clean and environmental sound technologies and industrial processes.

This event gathered 56 students, and it was structured in two sections. Firstly, a set of learning presentations, featuring specialized speakers on sustainable development matters. Secondly, students applied a methodology to specific cases to test their knowledge with practical exercises.

In the first segment, Ms. Diva da Paz Vieira, consultant of the Sesi Innovation Center, explained the 2030 Agenda, its objectives, the SDG Portal and its indicators. Following, Mr. Eduan Guerios presented the startup GoEpik and their experience to reduce costs and increasing productivity. In the same line, Mr. Ricardo da Paz Vieira, partner at Romufer Serviços em Ferro e Aço Ltda, shared his experiences in the industrial sector and commented on the challenges faced daily, encouraging students to think about solutions to the challenge: how to reduce obstacles in order to generate savings and greater productivity for the industry.

CIFAL Curitiba conducted the second segment where students were divided into groups to share ideas and develop a product or service related to SDG 9, innovation and industrial processes. At the end of the event, participants expressed a high level of satisfaction not only with the content, but also with the tools it provided for their future careers.