Barcelona has become a pole of attraction for international talent in multiple sectors, but the city aspires to go further. More than 70 institutions, through the Impulsa Talentum foundation, have committed in a manifesto for the Catalan capital to act as the world capital of talent, promoting what they have named Barcelona World Talent Hub.
The manifesto originated from the Impulsa Talentum foundation, which has been working in this field for a decade. Now, the entity has taken a leap in scale and has presented this manifesto together with influential figures such as the general director of the Integrated Systems Europe fair (ISE), Michael Blackman; the former general director of Unesco Federico Mayor Zaragoza; the director of the think tank Matter, Zina Jarrahi Cinker, and the president of the World Academy of Art and Science, Garry Jacobs, along with the president of Impulsa Talentum, Bru Recolons.
And how is this commitment to talent materialized? By promoting initiatives such as founding a global observatory on talent to analyze trends, challenges, and opportunities. The manifesto also proposes creating programs and policies that recognize and develop talent at all stages of life, generating a community of experts in the field. In addition, they advocate for organizing annual congresses and events to bring together thinkers and creators internationally, such as the World Talent Congress.
The three pillars materialized in the observatory, the community, and the congress will constitute the Barcelona World Talent Hub, in an initiative that aspires to become a transversal meeting point for the services, industry, culture, science, technology, audiovisual, and productive sectors.
The commitment to Barcelona as the World Capital of Talent also includes the opening of offices in cities such as Madrid, Bilbao, Malaga, or Valencia, which will host specific and sectoral events of this hub of talent, which will also have a presence in San Francisco and Florence. The initiative, presented in the historic Sala Martí l'Humà in the emblematic Plaza del Rei, also seeks the full social integration of the group known as expats into the societies that host them.
The manifesto, which defends a contemporary humanist vision, asserts that technology must serve as a tool to promote human rights and equality and must be conceived with a human-centered perspective. Thus, it advocates for responsible innovation that not only seeks economic progress, but also social, cultural, and environmental well-being.
The initiative will have a presence in cities such as San Francisco, Florence, Madrid, Bilbao, Malaga, and Valencia, which will host specific and sectoral events of the hubThe project has been promoted in view of the "current global need to know how to identify talent and open up to new opportunities and ideas that it provides for companies," according to Blackman. And it is that talent and creativity represent necessary tools to be brave in the international arena, in Mayor Zaragoza's opinion.
"We need to have diverse talent with a humanist approach for this new era of humanity", added the director of the think tank Matter. For his part, the deputy director of the World Academy of Art and Science, Alberto Zucconi, highlighted the importance of investing "all knowledge and talent in seeking solutions that work globally."
The project also seeks the full social integration of the group known as expats into the societies that host them.The president of Impulsa Talentum, who has opened this initiative to everyone, has advocated putting people at the center. "Only human talent, protected by Human Rights and the SDGs, can do it", Recolons has guaranteed, whose organization rewards innovative projects with awards with which recently honored The New Barcelona Post.
Recolons' humanist vision is part of a manifesto that has been made public along with representatives of actors such as Pimec, Foment del Treball, the Gremi de Restauració, official colleges, the Conservatori del Liceu, Eurecat, Barcelona Comerç, Barcelona Oberta, the Mercat de la Boqueria and the Bioenergy Cluster, among many others who aspire to position Barcelona as an international talent hub.