During the last two years the Cuban UniDev team has been organizing some National Workshops at the University of Havana, all of them with the support of UniDev Project.

The first National Workshop was held on 1- 4 February, 2005. More than sixty researchers and professors from universities of the whole country were invited to the workshop to present their contributions about the present situation of the Cuban System of Science and Technological Innovation and the role of Universities. The participants visited one of the most important Biotechnological Research Centre and the the newest Cuban University, the Informatics Science University. In the workshop also participated ten researchers from other countries Brazil (3), Sweden (3), Mexico (2) and Uruguay (2).

The second Workshop took place at the end of May, 2005. In this opportunity experts from universities and other stakeholders participated with the purpose creating a National Research Action Program oriented to the study of the role of Universities into the Cuban System of Science and Technological Innovation. In particular the study of the decentralisation process that takes place in the Cuban High Education System –the creation on municipal universities- and its consequences for the System of Science and Technological Innovation.

The International High Education Congress “Universidad 2006″ was held in February, 2006. As part of the congress it was celebrated the 5th Symposium “University, Science and Technology” dedicated in this opportunity to examine The Evolving Role of Universities in the National System of Innovation. More than one hundred and thirty participants took part, sixty-one from other countries. (Republic of Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Republic of Argentina, Republic of Uruguay, Colombia, Republic of Nicaragua, Spain, Sweden, Republic of Russia, Germany, Republic of Benin, South Africa, Republic of China, Vietnam and Tanzania). The first versions of UniDev positions paper were presented and discussed in the meeting. We appreciated so much the attendance to the Symposium of the UniDev coordinators Bo Goransson and Claes Brundenius.

The fourth national workshop will take place on 27 – 28, October 2006, with the UniDev support. The workshop will be also supported by the Ministry of Higher Education and it is the second part of the workshop that took place on May, 2005. More than one hundred and fifty universities professors will be together on the meeting, many of them are involved in research on different aspects of the university as part of the National Research Action Program for Local Development.