Leadership and Sustainability: 2025, A Year of Transformation at CIFAL Málaga

One of the centre's most significant achievements in 2025 has been the establishment of its Virtual Classroom as a genuine benchmark for academic excellence. Among its standout training offerings, a hybrid course on Sustainability and Multilateralism offered participants a rigorous, applied understanding of the 2030 Agenda. Funded by the Andalusian Agency for Development Cooperation, it reached professionals across multiple countries and sectors.

A second flagship programme on ESG Criteria in Public Management was developed in collaboration with the University of Málaga, targeting decision-makers who need to integrate environmental and social considerations into the policies they design and implement. And through programmes like "Slow Tourism Strategies," presented at a summit in Costa Rica, the centre trained professionals from more than ten countries on sustainable approaches to one of the world's most economically significant industries.

More than training courses, they are carefully designed learning experiences, built around real policy challenges, delivered by practitioners who understand both the theory and the terrain. Perhaps, the clearest sign of CIFAL Málaga's maturity is its growing capacity to lead, not just participate in, international consortia. In 2025, the centre coordinated two major strategic initiatives that reflect the breadth of its expertise.

The RETO Project focused on analyzing and developing strategies to counter hate crimes and hate speech, an issue of urgent relevance across Europe and beyond. The ACTIVATE initiative, meanwhile, worked transnationally to strengthen youth participation in democratic life, addressing one of the most persistent challenges facing European societies: how to reconnect younger generations with the institutions that shape their futures.