The Spanish version of James Midgley's book titled "Social Development: Theory and Practice" or "Desarrollo Social: Teoría y Práctica", was presented in UPS- Quito last November 18^th. James Midgley is a South African author and professor at California University. His book was edited in the Abya Yala UPS Publishing House thanks to a strategic partnership between Universidad Politécnica Salesiana and the Sustainable Planning and Management for Local Rural Development Research Group (GESPLAN, in Spanish) from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

UPS president Javier Herrán, GESPLAN director Adolfo Cazorla, UPS-Quito vice president Viviana Montalvo, Abya-Yala director José Juncosa, Ana Afonso who translated the book, Ignacio de los Rios, and UPS students attended the event.

Viviana Montalvo welcomed everyone to the event and said UPS is committed with transforming education, then José Juncosa said the book is a relevant contribution for communities, projects and organizations in charge of development; he also thanked Universidad Politécnica de Madrid for trusting the Abya Yala UPS Publishing House.

Dr. Cazorla considered the book has gone through a very demanding evaluation process and is part of a university that conducts research. Afonso, gave a brief review of the book and said that development theories have mainly studied economic growth.

"Midgley defines social development as a process of planned and predesigned change to promote people's well-being", he finished by saying the book is also useful for professors and students concerned about social development.

To end the event, the UPS president encouraged students from different majors to do research together in order to have a wider vision and a "real university" that seeks to solve social problems.