I extend my welcome to the government representatives, speakers, participants and the press who have come here to bear witness, with their presence, to the interest in the subject of these three days of work.

The World Social Summit is the result of an insight that we had two years ago after reviewing scientific literature published by the main Anglo-Saxon universities on the topic, as well as a constant participation of the world's main universities in the cultural debate and my own experiences during my travels. All of this allows me to say that the decision to tackle the subject of planetary fears in this first edition springs from the central importance that fear assumes, as a dimension of all modern societies.