UV Principal Mavi Mestre and Mayor of Gandia José Manuel Prieto presented the new edition of the UEG. Registration for the formative seminars is now open. The programme includes a series of conferences and panel discussions, as well as concerts open to the general public.
The emeritus full-time university professor of Geography of the Universitat de València will be in charge of an edition that requires an homage to the victims of the DANA as well as the many thousands of people who offered their help in the Valencian community.
The edition of the Summer University of Gandia has began. On Thursday, 19 June the directors of the two organising institutions, the Universitat de València and the City Council of Gandia, have presented the new edition under the slogan: ‘Vulnerabilidad y Resistencia’ showing the support of both institutions in the project.
Mestre and Prieto were accompanied at the press conference by the director of the Gandia International Centre, Carme Melo, who was in charge of presenting the programme of this edition. The training part includes fourteen seminars distributed in 3 blocks. The first of consists 5 orientation and professional upgrade courses some of them recognised by the CEFIRE of Gandia. One of these courses addresses the challenges of Education in front of the DANA and the climate crisis. It is coordinated by the teaching staff from the geography department, that has played a fundamental role to explain to society the causes and impacts of the DANA, and in which members of the AEMET and AVAMET have participated. It is also worth mentioning the course Aprender with female referents, organised in collaboration with the Institute of Women and another about how to address the treatment of antifascism in the aulas. Furthermore, a practical course dedicated to chess as an educative tool, with Ukrainian teachers from the international federation of chess and a course on reflection, co-creative and transformative techniques for social and emotional well-being in education.
The second block is conformed in the specialization courses destined to undergraduate students, master's degree and doctorate. Some include work or communication presentation sessions made by the students. These courses focus on the psychology of primary care: a course that this year is consolidated in this 2nd edition and that includes between the speakers professors from the University College of London and that counts with the collaboration of the psychologists school of the CV. Another course will be centred around the critical thinking in front of the reactionary offensives. It has also been organised a course on the use of AI in biomedical research and another on differential equations led by the professors of the Mathematics department. Furthermore, we include two courses specifically forwarded to doctorate students. One about critical research in communication and culture and another about scientific survival in manipulating time of the CV and the dates. The last mentioned organised by the doctorate school of the UV.
Finally, dissemination courses keep being offered for the general public. The first of them is dedicated to deepfakes and the use of AI to generate images that are used to promote digital gender-based violence and sexual-based violence. The second is dedicated to the subterranean cavities and speleology in Gandia and the district, and includes a visit to the Cova del Parpalló.
Free activities
Furthermore, the Summer University of Gandia includes, as is usual, a series of free activities to the citizenship that will start on Tuesday 15th when the cycle of ‘Converses amb’ begins. The first date will be with Fernando Valladares, CSIC professor, a referent in such a transcendental field that it makes us as vulnerable as the environment and the climate. Wednesday 16 we will receive the well known journalist and writer Nieves Concostrina, Thursday 17 Toni Sánchez, Panxo, the voice of the most international Gandinese group, Zoo, will visit us and we will talk together about culture and musical critique and on Friday 18 the conversations will be closed with Noah Higón, the young Valencian that suffers from 7 rare diseases, a clear example of fight against unfairness and silences in the medical and pharmaceutical research field.
Meanwhile, the evenings are reserved for the musical performances. Tuesday 15 the Grupo de Danza de la Universitat de València will perform with their performance ‘Carmen’; Wednesday 16 we will listen to the formation Ensemble Duna interpreting traditional music of the geographies bathed by the Mediterranean sea; Thursday will be the turn for Versonautas, the awarded Valencian group who combine scenic poetry, music and performance. The Gandinieses Holistiks, characterised by their mix of funk, rock and rap will close the event.
The cultural programme that surrounds this 42nd edition of the Summer University of Gandia will be completed with two expositive projects of first level. The Casa de la Marquesa will take in “Paisaje y cambio climático. La transformación de la mirada” by Calo Carratalá, while the Sala Tossal of the CIG-UV will take in “Los siete velos” by Inma Coll, an artistic proposal that reflects on ageism in the Contemporary society. Both samples will open their doors on 9 July and will be able to be visited until 30 August.
Institutional support
During the presentation of the UEG, the Principal of the Universitat de València, Mavi Mestre, has underlined that this year the motto of the Universitat d’Estiu could be no other: ‘in few time, the Valencian society has been conscious of their vulnerability towards COVID, and now, the DANA; but has also showed their resilience and resistance capacity’. Mestre has reaffirmed how the Universitat de València has contributed to this resistance thanks to science and the put to practice of their knowledge.
For his part, the mayor Prieto highlighted that the topic of ‘Vulnerabilidad y resistencia’ invites us to reflect about many things, among them, about how we can defend ourselves from the extern menaces. Topics so unalike that will be dealt in this UEG as are manipulation through social media and Artificial Intelligence, the boom of fascism, the democratic failure of the United States and the economic and military defencelessness of Europe, or how our cities are built, all point towards an increase of our vulnerability’.
The mayor of Gandia was the one in charge of announcing the inaugural conference that will take place on 9 July afternoon in the Salón de actas of the Casa de la Marquesa. This will be led by Joan Romero, emeritus full university professor of Geography of the Universitat de València, ‘a really dear person of the University and an influential voice to understand the society we live in’.
