UV Professors Esther Roca (Department of Comparative Education and History of Education) and Josep Ribes (Department of Chemical Engineering) are participating in a programme to pair science and policy representatives to work toward a more sustainable energy future.
The programme “Science Meets Regions Comunitat Valenciana 2023” will gather 12 representatives from the scientific sector and 14 policy representatives committed to working together during the next few months to brainstorm ideas for a more sustainable energy future for the Valencian Community.
“Science Meets Regions Comunitat Valenciana 2023” is led by the Science in Parliament Association (CeeP, abbreviation in Spanish) in collaboration with the Valencian University Network for the promotion of Research, Development and innovation (RUVID, abbreviation in Spanish), with funding form the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission. The goal is to forge new links between science and policy in order to respond to societal challenges with new policies informed by scientific evidence.
This first cohort of science-policy pairing in the Valencian Community will bring together 15 men and 11 women who work in seven universities, one company and one research centre in the region and who represent Valencian citizens as elected officials from seven town councils and deputies from the three provinces in Les Corts Valencianes.
In the pairings, Professor Ether Roca will work with Robert Raga, Mayor of Riba-roja and member of the PSPV-PSOE and Professor Josep Ribes will work with Alfons Domínguez, Mayor of Alzira and member of Compromís per Alzira.
The participants have made a commitment to get to know each other and to establish a relationship of trust that allows scientists to understand the obligations and responsibilities of political activity at different levels of local and regional government. In turn, each policymaker will be able to learn first-hand about how scientific research works, as well as the potential of research as an indispensable tool for policy advice related to driving green transition and sustainability.
The 12 pairings of the SMR-Valencia
In total there are two representatives from the Universitat Jaume I in Castellón, two from the Universitat de València, two from Miguel Hernández University of Elche, one from the University of Alicant, one from the Catholic University of Valencia, one from the Universitat Politècnica de València, one from the CEU Cardenal Herrera University, one from the INGENIO Research Institute (CSIC-UPV) and one from ProtoQSAR. There are 6 men and 6 women experts in water, sustainable plastics, batteries and green energy, sustainable transport, architecture and green urban redevelopment, to name but a few of the topics of their research.
In the political sphere, they are the mayors of the municipalities of Almussafes, Alzira, Onda, Riba-Roja and Sagunto; four councillors from the municipalities of Benidorm, Càlig and Sagunto; and seven deputies, three for Valencia, three for Alicante and one for Castellón.
