The MESVAL Chair has participated in a conference at the Faculty of Economics on “Urban Tourism and the Valencian Economic Model”, in which a documentary and a book have been presented as a result of the partnership between the Chair and the Vice-Principal for Territorial Projection and Society.

The documentary "Tourism and Urban Centres: Valencia", part of the Docufòrum programme, was screened for the first time at the conference, and the book "Key Research in the Transformation of the Valencian Economic Model" was presented.  Both projects are the result of the partnership between the Vice-Principal for Territorial Projection and Society and the MESVAL Chair.

The presentation, which was held on Thursday 17 December in the Manuel Sánchez Ayuso Hall of the Faculty of Economics, was attended by the Vice-Principal for Territorial Projection and Society, Jorge Hermosilla; Julio Olmos, General Coordinator of the Sustainable Economic Development Area of the City Council of València, who spoke online; the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Director of the Chair for Sustainable Economic Model of Valencia and its Surroundings (MESVAL); and Amparo Cervera, co-director of the MESVAL Chair (2017-2019).

The vice-principal Jorge Hermosilla stressed the significance of institutional collaboration, because “this programme would not have been possible without the support of entities committed to Valencian society, in this circumstance, the audio-visual has been the result of the partnership between the Universitat de València and the City Council of València, which make possible the activity of the MESVAL Chair”.

Julio Olmos, General Coordinator of the Sustainable Economic Development Area, stressed that the municipal government “is working hard to put Valencia on the map as a pioneering, inclusive and sustainable city”. To this end, clarified the General Coordinator, the City Council has implemented an agenda to transform the local economic model taking into consideration the diversity of its economic and social agents, without forgetting that tourism continues to be one of the main drivers of the Valencian economy.

Professors José Manuel Pastor and Amparo Cervera agreed on the remarkable contribution of both the documentary and the publication, “both are instruments that contribute to the dialogue between the city and its economic, social, cultural and technological environment, as they bring together the research, visions and opinions of the various economic and social agents under the prism of governance, innovation, sustainability, competitiveness, human welfare and globalisation”.

The publication “Key Research in the Transformation of the Valencian Economic Model”, coordinated by Amparo Cervera and José Manuel Pastor, explores the keys underlying the history of the city of Valencia, its current structure, dynamics and future transformation processes with a sustainable and efficient approach. Through the four reports directed by the professors Carlos Peraita, Lorenzo Serrano, Leandro García Menéndez and Rafael Boix Domènech, this study is composed, with new indicators, analysis frameworks and reflections designed for direct application to our urban, social and economic reality.