The University of Valencia has three Research Centres focused in environmental sustainability.
1.Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology
The Institute has the ability to address virtually any question relating to biodiversity in its many facets, studying from genes to ecosystems, from morphology to behaviour, from molecular genetic variation to the quantitative one. It is performed both works of scientific excellence in basic research, such as expert opinion and consultancy in applied research problems (molecular epidemiology, pest control, conservation and protection of species, etc.) The research staff of the ICBiBE (Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology) are part of the faculty of various departments within the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the University of Valencia. They teach in several master's programs associated with these departments. Additionally, they host undergraduate students for the completion of their final master's projects within the facilities of the ICBiBE.
Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology
2. Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CIDE)
Desertification Research Centre (CIDE) The Desertification Research Centre (CIDE) is a public scientific research centre. Due to our nature as a mixed centre, three institutions are involved in our management: Spanish Research Council (CSIC), the University of Valencia and the Autonomous Government of Valencia through the Conselleria de Agricultura, Desarrollo Rural, Emergencia Climática y Transición Ecológica and the Conselleria de Innovación, Universidades, Ciencia y Sociedad Digital. At CIDE we work, since its origin, to provide knowledge based on scientific evidence, and to communicate to society the importance of environmental issues, and in particular, about the risk and potential impact of desertification and climate change on ecosystems and human beings, and thus contribute to the protection of our environment. In this sense, we are one of the pioneer centers in Europe in the study of desertification and one of the few institutes devoted to this topic, with a solid base and extensive experience in the study of soil, water and ecosystem degradation processes, mainly in the Mediterranean. In constant evolution, our strategic objectives, included in our Action Plans, are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To carry out our work, we have a multidisciplinary team with 17 researchers on staff whose lines of work are framed in the Departments of Environmental Quality and Soils, and Ecology and Global Change; and we have a total of 80 workers, including administrative and service staff, technicians and researchers and pre and postdoctoral researchers.
The Department of Environmental Quality and Soils is the result of the merger of the Departments of Soil Degradation and Conservation and Land Planning, approved by the Board of the Center on October 15, 2018. Currently, the activities of the department, within the general framework of the research lines of the CIDE, are focused on deepening the knowledge, evaluation and monitoring of the environmental quality of the territory, and of soils as a fundamental component of it. The central axis is the study of desertification factors and processes in Mediterranean environments. Included here are: soil typification, erosion, contamination, salinization, loss of organic matter, anthropogenic sealing, forest fires, application of remote sensing in environmental studies, global change, assessment of current risks and sources of environmental degradation and its possible future projection at different scales, through its research lines. The work of the Department of Ecology and Global Change, on the other hand, is framed in research and teaching on ecology and evolution in dry ecosystems.
Within this framework, it directs its efforts to the study of the ecological and evolutionary processes that affect species, populations and communities in ecosystems dominated by drought and other stress factors, as well as to the study of the factors that shape the response of organisms. Thus, research in this department ranges from studies on the characteristics and dynamics of the climatic factors -with emphasis on wind- and soil factors that affect these environments, to studies on the biology of plants and animals, the response of living beings to disturbances -especially forest fires-, interactions between plants, soil and erosion, interactions between plant species -with special emphasis on facilitation processes-, interactions between animals and plants (pollination, dispersal, overfaunation, etc.), as well as the rules that determine the response of organisms to drought and other stresses, and the rules that shape the response of organisms. ) as well as the rules that determine and structure species composition in communities and the evolutionary consequences of all these factors. From a more applied point of view, many of the studies we carry out have implications for the management of nutrients and water in agricultural systems, and in a more general framework for land management, biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration.
Research
- Ecology and global change Presentation
- Desertification and environmental quality Presentation
• Desertification Research Centre
3. Jardín Botánico
The Botanical Garden of the University of Valencia is a living museum located in the historical centre of the city which is open to the public and aims to let people connect with the plant world by fostering its study, teaching, dissemination and conservation, aswell as its sustainable use. Among other objectives, the Garden maintains a scientific collection of live plants, preserving a historic legacy of continuous cultivation, which includes monumental trees and historical buildings.
Furthermore, it has the responsibility of maintaining the tradition of botanical gardens in Valencia, which date back to the 16th Century, when the university created a physics garden for the purpose of teaching medicine. Beneath its cloak of vegetation, which extends over approximately 4 hectares, we can travel to each of the continents, imagining exotic or far-off places, or seeing close-up the plants that inhabit our Mediterranean countryside, all of which serve to remind us of the great biodiversity housed on our planet. This is a wonderfully rich plant world that we are discovering more and more thanks to botanists such as those who work in our Garden; those who participate in different investigation projects centred on the conservation of rare, endemic or threatened plant species of the Mediterranean, the conservation of natural habitats, and the knowledge of plant diversity.
RESEARCH. JARDÍ BOTÀNIC DE LA UNIVERSITAT DE VALÉNCIA
JARDÍ BOTÀNIC DE LA UNIVERSITAT DE VALÉNCIA
4. Institute for Local Development of the Universitat de València
The Institute for Local Development of the Universitat de València is a research centre on the theory and practice of local development in its broadest sense. It is part of the Inter-University Institute for Local Development (IIDL), established by researchers of the Universitat Jaume I (UJI) and Universitat de València, experts in the various dimensions of the concept of sustainable development, policy implementation framework and development strategies at the local level. Research at IIDL is structured in four areas. Each of them incorporates in turn, the different aspects and strategies addressed on a thematic level depending on the characteristics and content of research.
Area I: Territorial Governance, Spatial Planning and Environment
Its objectives are to contribute to a better understanding of territorial dynamics and new forms of planning and governance of territorial and sectorial policies at different levels, in order to promote sustainable development.
Subareas:
- Regional Economy and Development
- Centre for Analysis, Research and Urban Documentation (CAIDU)
- Systems Planning and Land Use: Methodology. Planning Infrastructure and Equipment. Transport and Mobility. Regional Structure and Transport. Mediterranean Axis
- Innovation Processes, Territorial Externalities, Industrial Districts and Development. Knowledge Networks
- Sustainable Water Management. Desertification, Waste and Pollution. Risk Analysis and Management
- Structure of Government. Public Policies. Strategic Planning and Management of Local and Metropolitan Governments. Territorial Government
Inter-university Institute for Local Development
5. ISP · Image & Signal Processing — Universitat de València
Our vision is to develop novel artificial intelligence (AI) methods to model and understand complex systems, and more specifically the visual brain, Earth and climate systems, and their human interactions. Our approach to signal, image, and vision processing combines statistical learning theory with the understanding of the underlying physics, processes and biological vision. The problems posed in these disciplines require similar mathematical tools, where model inversion, uncertainty estimation, and causal inference play a central role. Our research on AI pivots around three main pillars:
- encoding domain knowledge in machine learning,
- understanding model representations and predictions,
- learning causal relations from observational data.
