The Universitat de València hosted the 16th edition of the Manuel Castillo awards this noon. These awards acknowledge academic, scientific, and journalistic research, committed to the international cooperation, peacebuilding, and sustainable human development. The act, celebrated in the Assembly Hall of the Principal’s office has been directed by the Principal of the Universitat de València –Juan Luís Gandía–, and had the participation of the vice-rector for Internationalisation, Cooperation and Multilingualism –Emilia Ferrer García–, the representative of the Manuel Castillo legacy –José M. García Álvarez Coque–, the representative for the principal for Cooperation –Carmen Lloret-Català– and the awarded people.
The Manuel Castillo awards have the objective of boosting research and knowledge production around some of the main current global challenges. Through this knowledge, the Universitat de València promotes projects that contribute to international cooperation, defence of human rights, peace culture, and sustainable development.
During his intervention, the Principal congratulated the awarded people and emphasised that these awards reassert the commitment of the Universitat de València to the boost of research and initiatives linked to cooperation, peace and human development. “Each one of the acknowledged projects proves that academic rigour aligns with social sensitivity and that commitment acquires a bigger strength when it is supported with a deep and demanding knowledge of the reality. It is not an abstract idea of cooperation”, he indicated.
These awards show a way of understanding university: open to the world, committed to society and aware of its responsibility under the big global challenges.
Moreover, Juan Luís Gandía claimed the figure of Manuel Castillo as an example of a life devoted to knowledge and public service. He remembered his career path as professor, librarian, and journalist within a particularly challenging context of the Spanish history, and he highlighted his confidence in education and culture as engines of progress. The Principal also appreciated the donation from the family of Manuel Castillo’s personal archive to the Universitat de València, represented by professor José María García Álvarez Coque, who glanced through his family history and valued the role of the Universitat as one of the Spanish academic institutions with the biggest commitment in terms of international cooperation.
The vice-rector Emilia Ferrer highlighted that these awards “do not only acknowledge projects of extraordinary quality, but they also show a way of understanding university: open to the world, committed to society and aware of its responsibility under the big global challenges”.
Local cooperation, health in vulnerability, journalism as a vehicle of communication and the value of a university career
In category A, Monografía Universitaria de Investigación Publicada (University Monograph of Published Research) –endowed with 3000 euros–, the award was given to Sergio Belda Miquel, Alba Talón Villacañas and Daniel Osvaldo Cuesta Delgado for the research project “Explorando los valores propios de la cooperación al desarrollo municipalista: Propuesta de un marco y análisis del caso del Fons Valencià per la Solidaritat”, published in the Revista Iberoamericana de Estudios del Desarrollo. The study analyses the specific contributions to decentralised cooperation boosted from the local field. It also studies in detail the role that the municipalities play in the promotion of international solidarity and human development.
The category B, meant for Final Master’s Degree Projects and Doctoral Theses, –endowed with 400 euros–, has given a recognition to Davis Jesús Márquez Guzmán for his project called “Epidemiología de la Fascioliasis Humana en Zonas Andinas: estudio de la provincia de Lucanas, Ayacucho – Perú”. The research addresses a parasitic disease that affects particularly to vulnerable population of rural Andean areas, and provides relevant knowledge in order to improve prevention strategies, epidemiological surveillance, and public health in contexts of special vulnerability.
In category C, corresponding to the Reportaje Periodístico Emitido (Broadcast Journalistic Report) –endowed with 1800 euros–, the jury agreed on giving the award ex aequo to two projects. On the one hand, Isabel Coello Cremades was given a recognition for her podcast “La casa grande, un podcast sobre maltrato y control coercitivo”, a production that studies in detail the dynamics of violence and dominance that many women suffer. This production contributes to society’s awareness and it won the Ortega Gasset award and the Premios Ondas Podcast. On the other hand, Jairo Marcos Pérez and María Ángeles Fernández were awarded for a book called “Memorias ahogadas”. This book brings back the silenced stories of those who were displaced because of the construction of reservoirs in Spain, reconstructing through their memories a collective memory erased by progress.
Category D, the “Lluís Vives” initiatives of cooperation to development of the Teaching and Research Staff of the Universitat de València, has given the award to the full professor in Nutrition José Miguel Soriano del Castillo, for his commitment to university cooperation and transfer of knowledge to human development for 25 years. This recognition values those initiatives promoted from the university community that contribute to improving the life conditions of groups and communities in situation of vulnerability through research, training and solidarity action.
Manuel Castillo, a legacy in the service of cooperation and human rights
The Manuel Castillo awards come from the legacy of Manuel Castillo, a figure ahead of his time who combined his teaching and intellectual work with a deep social commitment. Born in 1870, he developed an intense educational, journalistic, and philanthropic activity, by encouraging activities that contributed to social protection and life conditions improvement of the most disadvantaged sectors. After going into exile in Mexico when the Civil War ended, he communicated to his family his will of devoting his legacy to the Universitat de València in order to promote studies about peace, cooperation and understanding among population.
