The Espai Vives at the Universitat de València hosts on Friday, 24 April the first institutional meeting between the Principal, Juan Luis Gandía, and the Minister for Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant.
The meeting was hold as the precursor to the conference on ‘Innovation for a resilient reconstruction. Learning and proposals for public policies in Germany and Spain’ and, in a relaxed atmosphere, it enabled tackling a provisional resolution of the 2025 call for acquiring scientific-technic equipment, promoted by the Ministry.
From the 104 million of euros designated for this call, the Valencian Community received 11,3 million, from which 3,5 million were assigned to the Universitat de València, which is the Valencian institution with the greatest funding along these lines.
During the meeting, the Minister was interested in meeting first-hand the researchers responsible for the funded projects, as well as the characteristics of the equipment. On the whole, there are seven infrastructures attached to central services –which guarantees accessibility–, located on the Chemistry, Physics, and Biology areas, aimed mainly at biomedical applications. Additionally, the meeting featured the Vice-Principal for Research and Science Policy, Isabel Fariñas.
The Principal was grateful both for the visit and the support of the Ministry, which through these funding lines, ‘contribute to reinforce the institution’s technological skills and to promote frontier research.’ In turn, the Minister highlighted that the funding designated for the Valencian Community this year has had a 1% rise regarding the previous period, and pledged to maintain the institutional and constructive dialogue to keep improving in science field.
Institutional cooperation and innovative solutions
After the meeting, the Minister and the Principal inaugurated the conference on ‘Innovation for a resilient reconstruction. Learning and proposals for public policies in Germany and Spain’, organised by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and Red Innpulso, along with the Universitat de València and the Universitat Politècnica de València.
During the inauguration, both officials pointed out the need for enhancing institutional cooperation against the increasing challenges caused by climatic change. The event was aimed at supporting those cities affected by the DANA of 2024 with its recovery processes from a transformative approach and, at the same time, the perspective of climatic resilience.
Within this context, public and academic institutions shared the need for promoting coordinated responses against the increasing impact caused by extreme phenomena. The meeting featured public authorities, international experts, and the academic community with the aim to progress on innovative solutions.
The event, intended as a space for dialogue and exchange, was focused on the role of innovation within public policies and reconstruction processes after natural disasters. Prominent contributions included the one made by the German expert Jörn Birkmann, director of the Institute of Spatial Planning and Regional Development at the University of Stuttgart, who advised the German government after the floods in the Ahr valley in 2021. Its intervention provided an international perspective on territorial planning and strategies for resilient reconstruction, linking the German experience to the current Spanish challenges.
Additionally, the event featured mayors and representatives of the co-leading cities of the Climatic Resilience Work Group: Alzira, Riba-roja de Túria, and Torrent.
Moreover, the conference was useful for launching the Innovation for Climatic Resilience Work Group, within the frame of the Innovation Programme for Climatic Resilience and Urban Reconstruction Agendas (2025).
