Our colleague Jaime Escribano has obtained a mention with certificate of excellence in the annual thesis competition of the Committee of the Regions on the topic "Local and regional bodies in the framework of the European Union" (Article I of Regulation No 2 / 2010).

Jaime’s thesis title is "El papel de los servicios públicos en el desarrollo rural: una perspectiva comparada entre la Comunidad Valencia (España) y la Región de la Baja Normandía (Francia)" (The role of public services in rural development: a comparative study of the Valencian Community in Spain and the Lower Normandy region in France), and determines, on the one hand, how the basic educational and health services contribute to rural and local development (via human, economic and social capital), and, on the other hand, the most common results of such interaction (maintenance/attraction of population, economic recovery, creation of social networks, active governance, use of facilities for civic projects, etc.).

The thesis was defended on November 5, 2010, and received the highest mark. It is part of the European Doctoral Thesis programme of the University of Valencia, through the Doctoral Studies with Quality Award of the Department of Geography.

The award has been held annually since 1996, and up to now no member of the University of Valencia had been awarded. In this edition (2010-2011), 164 doctors from the European Union participated, including around twenty Spaniards from various Spanish universities.

Congratulations, Jaime!