Under the title “Longevidad y bienestar en el medio rural” (Spanish for Longevity and well-being in the rural environment), the UV launches the first edition of the Universidad de Invierno de Cofrentes (UNICO, Spanish for Winter University of Cofrentes), as a result of the close collaboration of the Universitat de València, the City Council and the Resort of Cofrentes, the Provincial Council of València and Caixa Popular. 

The growing longevity of the population is a global social, health and political challenge, and facing it in the rural environment is an additional challenge, but, at the same time, it allows the characteristics of a privileged environment to be highlighted in terms of the quality of life of the region from a territorial, landscape and future development perspective.

The Universidad de Invierno de Cofrentes is a meeting point for teachers, researchers, secondary school, educational cycles and university students, social agents, public workers, retired people, the unemployed, and citizens of Cofrentes and its surrounding area throughout the days 11 and 12 March 2020. During these two days, various relevant and current issues in the field of health and longevity at both individual and social levels will be addressed.

The UNICO is an initiative open to the general public, of an informative nature, which aims to bring Cofrentes and its district closer to the university as a means of meeting these challenges, and which involves the participation of teaching staff at the UV (Departments of Physiology, Psychobiology, Genetics, Sociology, Geography, etc.) and local specialists who provide a broad vision of well-being and health throughout life and in rural areas.

Teaching, research and knowledge transfer are the fundamental pillars of any university institution. In this sense, the Universitat de València, through the Office of the Vice-Principal for Territorial Projection and Society, true to its commitment with the Valencian territory and society promotes this free academic action that aims to consolidate itself in Cofrentes and in the Valle de Ayora-Cofrentes.