Universitat de València and Generalitat Valenciana present two key studies about depopulation in the Valencia Community

On 5 September, Universitat de València Espai Vives serve as the stage for the presentation of two fundamental works on the depopulation of te Valencian Community: La despoblació a la Comunitat Valenciana. Caracterització. València i Alacant(Valencian Community Depopulation. Characterisation. València and Alicante)andLa despoblació a la Comunitat Valenciana. Caracterització. Castelló(Valencian Community Depopulation. Characterisation). Both projects were edited by Publications of Universitat de València and are available oline on the Roderic platform.

Universitat de València Principal M.ª Vicenta Mestre, Head of Local General Administration José Antonio Redorat and Dean of the Faculty of Geography and History attended the event. Full-time professor and UV Department of Geography research group ESTEPA director Jorge Hermosilla Pla was in charge of the presentation.

The projects provide a deep analysis of the current situation of 192 municipaities from 12 territories of the Valencian Community in a depopulation process. These lands have a rich natural and cultural patrimony but face hard challenges like ageing, loss of public services, low demographic density and socio-economical vulnerability. The ageing index in these territories reaches 285 % ersus the autonomous community average of 138 %. Both volumes were edited by the UV Service of Publication with the support of Generalitat Valenciana.

Hermosilla pointed out that 'depopulation isn't an isolated or recent phenomenon, but structural and lengthy in time. Its effects have been particularly hard on inland and mountain territories far off from urban nuclei'. He added that 'these municipalities are trapped within a spiral of demographic loss has jeopardises their viability, collective meory and culural patrimony'.

The volumes are the result of a collaborative work that reunited around 30 authors from 5 Valencian public universities, city halls representatives, media and public entities. Their focus is regional, which allows them to understand the particularities of each territory, from Els Ports of Castellón to Muntanya Alacantina, and that reveals similar processes with sensitive differences that configure unique and irreplaceable sceneries.

Principal M.ª Vicenta Mestre highlighted that 'Universitat de València is greatly committed to lead scientific research and collaborate with public institutions to face great social challenges. Knowledge transfer and implementation to the territory are crucial for our mission as a public university'.

Head of Local General Administration José Antonio Redorat stressd that 'fighting depopulation requires knowledge, planning and institutional committment. These analyses offer a rigorous base to design public policies to respond to real territory needs'.

Generalitat Valenciana and Universitat de València once again strengthen their committment with applied research and territory service dissemination. These studies bring visibility to the depopulation problem and offer concrete tools for public and efficient policies that are adapted to local realitis with direct impact on the affected municipalities quality of life improvement.