The participatory process to draw up the Social Services Act and the Social Services Laboratories of the Valencian Community, promoted by the vice-presidency and the Conselleria d’Igualtat i Polítiques Inclusives, has been awarded in the research category.

The European Social Network is an advocacy network for people-centred social services and a platform for strengthening the synergies between praxis, politics and research in order to improve the lives of individuals and communities.

The initiative was presented jointly by the Universitat de València and the Conselleria through the Valencian Institute for Education, Research and Quality of Social Services (IVAFIQ).

The project is led by the Universitat de València’s full professor Xavier Uceda i Maza, current Regional Secretary for Planning and Organisation of the Vice-Presidency’s System and the Conselleria d’Igualtat i Polítiques Inclusives.

The key point is highlighting the importance of a methodology based on citizen engagement, professionals, agents and the institutions involved to develop a common and shared system. More than two thousand people, a hundred of social and local entities, as well as professional associations, syndicates and Valencian public universities participated throughout the process, particularly the Universitat de València, which actively took part in its development.

On the part of the Universitat de València, the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Department of Social Work and Social Services of the Faculty of Psychology have also worked together with IIDL.

For its part, the network of Social Services Laboratories of the Valencian Community has been established in the national territory as the first space for dialogue, reflection, proposals, research and innovation in the field of social services throughout the three Valencian provinces.

The Social Services Laboratories, created in 2017, have promoted the participation of professionals, local entities and Valencian public universities (Universitat de València, University of Alacant and Universitat Jaume I) in favour of the improvement of the Valencian Social Services Public System in each province of the Valencian Community.