The Principal of the Universitat de València, Maria Vicenta Mestre Escrivà, is the new president of the Xarxa Vives d’Universitats (Vives University Network). Mestre thus takes over from the Principal of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Javier Lafuente, who until now has been president of the institution, in accordance with the Network’s rotating calendar of presidencies. 

During Mestre’s presidency at the head of the Xarxa Vives d’Universitats the activities and actions foreseen in the institution’s annual action plan, which includes around 150 initiatives distributes in 16 programmes, will be carried out: Communication, Culture, Students, Gender Equality, Language, Mobility, Awards and Grants, Senior Programmes, Publications, Research, International Relations, Tort Trustees and Healthy and Sustainable Universities. Among others, it is planned to organise at the UV a Vives Forum day on how the university student body of the Vives region is changing based on the axes and results of the 3rd edition of the Via Universitaria (2020-2022). The Universitat de València will also host the annual meeting of the Gender Equality Working Group, which brings together the heads of all the equality units of the Network and which has become a key strategic framework to respond to the commitment of the universities to effectively include the gender perspective in all areas of university teaching, research and management.



The Universitat de València, venue for the Debate Leagues

Also in the framework of the presidency of the Xarxa Vives d’Universitats (Vives University Network), it has been confirmed that in 2023 the Universitat de València will host the High School and Baccalaureate Debate League and the University Debate League, the oratory competitions in which several teams of students debate on a controversial and current topic. The High School and Baccalaureate Debate will take place from 22nd to 24th March and will deal with the following question: “Should social networks be regulated to fight disinformation?”. The University Debate League will be held from 27th to 29th March and will address the following topic: “Is tourism sustainable?”. Both competitions annually involve more than 5,000 students from all over the university region.

The Xarxa Vives d’Universitats is a non-profit institution that represents and coordinates the joint action of 22 universities. The aim of the Xarxa Vives is to promote relations between the university institutions of Catalonia, the Valencian Country, the Balearic Islands, Northern Catalonia, Andorra and Sardinia, as well as other territories with common geographical, historical, cultural and linguistic links, in order to create a university space that allows the coordination of teaching, research and cultural activities and to promote the use and standardisation of their own language.