Tomorrow, Winter University of Cofrentes (UNICO) starts working on the initiative promoted by the Universitat de València and committing its efforts to study the territory. During the Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, professors and experts will address the notions of longevity and well-being from various perspectives.
This week, Winter University of Cofrentes (UNICO) opens the first edition of its classes on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday under the title “Longevity and Well-Being in the Rural Environment”. This way, it becomes a part of the season universities promoted by the Universitat de València.
Teaching, research, and knowledge sharing are the fundamental pillars of the whole university institution. In this respect, the UV and specifically the Office of the Vice-Principal for Territorial Projection and Society, committed to the territory and local community of Valencia, have launched this academic action in Cofrentes and in Valle de Ayora-Cofrentes and organised this school in collaboration with the City Council and Balneario de Cofrentes Resort, as well as with the Provincial Council of Valencia and Caixa Popular group.
The growing longevity of the population is a worldwide social, health, and political issue. Although addressing it in a rural area may seem like an additional challenge, the environmental characteristics actually have an added value and improve the quality of life in terms of the territorial perspectives, the landscape, and the possibilities of future development.
Winter University of Cofrentes (UNICO) will analyse the notions of longevity and well-being from various perspectives thanks to the contributions of the UV teaching staff (particularly, the professors of the departments of Physiology, Psychobiology, Genetics, Sociology and Social Anthropology, and Geography) and the local specialists experienced in health matters throughout lifetime and in the rural environment. During these two days held free of charge and open to the general public, Cofrentes will become a meeting and discussion point of professors; researchers; secondary school, vocational training, and university students; social agents; public workers; retired and unemployed persons; and the citizens of Cofrentes and the surroundings.
The classes on Wednesday will take place at Balneario de Cofrentes (Balneario Street). They will start at 4.30 p.m. with a UNICO presentation delivered by its coordinator, Esperanza Navarro Pardo, and Balneario general director, Miguel Ángel Fernández Torán.
Then, Manuel Pérez Alonso of the UV Department of Genetics will speak about “Genetics, Genomics, and Personalised Medicine”; Consuelo Borrás Blasco of the UV Department of Physiology will give a speech “How to Turn 100 Years Old Without Dying on the Way (Strategies to Achieve Healthy Aging)”; and Miguel Ángel Fernández Torán will present a talk “From Health Education to Longevity Plan”.
On Thursday, the event will be held at the City Council of Cofrentes (Plaza de España, 9) from 10 a.m. starting with an UNICO opening act at the presence of Salvador Honrubia Mora, the mayor of Cofrentes; Jorge Hermosilla Pla, the UV Vice-Principal for Territorial Projection and Society; Esperanza Navarro Pardo, UNICO coordinator; and Ricardo Ruiz Carrascosa, director of the Caixa Popular CCV office in Requena.
During the morning, Manuel Pérez Alonso and Consuelo Borrás Blasco will express their vision on longevity. Then, Rosa Redolat Iborra of the UV Department of Psychobiology will deliver a speech titled “Cognitive Aging: How Can New Technologies Contribute to Its Prevention and Intervention?”.
The video of DOCUFÒRUM “Learning Throughout the Lifetime” will be screened to close the morning session.
In the afternoon at 4 p.m., a round table discussion will be organised and moderated by Esperanza Navarro about “The Present and the Future of the Rural World”. Patricia Hernández Cantos, a psychologist at the Social Services of the Cofrentes City Council, will speak about “The Sense of Municipal Services in a Rural Environment”; Josep Pérez Soriano of the UV Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology about “Rural Eradication Is Neither a Natural Nor an Irreversible Process”; Emilio Iranzo García of the UV Department of Geography about “The Rural Landscape as an Active Element for Development and Well-Being”; and the UV Vice-Principal for Territorial Projection and Society, Jorge Hermosilla Pla, of the UV Department of Geography about “The Rural Depopulation of Valencia: Analysis and Solutions”.
All lectures are delivered in Spanish.
The first edition of UNICO will end at 6 p.m.
Information about season universities
For the past two years, the Universitat de València, and specifically the Office of the Vice-Principal for Territorial Projection and Society, has run a network of the so-called season universities, which carry out their activities during a single season of the year, and offered an interesting programme of free meetings targeted at the general public of all ages.
Season universities are located in various regions of the province, both on the inland and along the coastline. Every university develops its own programmes centred on a particular case related to the character, history, and culture of the region and relies on the supervision of a specialist on the matter.
The network comprises the following towns: Cofrentes (longevity and well-being in a rural environment), Requena (wine culture); Alzira (environment); Xátiva (culture, wine, and nature); Ademuz (biodiversity); Aras de los Olmos (new technologies. astronomy and development); Gandía (rights around the world); Sagunt (Heritage of Humanity); Buñol (musical heritage); Alaquàs (Analysis of the historic site Castell-Palau de Alaquàs); Llíria (music, society, and territory); Enguera (rural development and new technologies); Ontinyent (talent, opportunity, and development); and l’Eliana (smart city).
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