UVic-UCC celebrates the tenth anniversary of the federation agreement giving it the same status as the other territorial universities in Catalonia

On 30 January, it will be exactly 10 years since the Balmes University Foundation (FUBalmes), which was at that time the institution that owned the University of Vic, and the Bages University Foundation (FUBages) signed a contract to create a federated university structure, which gave rise to the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC). It was a unique and pioneering agreement in the Catalan university system and in the country, which a decade later has become an expanding project that is comparable in volume, knowledge and international recognition to Catalonia's other territorial universities.

A press conference took place in the Espai Aloy area on the Manresa Campus of UVic-UCC on Tuesday morning, which took stock of what these ten years of the federation agreement have entailed, and to present the events celebrating the tenth anniversary. The event was attended by Antoni Llobet, the general manager of FUBages, and Jordi Baiget, the general manager of FUBalmes, who outlined the most important milestones achieved over the past decade, and acknowledged the value of the work done by the people at the two foundations who worked at that time to bring the agreement about.

Antoni Llobet highlighted the fact that the federal agreement "was reached out of conviction and not out of necessity, because it was clear that it would otherwise be impossible to achieve objectives like having our own university in Central Catalonia, with a greater presence on the university map in both the country and in the international context." He also stressed the fact that the agreement was "the foundation for the growth of the university as a whole to go beyond the sum of its parts."

Likewise, Jordi Baiget said that the federated university structure has made it possible to "fill the existing gap and naturally complete the map of higher education in Catalonia, by providing Central Catalonia with a university that has been placed on the same level as the other territorial universities in both qualitative and quantitative terms."

New joint initiatives and growth of the federated structure

UVic-UCC has experienced significant growth in all areas over the last ten years, including its academic range of courses, research activity, international agreements, resources obtained through competitive calls and funds allocated to grants, and the size of the university community. For example, in the 2014-2015 academic year (the year before the incorporation of FUBages students into the University) the total number of students from the two foundations was 15,223, and the number of students receiving official training was 7,311. Last academic year, the figures were 19,302 (an increase of 26.8%) and 10,723 (an increase of 46.6%) respectively for UVic-UCC as a whole, which also experienced a rise in the number of students enrolled from the area around the university, and which has incorporated another two foundations into the federated structure during this period.

First, the Foundation for Advanced Health Sciences Studies (FESS), which had been set up the previous year as an initiative by FUBalmes and FUBages, joined the federation in 2016 in order to create the UVic-UCC Faculty of Medicine. This was the first major joint milestone achieved within the framework of the federation, which subsequently also led to the creation of the Institute for Research and Innovation in Life and Health Sciences of Central Catalonia (IRIS-CC), the creation of new chairs and research groups, the development of the University's own model for the integration of higher vocational training studies, and the creation of joint training programmes.

The Elisava Foundation University School joined the federation in 2020, highlighting the functionality of the structure in a further step forward for the project. It has contributed expertise in new areas, such as design, and the opportunity to have a campus in Barcelona.

A boost for the territory and for the country

The federation that gave rise to UVic-UCC was also a territorial project and a boost for the campuses and the cities of Manresa and Vic, and for Central Catalonia as a whole. It means that FUBages is no longer a centre affiliated to the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and it has become a university in its own right, which has enabled it to carry out new studies and undertake new projects. As for FUBalmes, the federation has continued the work carried out until that point as part of the university project in Vic and has opened new doors to academic, socio-economic and cultural growth, in addition to developing areas of knowledge of interest, such as health.

Jordi Baiget explained that the progress of the federation project over the last decade has been made "based on a desire to do things well and to provide a service to the people in the region, and to younger people in particular, so that they can have access university studies without needing to travel." He also emphasised UVic-UCC's ability to attract and retain talent and maintain that "despite the fact that the federation was a change for its constituent institutions, the important benefit has been for the region, which has been regenerated and has benefited from new opportunities for development."
The federation has also been the source of an unprecedented model of governance in the Catalan university system, which has proven to be flexible and adaptable to the needs and demands of the region, as shown by the growing number of agreements and initiatives undertaken with its economic, social and institutional fabric.

Antoni Llobet believes that "the commitment to generosity of the two foundations", FUBages and FUBalmes, which have put the potential of their agreement at the service of the territory, has been evident over the past these ten years. "UVic-UCC is today the local University for many students in Central Catalonia," he pointed out.

Celebrations in Manresa and Vic

Two events to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the federation agreement have been scheduled for the coming weeks - one in Manresa and the other in Vic. The first of these events will be the one in Manresa, which will take place in the Sala d’Actes Hall at the FUBages (FUB1 building) at 11.30 am on Friday 2 February, and will be chaired by the Minister for Research and Universities, Joaquim Nadal i Farreras, who will visit some of the facilities on the UManresa Campus beforehand. The event, titled "The contribution of territorial universities to the country: the role of UVic-UCC and its campuses in Vic and Manresa", will also include speeches by the mayor of Manresa, Marc Aloy i Guàrdia; the mayor of Vic, Albert Castells, and the rector of UVic-UCC, Josep Eladi Baños.

In Vic, the celebration will take place at the UVic-UCC Paranymph (Rambla de l'Hospital, 50) at 6 pm on Thursday 8 February. The event will include a speech by Andreu Mas-Colell, who was the Catalan Minister of Economy and Knowledge when the federation agreement was signed, and a round table discussion with the general managers of the four institutions in the UVic-UCC federation: in addition to Jordi Baiget, from FUBalmes, and Antoni Llobet, from FUBages, Marina Geli, from the Foundation for Advanced Health Sciences Studies, and Javier Peña, from the Elisava Foundation, will participate. The event, hosted by the journalist Albert Om, will also include video screenings, live music and institutional speeches by the mayors of Vic and Manresa, and the rector of UVic-UCC.

In addition to these two events, on 30 January the president of the Parliament of Catalonia Anna Erra will hold a reception in the Parliament's Assembly Hall for a delegation from UVic-UCC, which will include current representatives of the institution and people who played a key role in the federation process. The reception is a return to the same location where the federation agreement was signed on its tenth anniversary.