The Ministry of Science and Innovation has renewed the distinction of “City of Science and Innovation” for Gandia and 15 other municipalities in Spain. This recognition is due to the commitment of the municipalities that put people at the center of their policies through knowledge and innovation.
The application to renew the distinction had the backing of organizations from Gandia and La Safor county, both businesses and institution that expressed their written support for renewing the distinction of Gandia as a City of Science and Innovation. Campus Gandia of the Universitat Politècnica de València had an active role in drafting the project, including the Safor Salut program, that was granted by the Secretary of State for Innovation.
Diana Morant, Minister for Science and Innovation, presided over the award ceremony that granted distinctions to 10 new “Cities of Science and Innovation” through the “Innpulso Network”, and the 16 renewals, recognizing cities and municipalities that have strongly committed to innovative local policies in their domain.
Diana Morant, Minister of Science and Innovation and former mayor of Gandia, emphasized that these cities have received this recognition for promoting initiatives based on innovation to transform their municipalities. “These municipalities have stepped onto the podium of the leading cities in innovation in our country,” she pointed out.T he Minister highlighted that these cities “have been recognized by the Government of Spain for having promoted initiatives based on innovation to transform their municipalities and create more and better job opportunities for their people, especially for young people.” Morant also detailed that a total of 90 cities of all sizes are part of the “Network of Cities of Science and Innovation”.
Débora Domingo, a professor at the Universitat Politècnica de València, participated in the event, giving the talk Rethinking Cities: Innovation for a Sustainable Future. Transformational Challenges facing Cities as Big Driver of Innovation.
Innpulso Network
Since 2010, the “Innpulso Network” has served a meeting forum to define innovative local policies and a space for sharing best practices for managing innovative policies and communication initiatives and disseminate these projects to the public. This Network has an increasingly active role in promoting innovative policies, such as the public procurement of innovation, support for SMEs, entrepreneurs and defining the criteria for innovation. It also promotes and supports participation in projects in the context of European programs.