10 years of the federation between FUBalmes and FUBages

Such is the case that, in the words of Albert Castells, mayor of Vic and president of FUBalmes, “it is no longer possible to imagine Vic and Manresa without its university, without its facilities, without its activity, without its ability to attract talent from outside and retain local talent,” and without its contribution in the form of “knowledge, cultural wealth and the added branding that comes from having a university”. Marc Aloy, mayor of Manresa and president of FUBages, agrees. He stated that the construction of a shared university has made it possible to have a “stronger university, with more students, more lecturers, more studies, more research and a greater economic impact.” He noted that UVic-UCC "draws from two municipal projects born from two cities that, at that time, did not have a public university and decided to build their own project in the form of their own university with an clear vocation to serve the public.”

The result of broad views and a strategic vision

Looking back, Joan Turró, former director general of FUBalmes, noted that the federation is “the result of the great strategic vision” of those who were mayors of Vic and Manresa at the time: Josep Maria Vila d'Abadal and Valentí Junyent, respectively. He added that “after ten years, it is a recognized, consolidated project, a Catalan project and a project of great success for Central Catalonia.” Vila d'Abadal considers that it was a “point of consolidation, for the future” for what was then the University of Vic, which enabled UVic-UCC to be and do what it is and does today. Junyent highlighted its key role in ensuring that “the two cities have a stronger university project” and as an instrument to achieve milestones that each foundation would not have achieved separately. Valentí Martínez, former general director of FUBages, identified three areas in which the University faces challenges: governance, that is, how decisions should be made within the framework of the federation; access to public funding for all foundations; and the adaptation of the academic offer to the needs of the new times.

Pere Quer, former vice-rector of the Office for Academic Affairs at UVic-UCC, who actively participated in the process of drawing up the federation agreement, noted that “we all broadened our views due to the federation agreement.” Like Imma Ubiergo, former deputy to the general director of FUBages who was also directly involved in the project in those early moments, emphasized that “it generated trust between the two cities, Manresa and Vic, a trust that can be extrapolated to other areas of cooperation today.” Josep Arimany, president of the Foundation for Advanced Studies in Health Sciences (FESS), the institution that owns the Faculty of Medicine, agreed. He stated that “the invisible wall that stood between the two cities no longer exists,” and that this strengthened the University as a common project.

Celebrating ten years thinking about the future

The general consensus on the federation agreement’s positive impact on the foundations, the respective regions and the university system as a whole prompted the commemoration of the signature of this agreement on its tenth anniversary. A private reception in Parliament by the president of the institution, Anna Erra, was the first of the celebratory events, on the same date as the tenth anniversary: 30 January 2024. Subsequently, two institutional events were organized: the first in Manresa on 2 February and the second in Vic on 8 February.

The event in Manresa was attended by the Catalan Minister for Research and Universities, Joaquim Nadal, who took the opportunity to describe the UVic-UCC university model as "unique and outstanding, a model of success that makes a great contribution to the Catalan university model.” According to Nadal, its hybrid model gives the University “flexibility and freedom” and is the result of a shared aim “that breaks the inertia of stubborn individualism and looks at geography in a broad way.” Nadal said that the federation agreement has been positive for Vic and Manresa, and for Catalonia as a whole. In his speech, he took the opportunity to announce the Catalan Government's intention to make public funding available to FUBages, just as it is available to FUBalmes through the programme agreement. The Minister for Universities and Research, Joaquim Nadal, considers that the UVic-UCC is a good idea that can build a better future through “continuing to join forces, add resources and propose new challenges.”

The Paranymph of the UVic-UCC hosted the closing of the anniversary celebration. There were moments to recall those who made the federation agreement possible and to reflect on the future of the University. In this regard, the Catalan Government’s former Minister of Economy and Knowledge, Andreu Mas-Colell, interviewed by the journalist Albert Om, invited the UVic-UCC to “do more research and knowledge transfer linked to the needs of the territory, to attract international students to be more competitive and to put continuous training on the same level as standard courses.” He also said that, with the federation, UVic-UCC had remedied the lack of regional balance in the field of higher education and he indicated that it could become, in the future, the private, face-to-face, secular university that Catalonia does not have at this time.

A positive assessment

Considering the last ten years, the federation agreement can be considered highly positive for UVic-UCC as a whole from different perspectives: in figures for the 2022-2023 academic year, UVic-UCC has increased the number of students taking standard studies to 10,723, the number of researchers to 548 and the resources obtained in competitive research calls to €6.8 m, among other milestones. These are figures that place it, in terms of volume, in a similar position to the rest of Catalan regional universities.

The federation of the two foundations has also been a turning point, bringing recognition and prestige to the UVic-UCC, both in the local and international context. In 2022, UVic-UCC entered THE World University Rankings (THE WUR) for the first time. This is one of the most prestigious rankings in the world, based on the analysis of thirteen indicators in the areas of teaching, research, knowledge transfer and internationalization. Currently, UVic-UCC is in THE WUR 2024 position 800-1000 on an international scale and position 17-35 at state level. The sum of the efforts of the federated centres has given the University greater muscle and has taken it beyond its immediate regional environment.

The Faculty of Medicine and IRIS-CC, great achievements of the federation

The creation of the Foundation for Advanced Studies in Health Sciences (FESS), owner of the Faculty of Medicine, is another of the great successes of the federation between FUBalmes and FUBages. It was set up in 2015, as a joint initiative, and made it possible to add the degree in Medicine initially, and degrees in Dentistry and General Audiology more recently, to the offering of degrees at UVic-UCC. Without the sum of the two foundations, it would have been unthinkable to offer these studies in Central Catalonia. Marina Geli, director general of FESS, confirmed this: “Clearly, the federation agreement is the catalyst without which the UVic-UCC Faculty of Medicine would not have been possible.” This was an ambition shared by more agents from Osona and from Bages: everyone joined in, “from the bishop to civil society, business and academia, everyone wanted medicine studies to be offered in the region.”

The establishment of the Institute for Research and Innovation in Life Sciences and Health in Central Catalonia (IRIS-CC) is another of the milestones of UVic-UCC, which would not have been possible without the two foundations’ capacity to influence and their solid position in the field of health sciences. IRIS-CC was launched on 1 June 2022 and is currently working to become a leading centre in research and innovation at local and international scale, through the quality of its scientific output and its comprehensive approach to health and its challenges.

A university rooted in the territory

FUBalmes and FUBages share a close link with municipalism (in both cases, their boards of trustees are chaired by the mayor of the city in which they are located, that is, Vic and Manresa). This means that they have a clear vocation to serve the region. This spirit has been transferred to the University as a whole, which has become an instrument for positive transformation of the environment and a door that connects local realities with global challenges and opportunities.

Pioneers in integrating higher professional training into the university

Also in the framework of cooperation between the two foundations, the UVic-UCC has been at the forefront of developing its own model of integration of higher vocational training in a university environment, through the Professional Campus. This is a model that goes beyond incorporating higher vocational training cycles (CFGS) into its offer of standard degrees. It promotes the establishment of linking agreements with secondary education centres to provide academic pathways between higher studies: either between CFGS and degrees, or vice versa.

The global vision of higher education that integrates both higher vocational training and university studies is a distinctive feature of UVic-UCC. The joint work between FUBalmes and FUBages, both in terms of reflection on the model and its implementation on the ground, has allowed it to be shaped and grow in terms of the volume of university-specific qualifications, students and linking agreements with centres in its geographical area of influence.

Elisava, one foot in Barcelona

The federation agreement that was signed ten years ago was conceived, from the outset, as a structure open to new additions. In 2016, the Foundation for Advanced Studies in Health Sciences (FESS) was added. This was created by FUBalmes and FUBages to be the owner of the Faculty of Medicine. The federation grew from internal movements.

Later, in 2020, the federation incorporated the Elisava University School Foundation, in a new movement that was external this time. This represented a leap forward, since it incorporated new areas of expertise into the University, such as that of design; expanded the federation with a new member; and made it more solid, diverse and plural. Javier Peña, director general of the Elisava Foundation, believes that, with the federation agreement, the institution he directs “has taken a leap forward in quality. It has become a university, within the framework of a medium-sized university such as UVic-UCC.” It has formed “the largest design faculty that currently exists in Catalonia and the one with the most design students both in Catalonia and in Spain.”

Elisava has contributed to UVic-UCC its extensive experience in the field of lifelong postgraduate training and has opened the door to having a University campus in Barcelona. The presence of the University in the Catalan capital has reinforced its vision of Catalonia from which it is projected worldwide.