The first international Bioethics Congress at the UVic-UCC will bring together the main experts in this field from all over Spain

The most important figures in bioethics in Spain will be meeting at the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) on 24 and 25 January, at the First International Bioethics Congress which the institution is organising under the auspices of the Grífols Foundation Bioethics Chair. Based on a programme of lectures and round table discussions, it will examine, discuss and reflect on education and learning in this branch of ethics. The event, which will bring together more than 100 professionals, teachers and researchers related to this field, also aims to inspire and promote innovative teaching methods and research projects, in both the academic sphere and in clinical practice.

The speakers include Juan Pablo Beca and Victòria Camps

The speakers make up a broad spectrum of professionals from Spain and elsewhere, and come from various fields including psychiatry, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, philosophy and law, and all have expertise in bioethics as their common denominator. They include the Chilean doctor Juan Pablo Beca, who specialises in Paediatrics and Neonatology. Beca is the founder of the Bioethics Centre of the Faculty of Medicine at the Universidad del Desarrollo in Chile, where he also works as a lecturer, and is an honorary member of the Chilean Academy of Medicine. In Vic, he will taking part in a round table discussion on international experiences in the pedagogy of bioethics (11.15 am on 24 January), with Diego Real de Asúa, of the Francisco Vallés Institute of Clinical Ethics of the European University, and Chris Willmott, bioethicist and lecturer at the University of Leicester.

Begoña Román, president of the Ethics Committee of the Social Services of Catalonia and lecturer at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Barcelona (UB), will give the opening lecture, entitled "A pedagogy of pedagogical bioethics." The closing lecture, "Ethics and society", will be given by the philosopher and head of the Bioethics Chair Victoria Camps, Emeritus Professor of Moral Philosophy at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and President of the Víctor Grífols i Lucas Foundation.

The speakers also include Lydia Feito, philosopher and president of the Fundamental and Clinical Bioethics Association, and lecturer in Ethics at the Faculty of Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid, who will be discussing the future direction of Spanish bioethics at 5 pm on Friday 25 January. The round tables will also discuss issues such as the bioethical education of students and professionals, the challenges facing bioethics, and its need to open up to society.

All the sessions will take place in the Aula Magna of the Vic campus, where the opening ceremony will also be held (Thursday, 9:30 pm), with the rector of the UVic-UCC, Josep-Eladi Baños, and the director of the Grífols Foundation Bioethics Chair Núria Terribas. The programme will also include two sections featuring communications from researchers from all over Spain and elsewhere, which will be presented every day in parallel sessions and in various areas.

The programme is aimed particularly at university lecturers and researchers with studies in health sciences, philosophy and law, as well as members of professional colleges, members of scientific societies, ethics committees and bioethics associations.

Creation of a joint working network

On Wednesday 23 January, the day before the congress starts, a satellite seminar will take place involving bioethics experts from all over Spain, to create a joint working and research network to carry out collaborative and multidisciplinary projects. This will the first time that a meeting of this type has brought together the most important figures in bioethics in Spain, in order to combine the experience in teaching and research in bioethics of professionals linked to various institutions, to ppool their knowledge and to generate new dynamics and shared projects, under the leadership of the UVIC-UCC Bioethics Chair.

For the organisation of this event, the Chair is working with the UVic-UCC research groups TR2Lab (Tissue repair and regeneration), M3O (Methodology, Methods, Models and Health and Social Outcomes) and SaMIS (Mental Health and Social Innovation) and the Medical Education Chair, under the umbrella of the Centre for Health and Social Care Research (CESS) and with the FORES (Osona Foundation for Health Research and Education) providing technical secretary services.