The UVic is the venue for three international conferences this spring

More than 190 representatives of faculties and higher education centres in the field of health and social studies from 20 European countries will be attending the annual meeting of the Consortium of Institutes of High Education in Health and Rehabilitation (COHEHRE) on the Vic campus of the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic -UCC) from 3 to 5 April. This will be the first of three international congresses at which lecturers and researchers in different knowledge areas of higher education will be meeting in the capital of the Osona region between now and June.

As well as the COHEHRE, organised by the Faculty of Health and Welfare Sciences (FCSB), from 24 to 26 April, Vic will be hosting the congress of the ETEN (European Teacher Education Network), an international education network, of which the Faculty of Education, Translation and Humanities (FETCH) is a member. Finally, the IROICA (International Relations Officers in Life Science Universities) network will also be holding its annual meeting at the UVic from 5 to 7 June, at a congress organised by the Faculty of Science and Technology (FCT) for international relations coordinators in the life sciences field at European universities.

COHEHRE: Good practices in health, social and rehabilitation education

The COHEHRE network facilitates the exchange of knowledge, good practices and experiences in inter-professional education in the fields of health, social and rehabilitation. The meeting that will take place in Vic next week will focus on exploring new trends in higher education and research on comprehensive patient-focused care. The debate will focus on three thematic areas in lectures, workshops and presentations: the increase in users and service providers; ethical and legal challenges; and eHealth, learning and new technologies.

The speakers that will be visiting the UVic over the three days include Jordi Serrano, the founder and CEO of UniversalDoctor, an application that facilitates multilingualism in communication between healthcare professionals and patients who do not share the same language, which has received several awards. Maria Jesús Salido, co-founder and general manager of the digital platform SocialDiabetis, which improves the management of the disease by encouraging collaboration between doctors and the Internet community, will also be participating. The opening session of the event will take place on 3 April (at 1 pm in the Aula Magna), and will feature contributions from the Vice-Rector for International Relations and Continuing Education, Joan Masnou, and the president of the Consortium, Jennifer Smith.

The UVic has been a member of COHEHRE since 2014, and is the only Catalan or Spanish centre in the network. According to Paola Galbany, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Welfare, "the UVic's admission to the consortium has been crucial for the Faculty's internationalisation, and this meeting in Vic is evidence of that." There will also be a meeting of deans of faculties, and of students during the congress.

ETEN: innovation and education. Where are we heading?

The fifty institutions linked to teacher training from all over the world that are members of the ETEN network will meet at UVic from 25 to 27 April. The congress aims to bring teachers from the field of education together to exchange experiences, engage in joint research activities and provide opportunities for cooperation, exchanges and publication. On this occasion, the centrepiece of the topics covered will be the binomial of innovation and education, and consideration of the direction those areas are moving in.

The event will start with an opening address by Llorenç Comajoan, coordinator of the research group on Education, Language and Literature (GRELL) at the UVic-UCC. The main bulk of the congress will be taken up with the work organised in 13 thematic interest groups covering education in very diverse and wide-ranging areas, including art and education, science and technology, urban education, special educational needs, and identity and diversity. One of these groups, on language education, will be coordinated by the FETCH professor Anna Vallbona, with Karmen Johansson from the University of Gothenburg. During the event, some of the visiting lecturers will give classes and lectures to students at the UVic-UCC, and they will also be visiting schools and centres in Vic and the Osona region.

The network was founded in 1988, and mainly includes faculties of education, but its members also include education and social authorities, teacher's associations and social educators. The FETCH joined in 2013 at the invitation of the University of Mondragon, and is the only Catalan institution that is a member.

IROICA: international relations and life sciences

The Iroica network will also be holding its annual meeting at the UVic from 5 to 7 June, involving international relations coordinators and offices in the life sciences field from various European universities. Through the Faculty of Science and Technology, the UVic has been a member of this network for four years and has established contacts with various members, including universities in Hungary and Croatia.

One of the objectives of the congress, which is held in a different European city every year, is to enhance the internationalisation of the network's members, in terms of cross-cultural competences and encouraging mobility in studies and internships. It is also a good opportunity for networking and discussing topical issues such as recent changes to the Erasmus programme and their consequences.

During the event, Vic will play host to fifty representatives of European universities in the network at a meeting that aims to be as sustainable as possible: among other measures, no paper or plastics will be used, and the food will be locally sourced. Speakers include Elena Tegovska, Policy Officer, Higher Education - Erasmus+ at the European Commission, who will be talking about the effects of Brexit on the new Erasmus programme; Agnes Leyer of the Central European University, who will be discussing the relationship between populism and the restriction of academic freedom; and Marta Rivera, director of the Chair in Agroecology and Food Systems of the UVic-UCC, who will be talking about the sustainable development goals of higher education institutions which teach life sciences.