Video of the Annual Act of Regional Policy and European Funds in Spain 2022 (Youtube)
Four innovative and social projects were awarded by the General Secretariat of European Funds of the Ministry of Finance and Public Service in the latest edition of the event recognising the
best communication practices of ERDF Funds (European Regional Development Fund).
In the framework of the ‘Annual Act of Regional Policy and European Funds in Spain 2022’, more than 270 professionals from the various Spanish public administrations, experts in the management and communication of projects financed by the European Union, met in Madrid, in the auditorium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reconvened in person after the last two editions carried out virtual by the pandemic.
The opening of the event was attended by the words of Caroline Callens, Head of Unit of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, and Mercedes Caballero, Secretary-General for European Funds, who stressed the importance of bringing to society the impact of the funds on improving the quality of life.
The prizes were awarded by three finalist projects in each of the four categories.
In the
category of ERDF Regional, the winner was the
FoodRation4All project “Nobody without their daily ration”, with the support of the Valencian Community. It is an initiative aimed at putting an end to the 'starvation queues', and it consists of the digitisation of a system of donations to the Food Banks in Spain, thereby favouring the social inclusion of people in need of food aid. In this case, the company received a loan of EUR 232,500, co-financed at 50% by the ERDF. He collected the trophy of Kilian Zaragoza, CEO of FoodRation4All.
In the
category of AGE POPE (Multiregional Operational Programme of Spain), the prize was awarded to the High
Sensitivity Molecular Image (IMAS) project, an initiative of EUR 7.5 million, cofinanced 50% with ERDF funds through the FID SALUD Programme of the Ministry
of Science. This new equipment will improve the diagnostic certainty and the assessment of the response to the treatment of different pathologies. They took up the Irene Torres prize, a specialist in hospital radiophysics at the University and Polytechnic Hospital of La Fe, and Aida López, the manager of the technical office of IMAS.
In the
category of Municipal Councils POPE, the
City of Salamanca awarded the prize for its urban gardens project, on the banks of the river Tormes, which is one of the largest green lungs of the city: 100,000 m2 with 617 urban gardens. He received the trophy Raúl Martín, Communications Officer of EDUSI TORMES+.
Finally, in the
category of Territorial Cooperation, the MOAI
LABS project, supported by the Interreg Sudoe Programme, focused on combating unwanted loneliness in the elderly, seeks to establish the first transnational European laboratory dedicated to R&D&I against unwanted loneliness. Raquel Losada, responsable de I+D, y María José Hernández, responsable de Proyectos, ambas de Fundación INTRAS, recogieron el premio.
During the event, the winners of the last two years also gathered their trophies. In 2021, it was for the Gliders Scientific Equipment and Fleet Acquisition Project for Research in the Mediterranean, in the Balearic Islands. And in 2020 it was for the project of the City of Quart de Poblet (Valencia) of urban regeneration of Trafalgar Street and Villalba de Lugo Avenue.