Friday, 09/07/2021 - 13:48

Los Jerónimos Monastery hosted the presentation of the Chair of Research on Circular Economy and CSR, promoted by Nutripeople and Agringenia and co-directed by Dr. Víctor Meseguer and Valentín Molina, which is linked to the research group ‘Social Responsibility, Circular Economy and Innovation’ of UCAM.  It will be responsible for developing research projects and transferring its studies to society through the company ‘Circular Economy Consulting’, thanks to the agreement signed by the latter with UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia. The chair has also two main lines of research in social responsibility and innovation and in circular economy and engineering. 

The event, held on Wednesday evening, was attended by many companies, most of them belonging to the agri-food sector of the Region, which is strategic for this area with a huge strength and capacity for innovation (producers, exporters, financial institutions). The event highlighted the need to change the paradigm of consumption, based on the linear economy (which consists of transforming raw materials and throwing away the remains, generating waste), to a circular one (in the reuse and regeneration of resources) for which UCAM and the collaborating companies are developing strategies to put it into practice.

The presentation was attended by UCAM representatives José Luis Mendoza García, Estrella Núñez and the director of the Chair, Víctor Meseguer, and, on behalf of Circular Economy Consulting, Gema Alcazar, Reyes Samper and Jesús Molina, and Joaquín Gómez, director of the Instituto de Fomento de la Región de Murcia, which has supported this change towards a circular economy, especially in the agri-food sector of the Region. Furthermore, during the event, an award was given to Enrique Ayuso, president of HEFAME, for his constant involvement with the SR Chair, sponsoring and implementing the first collection of monographs on circular and inclusive economy through Aranzadi publishing house and UCAM.

Manuel Navarro, responsible for Acciona’s Water Cycle explained that “in Murcia we have learned to use water properly with very high levels of efficiency; when we compare these with the rest of Spain and other countries we see that our results are very good and sometimes we don’t know how to sell this”. Navarro added that “what is happening here is a success story and this must be written down in a book and disseminated. I am saying this to the Public Administration of the Region and to the Murcia sanitation company; it is a success story thanks to the efforts of all Murcians that we know how to use water drop by drop”.

Navarro stressed the need for seawater desalination as a complement to irrigation, “today, sea water desalination by reverse osmosis is a mature, non-polluting technology at reasonable prices, so that agriculture, mixing this water with other sources and even reducing the level of boron, increasing the salts with a mixture of other waters, would be a necessary measure”.

Support for the circular economy and the agricultural sector

UCAM is working to promote circular economy through different actions such as the teaching of the University Expert degree in Circular Economy and Engineering, and the aforementioned Chair of Circular Economy and CSR, as well as the agricultural sector, through the UCAM-Banco Santander Chair in the Agri-Food Area, the European Project H2020 on the Mar Menor, research for sewage treatment, etc.

Brilliant flamenco closing ceremony

The coming-out of the new chair concluded with a performance by the flamenco singer and guitarist from La Mancha Ricardo Fernández del Moral, winner of the Lámpara Minera at the Festival Internacional del Cante de las Minas in 2021, in the singing category, considered the most prestigious award in the world of flamenco.

The event ended with a beer tasting and pairing courtesy of Grupo Mahou San Miguel, Nutripeople and Agronginia, which was masterfully developed by the Alkimia Restaurant in Alcantarilla.  

Circular Economy Consulting

To articulate the transfer or knowledge in the field of circular economy, UCAM has created Circular Economy Consulting, where researchers and professionals join forces to generate services for companies. These include the implementation of circular economy and engineering projects and improvements in business management; materiality studies, sustainability reports and non-financial reports; management of national and European projects, development of Next Generation plans; equality, diversity, mediation, collective bargaining, arbitrage and risk prevention plans; good governance and integrity programmes (code of ethics, code of conduct and compliance); promotion and development of human capital and talent management, design and implementation of automations, productivity tools, big data and blockchain; and business communication, public affairs, brand positioning and community manager.