The Universitat Politècnica de València and the Network consolidate a strategic partnership to create synergies between universities, companies and public administrations in the sector
By Carmen Pi
The Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the Mining and Quarry Restoration Network (RMC) formalised a collaboration agreement last May to establish the Mining and Quarry Restoration Network Chair. The signing ceremony took place in the Honoris Hall of the UPV Rectorate and was presided over by the rector, José E. Capilla Romá. Also attending were the Vice-Rector for Employment, Lifelong Learning and Languages, Elena de la Poza Plaza; the Vice-Rector for Coexistence and Wellbeing, Santiago Guillem Picó; the director of the Higher Technical School of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Constanza Rubio Michavila; the director of the Chairs and Employment Area, Ignacio Gil Pechuán; the deputy director of Chairs and Company Placements at ETSIAMN, M. Loreto Fenollosa Ribera; and the director of the new chair, Antonio Torregrosa Mira.
Representing the RMC Network were its president, Javier De la Villa Albares; technical director, Beatriz Olmo; secretary, Cristina Gil Monteso; and vice-president, Alejandro Guerrero. Other members of the RMC Network who supported the initiative were also present, along with representatives of the Generalitat Valenciana.
The new chair aims to serve as a meeting point between universities, companies and public administrations, and has been established with the intention of “promoting sustainable mining that is committed to the territory and aligned with the sector’s environmental and social challenges”, the initiative’s organisers explained.
During his speech, Network president Javier De la Villa Albares publicly thanked “the partners, institutions and professionals who have made the organisation’s extraordinary growth in such a short time possible”. “The creation of the chair will open up new avenues for collaboration with the university community and involve students, from the outset, in the challenges facing the mining sector, with training linked to practical experience and geared towards the future,” he said.
Along the same lines, Antonio Torregrosa, a UPV professor and director of the new chair, highlighted the project’s open and inclusive nature. “Although the agreement has been signed with the UPV, the chair is intended to represent all its partners, provide services to all of them and foster partnerships with the various universities and research centres that form part of the Network,” he said.
From the Universitat Politècnica de València, Constanza Rubio Michavila highlighted the value of this collaboration. “It is an honour and a privilege to have the Network involved in this project,” she said. “Linking training with professional practice is fundamental to preparing future professionals,” she added.
For her part, the Network’s technical director, Beatriz Olmo, highlighted the role the chair will play in training and in connecting with the professional community. In her view, this partnership will facilitate “the organisation of technical sessions and training activities, contact between companies and research centres, promoting research and innovation in this field, and, above all, bringing students closer to a sector with great potential for transformation and environmental commitment”. She also highlighted that the chair will make it possible to “promote scholarship programmes, academic placements and undergraduate and master’s dissertations, connecting young talent with the sector’s real-world challenges”.
This step reinforces the Network’s commitment to continuing to lead, together with its partners, the development of good practices in mining restoration, and aligns with one of its major projects: the International Mining Restoration Congress, which will be held in València in 2026 and about which more information will be provided shortly.