The scientific association CIRIEC-Spain, headquartered at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Valencia (UV), celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, it is organizing a major event, scheduled for June 25 at the University’s Paraninfo Hall, where the most significant milestones of its successful trajectory will be recalled, the result of intense collaboration between academia, business, and public administrations.
Indeed, over the course of four decades, CIRIEC-Spain has established itself as an essential benchmark in the rigorous analysis and dissemination of information on the social and cooperative economy. Its work has helped provide a scientific foundation to a field that for a long time remained insufficiently visible and recognized, contributing data (statistics), studies, and reflections that have strengthened the academic and institutional recognition of cooperativism, the social economy, and the third sector.
Beyond research, however, CIRIEC-Spain has built a valuable bridge between academia, economic and social realities, and public administrations. Thanks to its ability to bring together universities, public authorities, and social economy stakeholders, it has fostered better-informed public policies and regulations, thereby promoting a more inclusive, sustainable, and democratic economic model centered on people. This commitment to service and connection with society and its real needs is one of the reasons why its trajectory deserves special celebration.
Now, as it reaches its 40th anniversary, CIRIEC-Spain not only commemorates its history but also its continued relevance and future projection. In a global context marked by major social, political, economic, and environmental challenges, its role is more necessary than ever.
A Programme Focused on the Past, Present, and Future
The event at the University’s Paraninfo Hall will begin at 9:00 a.m. on June 25 and will be chaired by CIRIEC-Spain’s Director, José Luis Monzón. The opening session will feature speeches by the University of Valencia’s Vice-Rector for Culture, Albert Moncusí; Spain’s Secretary of State for the Social Economy, Amparo Merino; the Regional Secretary for Employment and Director General of Labora, Antonio Galvañ; the President of CEPES and Social Economy Europe, Juan Antonio Pedreño; the President of the Confederation of Cooperatives of the Valencian Community, Emilio Sampedro; the President of the Social Third Sector Platform of the Valencian Community, Luis Vañó; the President of CIRIEC-International, Bernard Thiry; and the President of CIRIEC-Spain’s Scientific Commission, Rafael Chaves, together with CIRIEC-Spain President Adoración Mozas.
The programme will continue with a brief presentation of CIRIEC-Spain’s historical trajectory by José Luis Monzón, accompanied by the screening of a broad selection of photographs. A tribute and recognition ceremony will also be held for three individuals who have collaborated with CIRIEC-Spain throughout much of its history: Sebastián Reyna, former Director General of Cooperatives of the Spanish Government and one of the driving forces behind the creation of CIRIEC’s Spanish section in the early 1980s; Miguel Ángel Cabra de Luna, executive at Fundación ONCE and member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) representing CEPES; and Nardi Alba, Director of the Confederation of Cooperatives of the Valencian Community.
The commemorative event will conclude with a keynote lecture by Professor Francisco Pérez García on “The Challenges Facing the Spanish Economy in the Current International Scenario,” a particularly relevant topic in a context shaped by geopolitical uncertainties, technological challenges, and the competitiveness challenges facing the European economy.
Francisco Pérez is one of the most influential figures in contemporary Spanish economic thought. Professor of Economic Analysis at the University of Valencia from 1986 to 2020, and Emeritus Professor at the same university since 2020, he is Director of Research at the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (Ivie), an institution that, under his leadership, has become one of Spain’s leading centres for applied economic analysis. He was awarded the Rei Jaume I Prize in Economics (2024) and the AFI Foundation Emilio Ontiveros Economics Award (2024).
The commemorative event will conclude with a reception in the historic La Nau building of the University of Valencia.
Last registrations: ciriec@uv.es
Download the event programme
More information: Tel. +34 96 382 84 89
