The research group Post-Growth Innovation Lab from the Universidade de Vigo (UVigo) will extend its activities to the Maruxa Mallo International Center for Creativity, located in a municipal building in Pontevedra. The agreement, announced by the campus's vice-rector, Marián Fernández, and the Councilor for City Promotion, Anabel Gulías, foresees the group, coordinated by researcher Mario Pansera, using the third floor of this center, inaugurated in September.
Councilor Anabel Gulías explained that the City Council is presenting the entities that will occupy the building, highlighting the agreement with UVigo as the first to be finalized. Furthermore, she added that efforts are underway to ensure that Campus Crea also has spaces within this center, which she described as an "idyllic" location for the specialization project's growth.
Vice-rector Marián Fernández emphasized the importance of "synergies with the City Council" for the academic institution, particularly in providing new spaces for a leading group with approximately 20 researchers and management staff. This new space will complement their headquarters at the Xunta de Galicia in Benito Corbal and will be dedicated to knowledge transfer. The objective is to advance towards the accreditation of Campus Crea as a specialization campus of the Galician University System by 2028, one of the conditions for which is having "own Crea spaces, solid and continuous over time".
The coordinator of the Post-Growth Innovation Lab, Mario Pansera, expressed his satisfaction with having a space that fosters "collaboration between art and science," as was done in 2024 at the International Degrowth Conference. He announced that one of the first events will be an international workshop on technology and time in April 2027, which will feature international participation.
Pansera recalled that the Post-Growth Innovation Lab was established in 2021 and benefits from a Starting Grant from the European Research Council amounting to 1.5 million euros. Over the next four years, the group anticipates funding close to two million euros through various projects, many with a "more territorial focus" and "direct impact on the local population".
Cristina Vázquez, the group's manager, presented initiatives such as the ODS Platform, which monitors the fulfillment of Sustainable Development Goals in Spanish municipalities, with results to be presented this Friday at the Vice-Rectorate. She also mentioned the ConCiencia Local project, which has created a municipal scientific advisory committee to define housing recommendations based on scientific evidence.
Other ongoing projects include Postgrowth S.A.: Rural, focused on citizen science with secondary school students, and a new project funded by a European partnership that will analyze Pontevedra's mobility and pedestrianization model.
In 2027, the group will coordinate the European project Fair-Cycle, with a budget of approximately 5 million euros (800,000 for UVigo), focusing on "just circular economy." A project on climate change adaptation will also launch with UVigo's Future Oceans Lab, and a Marie Curie researcher will join next academic year.
