The Minister of Universities, Research and Innovation, José Carlos Gómez Villamandos encourages universities to take advantage of available resources, through the European Investment Bank, “to commit to changing their infrastructure to make them more efficient and comfortable and adapt it to the demands of energy efficiency”. This was revealed during the presentation ceremony of the building of the Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, located in the expansion of the Teatinos campus of the University of Malaga.
In this context, Gómez Villamandos recalled that “academic institutions are references for the implementation of new methods of energy improvement became in many cases testing grounds for this type of initiatives efficiency and savings”. Therefore, “this European support will be an opportunity for leadership campuses, in the current context of the energy crisis, the implementation of sustainable, competitive, safe and decarbonized models and systems”, he pointed out.
During his speech, the head of the University recalled the determined commitment of the Andalusian Government to public universities will intensify in the coming years with a new financial model, and assured that “never before” have academic institutions in the region had more funding than at this time. Specifically, he wants to promote an increase of 18% in 2023 compared to 2018.
Villamandos congratulated the University of Malaga for having this new building that houses the Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy at UMA, “which opened its doors last year and has been. recognized for his new technique, due to its originality of spaces, its lightness, and being a energy efficiency benchmark.” “Architecture, functionality, and efficiency are perfectly combined in this new building that strengthens the wide offer of training in the Teatinos campus of the University of Malaga “, he emphasized.
On the other hand, Gómez Villamandos emphasized the importance of this work, considering it “the most important.” This is because it represents the creation of a new directed faculty to train professionals who specialize in “emotional well-being” which plays a fundamental role in improving the quality of people’s lives because of its strong commitment.
The advisor referred to a state study on the mental health of students in Spanish universities in the first quarter of 2023, where it is clear that more than 50% of university students understand the need for psychological support due to mental health problems. and more than 50% consulted a health professional for a mental health program, with a prevalence of moderate or severe anxiety of approximately one in every two students.
Because of this, Gómez Villamandos stated that Society needs universities with a soul, more humane, that can meet people’s needs “Because mental health disorders are one of the great challenges of our century that we need to address.”
Finally, Villamandos emphasized the strong commitment of the Andalusian Government to promote The inclusion of Andalusian universities to move towards excellence because public academic institutions, in addition to providing “quality” teaching and “doing the best research”, must continue to “advance training values.”
