Opening of El Carme Culture Centre in Badalona

From left to right, Juan Fernández, councillor for Education, Sports and Citizenship of Badalona City Council, the vice-rector Manel Viader and the major Xavier Garcia Albiol, during the opening ceremony.
From left to right, Juan Fernández, councillor for Education, Sports and Citizenship of Badalona City Council, the vice-rector Manel Viader and the major Xavier Garcia Albiol, during the opening ceremony.
Academic
(04/09/2013)
Yesterday, Wednesday 4 September, the major of Badalona, Xavier García Albiol, chaired the opening ceremony of the new El Carme Culture Centre, accompanied by the vice-rector for Teaching Policy of the UB, Manel Viader. During the event a commemorative plaque was uncovered. On 3 September, the rector of the UB, Dídac Ramírez, and García Albiol signed an agreement to concede a part of El Carme Culture Centre to the University of Barcelona. Both institutions will share the building that will host UB academic activities and the new headquarters of Badalonaʼs Tourism Office. The underground floor will host a shared- managed exhibition room.
From left to right, Juan Fernández, councillor for Education, Sports and Citizenship of Badalona City Council, the vice-rector Manel Viader and the major Xavier Garcia Albiol, during the opening ceremony.
From left to right, Juan Fernández, councillor for Education, Sports and Citizenship of Badalona City Council, the vice-rector Manel Viader and the major Xavier Garcia Albiol, during the opening ceremony.
Academic
04/09/2013
Yesterday, Wednesday 4 September, the major of Badalona, Xavier García Albiol, chaired the opening ceremony of the new El Carme Culture Centre, accompanied by the vice-rector for Teaching Policy of the UB, Manel Viader. During the event a commemorative plaque was uncovered. On 3 September, the rector of the UB, Dídac Ramírez, and García Albiol signed an agreement to concede a part of El Carme Culture Centre to the University of Barcelona. Both institutions will share the building that will host UB academic activities and the new headquarters of Badalonaʼs Tourism Office. The underground floor will host a shared- managed exhibition room.
 
El Carme Culture Centre, located at the corner of Carrer Francesc Layret and Carrer Sant Francesc dʼAssís, aims at being an emblematic building in Badalona due to its architectural singularity and the fact that the University of Barcelona has chosen it to offer some courses. It is a 3,500 square metre building with an underground floor, a ground floor, four storeys and an upper floor used for services.

This year, language courses (German, English, Italian, French, Japanese and Russian) set up UB offerings in Badalona. They will be taught by the School of Modern Languages (EIM) of the University. El Carme begins by offering about one thousand places in these language courses and between 6,000 and 7,000 places in other type of courses. Language courses in Badalona start on 2 October; enrolment is already opened.

Offerings will be complemented by subject-related courses to update professional knowledge and skills —computing, mediation, marketing, etc.—, culture courses on literature, history, classical music; university entrance examinations training, and over 55 year old training. UBʼs aim is to increase the range of courses and add new subjects.

It is import to highlight that the agreement between the UB and Badalona City Council states that Badalona inhabitants are able to enrol on UB courses under the same economic conditions than UB students. Moreover, it is planned to create a grant system addressed to Badalonaʼs best high school students. These students will be able to free enrol on UB language courses taught at El Carme Culture Centre.

During the signature of the agreement, the Rector of the UB showed his satisfaction from the agreementʼs success after other past attempts, and he assured that the relationship between the University and the city “will be strong, permanent and relevant”. He also affirmed that the UB goes for growing high-quality offerings in Badalona; he talked about complementary training but also about official undergraduate and masterʼs degrees. “The UB has a vocation for being the University of Catalonia”, underlined the Rector.

The major of Badalona stressed that, thanks to this agreement, the City Council has been able to achieve one of its pending matters: to bring the university “to Badalonaʼs heart”. Furthermore, he emphasized that the agreement between the UB and the City Council “has enabled to fulfil the Universityʼs wish to be present in Badalona and, at the same time, the City Councilʼs wish to give an important use to El Carme building”.