New impetus for the Campus of the Arts

Group picture after the event.
Group picture after the event.
Institutional
(14/07/2022)

The rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia, and the Minister for education, Josep Gonzàlez-Cambray, signed today an agreement to work on the Campus of the Arts, a project led by the UB which includes the participation of all the entities that are currently offering artistic higher education in Catalonia. During the event, the participation in the Campus was formalized with the signing of the annex to the agreement by thirteen schools in the field of artistic education linked to the Department of Education of the Catalan Government.

Group picture after the event.
Group picture after the event.
Institutional
14/07/2022

The rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia, and the Minister for education, Josep Gonzàlez-Cambray, signed today an agreement to work on the Campus of the Arts, a project led by the UB which includes the participation of all the entities that are currently offering artistic higher education in Catalonia. During the event, the participation in the Campus was formalized with the signing of the annex to the agreement by thirteen schools in the field of artistic education linked to the Department of Education of the Catalan Government.

The agreement states the important number of students in artistic higher education in Catalonia —more than 8,000, with around 2,000 incoming students and more than 1,500 graduates per year. The Campus of the Arts is a space for universities and arts centres to share resources and develop joint activities, from a complementary and interdisciplinary approach, to work on artistic research from a more applied perspective, to promote the transfer of knowledge, and to train and specialize artistic teaching staff. The situation allows for the development of post-graduate, master's and doctoral studies and R&D&I capacity. However, it points out that the fragmentation of the offer into twenty-two centres of very different types (university, university-affiliated, public higher and private higher) means that the diversity of higher degrees or university degrees is very limited (average of one per centre) and that master's studies are still in the minority (less than 6% of the total number of students). This situation also hinders the development of third cycle, master's and doctoral studies and R&D capacity. The Campus of the Arts is intended to form a network with all the country's universities and centres for university and higher education in the arts in order to address these challenges. The aim is to create a shared institutional framework and, above all, an initial programme of common activities and services.

The agreement outlines the different basic lines of activity of the Campus of the Arts: interdisciplinary research, with special emphasis on the promotion of applied research, through the development of R&D projects and the creation of doctoral programmes; master's and postgraduate courses, mainly focused on scientific and applied training and teacher training; knowledge transfer activities; internationalisation and exchanges; an observatory of artistic education; and institutional relations oriented towards administrations but also towards cultural industries, major facilities and the professional sector.

Today, the addendum was signed by the School of Design and Visual Arts of Catalonia, the School of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage of Catalonia, the Catalonia College of Music (ESMUC), the Theatre Institute, Taller de Músics, the Jam Session Music Centre, the design schools LCI, IED and CampusNET, the School of Dramatic Art Aeolian ESAD, and SAE school of music.

Rector Joan Guàrdia defined the Campus of the Arts as “the joint commitment to teaching”. He mentioned the importance of the project to broaden the view of science and innovation in Catalonia: “The Campus of the Arts is and will be essential to show that when we talk about science and knowledge generation we mean more than what one believes”. Minister Gonzàlez-Cambray noted: “today we brought together different backgrounds, experiences, ways of doing things and points of view. Therefore, we are committed to developing the artistic higher education studies in Catalonia”.

At the moment, in addition to the UB and the Ministry of Education, other participants in the project of the Campus of the Arts include: the Ministry for Research and Universities, the Barcelona City Council, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Open University of Catalonia, the University of Girona, the Technical University of Catalonia, Pompeu Fabra University, University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, the Faculty of Fine Arts of the UB, UOC Arts and Humanities Studies, Elisava (University School of Design and Engineering of Barcelona), the Cinema and Audiovisual School of Catalonia (ESCAC), the University Centre for Design and Art of Barcelona (EINA), Massana School (Art and Design Centre), ERAM-UdG University School, BAU (University Centre for Arts and Design of Barcelona), Higher School of Design (ESDi), which had signed the addendum last November.