By Pere Martínez Pastor (UVEG)

Last May 18th, Pau Rausell, professor of the University of Valencia (UVEG) and member of the DESIGNSCAPES consortium, was appointed as a key member of the expert group on the Special Commission for the Reconstruction by the city council of Valencia. In this role, he will be responsible for the economic aspect of the reconstruction plan for the Spanish city in the post-COVID-19 pandemic period.

Dr. Pau Rausell is director of the Research Unit for Economics of Culture and Tourism at the University of Valencia and Principle Investigator of the same university engaged in the DESIGNSCAPES project, a EU-funded initiative responsible for the development of policy recommendations to boost design-enabled innovation in urban environments.

“The Valencian government has once again trusted the DESIGNSCAPES team for the city’s innovative projects.”

Dr. Rausell was also instrumental in helping the city of Valencia win the bid for the World Design Capital 2022 — which has been viewed as an evident impact of DESIGNSCAPES on the pursuit of design adoption in EU cities by our project officer and expert reviewers of the European Commission. In view of his knowledge and experience in design-enabled innovation and development, this appointment shows the commitment of the municipal government of Valencia to ensure reconstruction of the city is guided by design and co-creation approaches.

Design and urban innovation have played a crucial role for the city in recent years, as exemplified by World Design Capital 2022, selected as one of DESIGNSCAPES’ 70 City Snapshots case studies. With the great success of the collaboration between DESIGNSCAPES project partners and Valencian institutions during the preparation of the Valencia WDC 2022 candidature, the Valencian government has once again trusted the DESIGNSCAPES team for the city’s innovative projects.

The expert group on the Special Commission for the Reconstruction of Valencia will continue working under the same values represented by the DESIGNSCAPES project, which were already included in the road map even before the start of the pandemic. The role of the commission will be to design a structural plan for the city so as to minimize the impact of the current health crisis.

Photo: Dr. Pau Rausell (right) and Valencia Mayor Joan Ribó