The municipal plenary session of the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat approved, last Tuesday, February 25, a collaboration agreement between the local entity and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL). The agreement is part of the city’s strategic plan for scientific communication, LHCiencia, which aims, among others, to promote joint initiatives of dissemination, education and scientific communication with the research centre to turn both institutions into national benchmarks in health sciences. To this end, the City Council will contribute €85,000 per year between 2025 and 2028. 

With this contribution, it is expected to give continuity and facilitate the evolution of the scientific dissemination activities that IDIBELL has been carrying out for almost 10 years. Apart from organising talks, conferences and workshops, the most traditional forms of scientific dissemination, there are three formats that have already been consolidated and that have more impact on the city every year. These are the sLHam of women scientists, which fills the Barradas Auditorium one night in February a year to claim the Day of Women and Girls in Science; Sinergia, the party that opens the doors of the research centre to more than 300 citizens; and Stand-up Science, a project where IDIBELL’s youngest researchers present their own live monologue at the Summer Experience and then record it at the Torre Barrina digital innovation facilities. All these actions, together with other newly created initiatives, will be boosted thanks to the signing of this agreement, which in turn highlights the commitment of both institutions to continue bringing science closer to the public. 

This commitment is not new but confirms and expands the commitment of the city council to scientific dissemination. Over the last few years, the city has seen the birth of the LHCiencia programme, which has brought a wide variety of scientific and technical disciplines closer to the general population through channels such as libraries and cultural centres, but also municipal markets and bus stops. In addition, this agreement is aligned with the investment in science and medicine that has long been part of the local government’s objectives, focused on the progress and well-being of the territory, and will end up converging with the activity of the future BioCluster of Innovation and Health. 

All in all, the collaboration agreement is an important step to strengthen the collaboration between IDIBELL and the City Council, and a unique opportunity to bring biomedical research closer to the population. It is clear that scientific dissemination is key to promoting curiosity and learning and contributing to shaping a well-informed, critically thinking and scientifically trained society. 

The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a biomedical research center created in 2004. It is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Institute of Health, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. 

IDIBELL is a member of the Campus of International Excellence of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centers accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the “HR Excellence in Research” program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Center of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).