On 29 and 30 June and 1 July, UIC Barcelona hosted the Annual University Sports Conference, the first working meeting organised by the University since taking over as coordinator of the 2026-2027 Catalan University Championships (CCU). The meeting, which took place at Hotel Montanyà in the Montseny Natural Park, gathered the heads of the sports services from Catalan universities to begin planning the next edition of the Championships and strengthen coordination among the participating institutions.

The institutional welcome was delivered by Dr Esther Jiménez, vice-rector for Students and Sustainability at UIC Barcelona, who thanked the members of the university sports services for their dedication and highlighted the value of these collaborative forums: “The strength of university sport in Catalonia does not lie in any one university, but in our ability to work together, to contribute different perspectives and to prioritise the common good,” she remarked.

During her address, the Vice-Rector also referred to the recent transfer of responsibility for coordinating the Championships from the University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) to UIC Barcelona. She described the handover as “a vote of confidence” and reasserted the University’s commitment to working collaboratively to ensure that the Catalan University Championships remain a shared initiative across the Catalan university system.

Over the course of three days, university representatives discussed the main organisational and technical aspects of the forthcoming edition of the Championships, with working sessions focused on coordinating the competition, sharing experiences and defining the key priorities for the academic year ahead.

The Vice-Rector also highlighted the role of university sport as a tool for fostering students’ holistic development and strengthening the university community. In this regard, she noted that “university sport is not peripheral to the University’s mission; it is central to it,” in reference to UIC Barcelona’s commitment to humanising the transformation of society.

Also present at the conference were representatives from the General Secretariat of the Catalan Sports Council, including Oriol Marcè, deputy director general for Sports Activities, and Judit Viaña, head of Gender and Cross-Cutting Sports Programmes. 

This conference marks the beginning of the organisational work leading up to the 42nd edition of the Catalan University Championships, slated to take place during the 2026-2027 academic year. The competition will draw thousands of students from Catalonia’s twelve universities and will be coordinated by UIC Barcelona during the coming academic year.