We are Europe, and we are present. From the windows of Kveloce’s new office, right in the historic centre of Valencia, you can see the Miguelete, the 15th century Gothic bell tower that identifies the city. The most important event of that century was the discovery of the New World. 600 years later, the new world is Europe. Europe: the place to be.
In the 21st century we do not need ships or armour to conquer it, we need science, innovation, transnationality, talent to be up to the task and, most of all, we need to know the rules of the game to access funds for people and projects aligned with the objectives of the new world to which we belong.
Kveloce has assembled the team that makes it possible to be where we need to be and, in 2022, has created the workspace in which all the projects to come will take shape. Today, the 19 people who form part of this team, each and every one of them key players for the present and the future, inaugurate our new office, accompanied by the people who count on and collaborate with our team, representatives of the quadruple helix of innovation, research professionals, companies, public administration and non-profit organisations and/or civil society, friends all.
We have had the good fortune to be accompanied by Jorge Garcés (Director of the Research Institute of the University of Valencia, Polibienestar) and Estrella Durá (Socialist MEP in the European Parliament), who have followed every step of this Kveloce adventure. And of course, as it could not be otherwise, we were accompanied by Carmel Gradoli, the architect of this great work of architecture.
This day has been very special, and we have been able to share it with representatives of several entities that are part of our great Kveloce family and make our development and growth possible:
AEIOLUZ
Algar Aráez Asociados
Ayuntamiento de Valencia
CIPF Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe
CETECK
DEVSTAT
DSSoftware
Instituto de Investigación de la Universidad de Valencia, Polibienestar
Instituto de Rehabilitación Neurológica (IRENEA)
Las Naves
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia
Infinite thanks to all the people who make it possible for Kveloce to continue taking firm steps towards the future.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Vegetas, a sustainable catering company offering organic vegan and organic products, for the service they provided at this event, which has displayed all their culinary arts. And of course, also to the musical group Dixie Jumble, who made sure we couldn’t stop moving our feet with their Swing/Blues from Valencia.
Thanks to the photography work of Iván Oliver. He always brings out our “good side”.
We are Europe
At a strategic level, Kveloce is working with the specialised consultancy IFEDES (www.ifedes.com) on the implementation of a strategic and internationalisation plan for the company for the next 5 years. The launch of the Brussels office, scheduled for the first half of 2023, is one of the first results of this reflective work and the maturity of the company. With this objective in mind, Gio Paolo Baglioni joined the team in October this year and is in charge of the disembarkation in one of the innovation hubs in Brussels, the hub.brussels building in the European capital.
To keep up, we need talent
Throughout 2022, the consolidation of the team and the recruitment of talent at Kveloce has been fundamental. This year, two highly experienced and experienced consultants and top-level scientific staff have joined the team. We now have Almudena Sánchez, senior consultant and European project manager; Gabriela Munares, senior consultant in R&D&I and researcher in social sciences, with a master’s degree in Big Data; and Leticia Pérez Saiz, researcher in biomedical sciences. In addition, we are in the process of recruiting another researcher in biotechnology and we have open applications for senior consultants.
Kveloce: consultancy for Europe’s research elite
The European Research Center awards large ERC grants to projects carried out by research professionals of any nationality. At Kveloce we have advised more than 40 researchers to access these funds, and we have participated in the success, among others, of one of the only two Spanish ERC Synergy Grants, from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, funded with 10 million euros (ERC Synergy Grants 2022 – project highlights | ERC (europa.eu)). We are thus positioned as a consultant in these services for Europe’s research elite.
The European Commission has once again committed to scientific and technical research as a driver of change and has allocated 95.5 billion euros to the Horizon Europe 2021/27 programme, with a focus on research and innovation. This year, we at Kveloce are adding two more macro projects with Horizon Europe funding, the first of the EC research framework programme 2021-2027. They deal with indoor air quality and health (K-inHealthAir), climate change and mitigation and adaptation policies (DISTENDER). DISTENDER has 31 partners from 12 countries and works to build a methodological framework that integrates different types of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in six European cities and regions. The first results of the implementation of K-inHealthAir and DISTENDER will be available in 2023.
The million-euro challenge
This year, Kveloce has exceeded one million euros in returns for the first time, with more than 32 projects underway, led by and shared with many of the attendees at the opening party of the new Valencia office.
We have launched, in addition to the Horizon Europe projects already mentioned:
GREEN Factor, an Erasmus+ project to raise awareness of the global need for environmental protection, aimed at young people aged 16-30.
SDGiLevel. Erasmus+ project that aims to use innovative tools to achieve sustainable impact in three thematic areas of higher education: (1) sustainable development, (2) digital innovation and (3) mental well-being of higher education staff.
OceanNight, funded by Horizon 2020, a didactic and multi-centric approach that aims to promote the importance of marine ecosystems and ocean culture.
Mednight Go to School and Mednigh Europe. Financed with funds from the Horizon 2020 programme. The aim is to generate Mediterranean unity, raising awareness of common problems, fostering scientific careers, strengthening the commitment and progress of research staff, and placing science and scientists at the cornerstone of our future.
GaminGEE, an Erasmus + project to prevent gender inequality from an early age (between 9 and 15 years old), aimed at changing mentalities related to biased gender roles and eliminating tolerance to any form of violence and psychosocial patterns that contribute to its perpetuation, through an attractive toolkit for educators and families and a video game for children.
This has been the second year of development of, among others, Agro2Circular, Wellbased and Cancerless, major Horizon Europe projects, and we have seen the results of enDansa, a pilot project to make the Nazaret neighbourhood more inclusive using contemporary dance, led by the architecture cooperative Fent Estudi from Valencia.
In the last period of 2022 we have been aware of the approval of 7 more projects, and we are awaiting the resolution of many others. We are sure that other new projects are still to come.
And so, there were many reasons to celebrate the present and the future. We opened an office in Valencia, and we are going to Brussels. We are moving forward. The wind is favourable.
