University of Girona (UdG) lecturer M. Rosa Terradellas has been honoured for her long professional career at the UdG encompassing teaching, research and management.
Ms Terradellas, born in Girona in 1954, is noted for her capacity to link the university with the social, economic and cultural players in the region, creating a network of relations between the university, institutions, foundations, entities, associations, and companies. This relationship with the social fabric has featured in all the lines of work she has been involved in.
As a teacher and researcher, she has been a tireless defender of education, inclusion, redressing inequalities and active methodologies, especially during childhood, and for many years she has worked on lifelong learning for primary-school teachers, understanding that the university has to advance together with schools. Her career led her to become a member of the Catalan Children’s and Adolescents’ Observatory, and she now sits on its Higher Evaluation Board.
She has maintained the same vision in all the posts she has occupied in university management, at the UdG Institute of Education Sciences, for example, in various positions at the Office of the Dean of the Faculty of Education and Psychology, or in running the University itself, through the Office of the Vice-Rector of International Cooperation, Students and Equality.
Another notable feature of her activity is her expertise in Cooperation for Development, which has made her a reference figure in Catalonia and elsewhere. She has played an active role in the solidarity committees of the Xarxa Vives university network and the Catalan university association ACUP, as well as the Spanish association CRUE. She was also an active member of the Cooperation Council of the Spanish government for 6 years.These responsibilities have led her to work with African and Latin American countries in particular, and at present she is doing some excellent work as an expert in several commissions and international groups, such as the UNESCO’s Social Responsibility Observatory of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Finally, her dedication to cooperation and social responsibility led her to lead the creation of the University Social Responsibility Chair, which she has directed from the beginning, and which strengthens the relationship the university has with local socially responsible companies. It has been and is a benchmark in Catalonia for boosting and disseminating social responsibility.