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"What they have taught me today here at the UPV is surprising, because we need this knowledge to try to make the industrial reconversion that is affecting the automotive sector as painless as possible, and I believe that here, at the CMT, solutions are being put in place so that, in the future, there are possibilities of maintaining the automotive sector, especially in the Valencian Community".

These are the words of Antonio González, Mayor of Almussafes, after finishing his visit to the University Research Institute CMT - Clean, Mobility&Thermofluids, carried out in the framework of Science Meets Regions Comunitat Valenciana 2023 (SMR-Valencia), the project led by the association Science in Parliament in collaboration with the Network of Valencian Universities for the promotion of Research, Development and Innovation (RUVID) which aims to weave new links between science and politics to respond to social challenges, and which is funded by the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission.

The UPV, an international benchmark in the field of transport and the automotive industry

SMR-Valencia 2023 has put 12 scientists - researchers from 7 universities, a company and a research center - in contact with 14 politicians - elected officials from 7 city councils and members of the three provinces in Les Corts Valencianes.

In this case, Antonio González has been paired with José Ramón Serrano, researcher at the CMT-UPV, who has highlighted "the importance of the access channels established" thanks to the program, "because in this way, politicians know that we are here, who to call and where to access a world of knowledge that is sometimes opaque to them. We, for our part, also know, when we have a good idea, where we can find a loudspeaker and a communication channel to get it to the general public.

In this sense, the UPV Researcher has indicated his willingness, after this first step, to "continue listening to the problems that a City Council like Almussafes has in a sector such as transport and automotive in which the UPV is a world leader. In this way, we will be able to establish a communication channel that will allow us to study their concerns and propose solutions because, obviously, a reconversion is taking place in the field of the combustion engine, which was a very established world, towards a situation like the current one, in which there is a lot of uncertainty as to what the next strategies, investments and paths are going to be".

Directly applicable, short-term solutions

When asked whether this first contact could generate directly applicable solutions in the short term, both Antonio González and José Ramón Serrano were categorical.

"Why not? Having the opinion of scientific experts can help local councils' policies. By listening to their problems, perhaps we can develop ideas that can be implemented now," said the CMT-UPV Researcher.

"Totally", added the mayor of Almussafes. "What I have seen here today in terms of the tests that are being carried out with different types of technology and energy, especially about the production of energy through hydrogen, I think it is the beginning of what will undoubtedly be the future solutions for the sector".