Moventia, another year with the Palace of Catalan Music

Moventia is renewing its partnership with the Palace of Catalan Music for another year as a Protector Patron in order to help promote the artistic schedule organised by the Orfeó Català-Palace of Catalan Music Foundation.

A benchmark in sustainable mobility, the company stands firmly by its commitment to promoting culture as it believes this to be a key sector for rebuilding the local economic fabric and creating jobs. This action forms part of Moventia’s Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility Plan, which was created as a way for the company to voluntarily help build a better society.

According to Sílvia Martí, Vice-President of Corporate Affairs, Internal and Institutional Communication of Moventia: “Culture is a driving force for investment and enhances our reputation as a country but, unfortunately, it has been hit hard by the fallout from the pandemic. These are all reasons why Moventia remains committed for another year to this organisation, which uses its activities, concerts and choirs to promote musical practice and training, and, in short, to bring knowledge of Catalan heritage and culture closer to a wider audience, a reflection of our society”.

In the words of Mariona Carulla, Chairwoman of the Orfeó Català-Palace of Catalan Music Foundation: “We are very pleased to continue receiving the support of Moventia in our patronage programme. Contributions like those made by this company are essential to promoting our artistic activity and continuing our mission to bring music to all”.

Jordi Castells on TV Sant Cugat

Jordi Castells, Operations Director at Moventis and General Manager at Sarbus, was invited to appear on the La Contraportada programme on TV Sant Cugat to explain how Moventis operates and what it does exactly, specifically in Sant Cugat. During the programme, Jordi Castells also spoke about the challenges faced by public transport in the immediate future. 

 

 

 

 

Moventia maintains its support for FERO

In 2021, Spain stands among the top three participants in the IRONMAN Study, the largest global registry of advanced prostate cancer patient samples, highlighting the commitment from Spanish society to this research. In fact, Spain has tripled its involvement from 80 to 237 patients within a period of 12 months. This figure once again demonstrates the solidarity of Spanish patients with this long-term project that will help us better understand the disease and develop new therapeutic options for the future.

Guillermo Mora, a 71-year-old patient who was diagnosed with prostate cancer six years ago and who has been in the metastasis stage for three years, wanted to share with Spanish society what it means to take part in a project like IRONMAN: “The responsibility to end this disease not only lies with doctors and researchers. As patients, we must be able to help and I feel that if my time, my experience and my samples can help us find a cure one day – hopefully sooner rather than later – then that is the least I can do. We are essential to the medical research and we have to be proactive if we want to achieve what so many of us so anxiously desire”.

This spirit of involvement and commitment to cancer research is the driving force pushing Moventia – a benchmark company in sustainable mobility – to maintain its commitment to this project through the FERO Foundation year after year as one of the main donors making it possible for Spain to be on the global IRONMAN map.

In the words of Silvia Martí, VP of Corporate, Internal and Institutional Communication at Moventia: “we have been supporting FERO on various projects for more than six years because we believe that we must all feel involved if we want to make real progress in cancer research: patients, relatives, researchers, doctors, civil society, companies, etc. Every one of us does our bit. For that reason, we are more convinced than ever that our effort to support IRONMAN year after year will be able to help people like Mr. Mora to improve their quality of life and find solutions that now seem unimaginable”.

Moventia’s support for this initiative forms part of the actions planned under its Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility Plan as a voluntary expression by the company to help build a better society.

More visibility and research

The spirit, strength and determination of Mr. Mora seem inherent to the hundreds of Spanish patients who have joined this project in one year. However, he calls for more visibility and commitment to a disease with which 1 out of 8 men will be diagnosed during their lifetime[1]. “Prostate cancer is as equally prevalent as breast cancer but has a much lower profile in the media and therefore lacks the same level of support… We must make people more aware, ensure they have themselves checked, know the warning signs, etc. because with cancer, more than ever, time is golden”.

“I am always surprised by how open our patients are to taking part in projects like IRONMAN, how motivated they are to form part of projects that can help us better understand the disease. We are tremendously grateful to them and we try to respond by learning as much as we can about the disease from the data and the samples that they provide us with so altruistically”, explains Dr. Joaquín Mateo, Head of the Translational Prostate Cancer Research Group at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), the oncologist for Mr. Mora and one of the coordinators of the study here in Spain.

The project

The IRONMAN project is based on three main lines of action: a systemic collection of clinical data from patients with advanced prostate cancer (treatments, evolution, response to them); to this register are added data on the personal life of the patients (how they live with the disease, how the treatment affects their daily life); and, finally, a bank of participating patient samples is created in order to conduct translational research with them. The goal is to become a major international platform for clinical and molecular data from patients in 16 different countries in order to help better understand the disease and to fight it more effectively in the future.

“IRONMAN is special because, besides what we learn from the project itself, which we hope will be a great deal, it helps us build a network between researchers and hospitals in our country, which I’m sure will facilitate many other projects and lead to progress in this field in the future”, explains Dr. David Olmos, Head of the Clinical Research on Prostate Cancer Unit at the National Centre for Oncology Research (CNIO) and Spanish coordinator of the study alongside Mateo.

Eleven benchmark Spanish centres are already taking part in this research network, which connects oncologists in Catalonia, Madrid, Valencia, Andalusia and Asturias. Furthermore, the project in Spain is also backed by the FERO Foundation and the Movember Foundation, two non-profit organisations engaged in promoting cancer research.

Culture is a driving force for investment and enhances our reputation as a country

Sílvia Martí, Vice-President of Corporate, Internal and Institutional Communication of Moventia, took part in the “Culture as a Catalyst for the Economy” meeting held at the Círculo Ecuestre with support from the Catalunya Cultura Foundation. 

The event highlighted the importance of culture as a fundamental factor in boosting the economy and creating jobs and wealth. Sílvia Martí was very adamant about this, saying that “culture is a driving force for investment and enhances our reputation as a country. Unfortunately however, the level of investment is far below the European average”.

In saying this, she was referring to the figures on public investment in culture in Spain, which currently stands at 1.2% of the budget with an impact on Spanish GDP of 3.4%, while this impact is 4.7% in Europe.

During the debate, Sílvia Martí also expressed her concern over the foreseeable difficulty to be encountered by culture companies – especially the smaller ones – in accessing Next Generation funds to enable them to finance key projects in their sector. “I am very interested to know how this will happen, when and what the deadlines will be. The culture sector is suffering tremendously and, if the public authorities do not take an interest, we will continue to have a serious problem in the world of culture”.

Agreement on this came from everyone else taking part in the round table discussion moderated by Georgina Ferri, CEO of the ARA newspaper, and featuring Ramón Agenjo, Vice-President of the Damm Foundation; Anna Gener, CEO for Barcelona of Savills Aguirre Newman; and Eusebio Güell, President of the Güell Foundation. They all agreed on the urgent need for a country like Spain to approve a Patronage Act, one of the central issues in cultural policy over the last decade and which seeks to incentivise donations of private capital for cultural activities.

Webinar on senior mobility

Josep Maria Martí took part in a webinar on Friday, 23 April, promoted by the Mobility Institute and presented by the Chairman of RACC, Josep Mateu, on the conclusions reached by a study conducted by this organisation in partnership with Deloitte and entitled “The boom of the future: senior mobility”. The event was used to highlight the mobility needs of the over-65s, a growing part of the population that will experience a veritable “demographic tidal wave” when everyone born during the baby boom of the 1960s reaches retirement age.

 

The round table discussion in which Josep Maria Martí took part was focused on senior mobility, both as pedestrians and as users of public transport. The Managing Director of Moventia took the opportunity to offer his own vision of mobility outside of the major cities in the metropolitan area and talked about on-demand mobility services, such as shared buses. He went on to present the projects that Moventia is currently working on in the field of group transportation to meet the needs of senior citizens.

Miquel Martí takes part in Automobile Talks by Fecavem

Miquel Martí, Chairman of Moventia, took part in the 3rd Automobile Talks organised by the Fecavem employers’ association under the title of ‘Mobility in Barcelona: how does it affect Catalonia?’. Alongside Miquel Martí, the Mobility Councillor at Barcelona City Council, Rosa Alarcón, was also involved in the event. The debate sought consensus between the public sector – especially Barcelona City Council – and the private automotive sector.

 

Miquel Martí expressed his own point of view and shared his experience in public-private relations. He said that private mobility accounts for 45% of existing transportation services and that this fact cannot be ignored. He also stressed that the concept of mobility will change after the pandemic and efforts will be needed to work hard on preventing a foreseeable scenario of chaos in mobility, one knock-on effect of which would lead to economic chaos. “Without mobility, the economy does not exist. And if the economy does not exist, there are no jobs”, said Miquel Martí. He also highlighted the need to build a mobility model that looks ahead ten years, a metropolitan mobility pact that not only serves inner Barcelona but also the outlying areas.

 

In turn, Rosa Alarcón stressed that powers over mobility issues currently lie with the municipal authorities within the metropolitan area and not with the AMB. She believes this should change so that all municipal positions can be brought closer together. She also said that the pandemic is an opportunity for mobility in general and private mobility in particular to undertake an ecological and digital transition. According to Rosa Alarcón, mobility should be focused on efficiency, sustainability and safety, lending importance to multimodal transport at the access points to major conurbations.

Moventia attends Conference on Best Practices for Equality Plans

Agustí López Fitó, HR Manager at Moventia, spoke at the Conference on Best Practices for Equality Plans held on 25 March, the goal of which was to reveal what companies and social entities in Sabadell are doing to support gender equality and respect for sexual diversity. Best practices were also shared by Pilar Medel, the Equality and Technical Human Resources Coordination Officer for Parc Taulí; Estela Sánchez, General Manager of DICOMOL, SL; and Júlia Alsinet, the Partner for l’Eixida of Telar Cooperatiu. 

Agustí López Fitó spoke about the Moventis project carried out in partnership with the Catalan Employment Service (SOC) to train new bus drivers. Participants in the project are given the chance to obtain both the D and CAP licences, with a period of work experience at companies in the Moventis group. 50% of trainees were subsequently given a contract at the company. 

This project seeks to raise the number of available driving professionals by training the unemployed or others wishing to improve their current employment status. Priority is given to young people, women and other groups at risk of social exclusion. 

 

 

Miquel Martí at the ACG urban mobility conference

The Chairman of Moventia, Miquel Martí, spoke at a breakfast organised by the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) at the Círculo Ecuestre private club in Barcelona on 7 April. The theme for the event was “City Mobility”.

 

Besides Miquel Martí, the other speakers included Mar Alarcón, Founder and CEO of Social Car, and Timo Buetefisch, Co-founder and CEO of Cooltra.  Moderated by Teresa Lloret, Senior Partner at Kreab, the session took place over two blocks around the topic of urban mobility: regulation of the sector and growth projects for companies in the mobility sector.

 

Miquel Martí stressed that a commitment should be made to sustainable mobility but with alternatives to the private vehicle. He underlined the essential nature of investing in public transport and infrastructures within metropolitan areas such as Barcelona. He went on to say that the idea of implementing a toll system at the entrance to the city of Barcelona would reduce the number of private vehicles on the roads and the funds raised could be spent on promoting public transport and mobility platforms.

 

In turn, Mar Alarcón stressed that the crusade against private vehicles in Barcelona is incomprehensible under the current mobility system. The public authorities are moving in one direction while the needs of the sector are moving in another, highlighting the absence of any constructive dialogue.

 

Timo Buetefisch defended the need for regulation in the mobility sector that follows a future-focused mobility plan and model with a design based on public-private partnerships.

 

The event organiser, ACG, is the largest non-profit global community of business leaders and professionals in the corporate world whose interests are focused on sharing experiences and relationships for the development of companies. It was set up in the United States in 1954 and now has over 13,000 members organised into 55 chapters worldwide. It began operating in Spain in 2010.

 

 

Timo Buetefisch va argumentar la necessària regulació del sector de la mobilitat però que per fer-ho són necessaris un model i un pla de mobilitat a futur, dissenyat a partir de la col·laboració publico-privada.

 

L’organitzador de la jornada, ACG, és la comunitat global d’empresaris i professionals més gran del món corporatiu, sense ànim de lucre, els seus interessos se centren en compartir experiències i relacions en el desenvolupament de les empreses. La seva fundació va ser a Estats Units, el 1954, i compta amb més de 13.000 membres organitzats en 55 chapters arreu del món. A Espanya va iniciar activitats el 2010.

Moventia in the special sectoral column of Carril Bus

The Carril Bus magazine recently published a special sectoral article on the main transport operators in Spain. The article includes opinions from benchmark executives at each of the companies about the crisis stemming from the global pandemic and their outlooks for the coming months and years in the public mobility sector. The article also includes insights and perspectives from Josep María Martí, CEO of Moventia, on future trends and his conclusions from the last 12 months.

The article can be read in full here

 

8 March: International Women’s Day

At Moventia, our goal remains to foster equality and parity between men and women within the mobility sector. Ever since plans for equality between men and women were launched in 2007, and following our adherence and commitment to the manifesto promoted by the European Transport Commission to encourage the hiring of women, our company has ceaselessly pushed towards building a sector with more equal treatment and jobs between men and women. At present, all our companies have sexual harassment prevention mechanisms in place and are governed by equal access to employment, professional classification, training and promotion, as well as equal pay and work-life balance for everyone who works at Moventia.