Monika Hencsey, Director of Budget, Communication and General Affairs of the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission, has visited the Foundation on the occasion of the Regiostars Award which was awarded to the Pasqual Maragall Foundation in the category "A Competitive and Smart Europe«.
During the visit, Monika Hencsey stressed that "When funding brings together great stories and great projects, wonderful things can happen«. He added: “At the Pasqual Maragall Foundation you often say “We will defeat Alzheimer’s”. It is a bold statement, but it is the kind of audacity that Europe needs to face present and future challenges. Especially if, as in this case, audacity goes hand in hand with concrete and tangible results. In 2022, 21% of the EU population was aged 65 or over, and the data in Spain are similar. We need our elderly, who continue to grow in number, to enjoy the best possible health.”
On the other hand, the general director of the Foundation, the Dr. Arcadi Navarro He stressed the great contribution of our building to Europe's competitiveness in neuroscience and also stated: “We believe that a world without Alzheimer's is possible and that we are closer to achieving this with the research we carry out thanks to the contributions of more than 80,000 people who support us with their philanthropic donations. But we must insist that Alzheimer's can become a structural pandemic in the coming years due to its high incidence and only through science can we defeat it. For this reason, we must allocate even more resources and have more buildings like the Pasqual Maragall Foundation.”.
The Regiostars European awards, which have been given since 2008, recognise excellence, inclusiveness and impact on regional development based on projects financed with European funds. In 2023, it was the first time that a Catalan proposal won this award.
