Unicaja Foundation allocates two million to 39 social and environmental projects

The Unicaja Foundation concluded its tenth anniversary this Saturday with a gala at its María Cristina Hall in Malaga, where the 39 social and environmental projects selected in the extraordinary calls launched for the anniversary were announced. Through these initiatives, the Foundation will allocate more than two million euros to initiatives that promote the inclusion of vulnerable people, as well as awareness and preservation of biodiversity.

The president of the Unicaja Foundation, José M. Domínguez, and the general director of the institution, Sergio Corral; the Counselor of Economy, Finance and European Funds of the Junta de Andalucía, Carolina España; the mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre; the Counselor of Tourism and Andalucía Global of the Junta de Andalucía, Arturo Bernal, and the president of the Diputación de Málaga, Francisco Salado, among other authorities, attended this closing gala. Representatives from social, environmental, sports, educational, health, and cultural institutions and entities from all over Andalucía were also present. As a final touch to the gala, the artist from Malaga, Pablo López, performed a concert.

With this event, the Unicaja Foundation concludes the commemorative acts to celebrate its tenth anniversary, which began last October and included a traveling space that visited the eight Andalusian capitals, meetings and concerts at its cultural centers, extraordinary calls for projects, and a special publication. In total, more than 100,000 people visited the space on its tour through Andalucía, which featured about 200 activities and the participation of a hundred speakers. Furthermore, this is complemented by about thirty activities featuring fifty personalities at the cultural centers.

The Unicaja Foundation has selected a total of 39 projects, 19 in social matters and 20 environmental, within the extraordinary calls of its tenth anniversary, to which it will allocate more than two million euros (2.13 million euros).

This is the first time the Foundation has made a public call of this nature, and it has seen wide participation among entities and associations from Andalucía and Ciudad Real. Nearly 400 applications were received.

The following associations, entities, and projects in social action have been selected:

• SOS Children's Villages Spain: Young Future

• Andalusian Association of Hemophilia: HemoImpulsa (digital platform for the labor insertion of people with hemophilia)

• Association Friends of Free Sahara province of Jaén: Holidays in Peace

• Association of Relatives of Alzheimer's of Andalucía: AMA

• ASPAPROS: Radio ASPAPROS: Voices without Barriers

• DYAR Association (Discover and Learn): Global Employment (socio-labor inclusion, senior mentorship, and family reconciliation)

• International Hope Phone Association: Hope Chat

• Neurotea Association: Unidiversity Project (FormaTEA inclusive education in Andalucía)

• Beyond Suncare: Put Yourself in Their Skin (fight against skin cancer in people with albinism in Rwanda)

• International Cooperation NGO: Be More You (solidarity school)

• Andalusian Federation of Associations of People with Down Syndrome 'Down Andalucía' (supports for inclusive school)

• Federation of Associations Red Andaluza de Comedores Sociales: Comprehensive care program for situations of unwanted loneliness in the elderly of the Andalusian network of social canteens (acompaña2)

• Action Against Hunger Foundation: Program of solidarity help cards for highly vulnerable families in Andalucía

• César Ramírez Foundation Solidarity Scalpel: Hospital Mozambique

• FAD Youth: Employment Horizon (skills gym for the employability of young people from rural environments and at risk of social exclusion)

• Music For All Foundation: 4 Experiences, 4 Experiences. The reality of many people

• Social Dentistry Foundation Luis Seiquer: Program of attention, intervention, and promotion of oral health aimed at families with severe economic precariousness (The Little Mouse Pérez)

• Theodora Foundation: Comprehensive hospital humanization program for minors admitted to 11 hospitals in Andalucía mainly from rural areas

• San Juan Grande Hospital: Digital transformation in people with disabilities or at risk of suffering them

In terms of the environment, the following entities and projects have been selected:

• Association Forests For the Future: Roots of Water from Sierra Nevada

• Association Connect Future: Grow Green

• Coral Soul: Discovering Corals

• Association The Tree of Lollipops: Earthquake and the tales of the Alboran Sea

• Association Operation Holm Oak: Sowing Awareness

• Project Know Your Sources: Project Know Your Sources

• Society for the Study and Recovery of Biodiversity of Almería: Filabres, The Rebirth of the Border Forest

• Torrenatura Association: Project for environmental dynamization and awareness 'Torreblanca green - Torreblanca recycles'

• Ecoherencia SCA: Sentinels in Action

• Ecolocaliza: Common Fin Whale Project of Eastern Strait (PRCEO)

• Association Encounters of the South: Rebuilding My Environment (School of Environmental Regeneration in Cardeñas-Marismas del Odiel)

• Florestasur: Native flora for climate resilience

• Aula del Mar Mediterranean Foundation: Live posidonia platform, protection of seagrass meadows as a solution to climate change

• Huerto Alegre Farm School: The Green Cabin: Innovation, Education, and Environmental Culture

• Urban Agriculture Huertum: Urban Renaturalization (therapeutic gardens and biodiversity refuges)

• Idea Educational, Cultural, and Environmental Services: Vario Pinto, program for social integration, education, and environmental participation

• Inserta Cádiz: RegeneraTEX. Sustainable future for everyone

• PROAMB Integrated: Eco Truck (environmental caravan)

• Your Environment: Action against litter

• University of Malaga: Transfer of hydrogeological knowledge for proper governance of its water resources available in a context of structural water scarcity and climate change.

The Unicaja Foundation Space has been the main axis of the programming of activities for the tenth anniversary and since last October has toured the eight Andalusian capitals offering talks, immersive experiences, concerts, children's shows, and environmental and sports workshops. More than 100,000 people have enjoyed the nearly 200 activities held in it.

One of the main attractions of the dome has been the immersive experience 'The City of Tales', a world pioneer. Also in it, the future virtual museum of the Foundation, a space open to all audiences with one of the most important private collections in Andalucía, has been introduced. On the other hand, visitors have been able to interact with accessible 3D models of the main monumental enclaves of each province and learn about the main milestones in the history of the Foundation through a retrospective exhibition, videos, and 360 projections. On the recreational-sports tracks outside, visits and masterclasses from different sports teams have been developed.

In parallel to the itinerant commemorative space, the Unicaja Foundation has also organized a special program with about thirty activities around literature and the plastic and scenic arts in its cultural centers in Malaga, Seville, Cadiz, Almería, Antequera, and Ronda, which featured the participation of prominent figures such as Carmen Posadas, Javier Sierra, Megan Maxwell, Lorenzo Silva, Juan Gómez Jurado, David Trueba, Juan Echanove, Jesús Vidal, Gemma Mengual, Juan Luis Cano, Julio Anaya, Nico Munuera, Julio Criado, Alicia Ventura, and the groups Cuarteto Granada and Grupetto Sonoro.

As part of the anniversary, a commemorative publication has also been made that offers a comprehensive tour through the historical trajectory of the Foundation, analyzing in depth the events that have marked its origins and evolution to the present. With the help of experts in History, Economics, Sociology, and Law, issues such as the significant socioeconomic impact that the Foundation has generated in Andalucía, the situation of the financial system, the regulatory and corporate framework of banking foundations, and future prospects in the face of current social challenges are addressed.

And in tribute to this decade of achievements, 'Bearers of Hope', a series of audiovisual capsules with testimonies in which project leaders linked to the Foundation discuss their relationship with it, was presented. Participants in this project included César Ramírez, president of the Bisturí Solidario Foundation; Encarnación Navas, president of Aspace Granada; Francisco Oliva, rector of the Pablo de Olavide University of Seville; Alberto González, Spanish Olympic triathlete from the Unicaja Jaén Paraíso Interior Athletics Club; Juan Antonio López, president of the Aula del Mar Mediterranean Foundation, Natalia Cerón, CEO of Let's Make Home; Manuel Aguilar, scientific director of INiBICA; Juan Félix Guerra, volunteer of the Foundation; Beatriz Cuesta, director of the Colegio Fundación Unicaja Rosario Moreno, and Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, co-founder of the Picasso Museum Malaga.