The Girona Conference Centre, venue for large congresses held in the city, has been working on the positive social impact those attending these events can have on the city; or rather, their legacy.

Since the beginning of 2022, in partnership with the Girona City Convention Bureau and the congresses’ organisers, an effort has been made to identify the value and knowledge potential contributed by each congress to the general public, above and beyond the economic return generated for companies operating in the MICE industry by the congress attendees’ overnight stays and the services they consume.

Legacy actions 2022

The first example of a legacy appeared in the 28th Congress of the Catalan Society of Family and Community Medicine (CAMFiC) in which 700 people took part.

Three legacy activities open to the general public were programmed: a public walk through Devesa park led by a family doctor and a physical educator, a talk about food myths given by nutritionist Julio Basulto and a closing talk by the chef at Michelin-starred restaurant El Celler de Can Roca, Joan Roca.

The second legacy action was carried out during the 2022 Intercongress meeting of the Spanish Society of Preventive Medicine, Public Health and Health Management. The congress slogan was: ‘One Health: from the challenge to the cutting edge’, and so an activity was organised to build an insect hotel in Devesa park led by the local association La Sorellona and members of the congress’s scientific committee.

Both congress attendees and local people from Girona were invited to take part in this activity led by a specialist from the epidemiology, public health and urban planning service at Vall d’Hebron hospital and experts from the La Sorellona association.

At the end of 2022, during the 26th National Congress of the Spanish Society of Adolescent Medicine, a free workshop was organised, conducted by Dr. J. Valdés, for the parents of adolescents to discuss their role in their children’s upbringing during this stage of their development.

The legacy project will continue with other actions organised within the framework of congresses held in Girona during 2023.