Less than a month ago I received the welcome news that our group was a finalist in the eighth edition of the Lleidatans de l’Any 2019 awards, organised by the Jove Cambra Internacional de Lleida (JCI).
Members of the group broke the news to me after quietly conspiring to keep it secret until the last moment. Led by Enric Ormo, they prepared the group’s track record and presented and defended our application before the jury. JCI gives out the Lleidatans 2018 awards in the fields of education and culture, enterprise and local development, social organisations, young entrepreneurs, exemplary residents of Lleida and research groups.
The research award went to GIAM, the Motor Action Research Group at INEFC Lleida. For research groups, the awards assess the relevance of the work and its impact on society, the economy and knowledge, the jobs it creates, its originality, how it makes the region better known and the calibre of the group.
Until this edition, winning groups had worked in biomedical research, agronomy or engineering.
Junior Chamber International (JCI) is an NGO founded in the United States in 1915, with active groups in 120 countries. It encourages young people to engage with society and improve it through their own initiatives and community projects. In Catalonia, the Federation of Junior Chambers has received the Creu de Sant Jordi and the Government of Catalonia’s award for international outreach.
The winners of the 2018 edition were:
Education and culture: Aula Municipal de Teatre de Lleida.
Enterprise and local development: Técnicas Mecánicas Ilerdenses, a packaging company with global patents and €14 million in turnover.
Social organisation: Fundació Antisida de Lleida.
Young entrepreneur: Jesús Bosch, founder of a video game company that set up in Silicon Valley.
Values in sport: the AEM women’s football section, which won the men’s league.
Exemplary resident of Lleida: Dr Joan Viñas, former rector of the University of Lleida.
Research group: Motor Action Research Group (GIAM).
The ceremony took place on 1 March at the municipal theatre in Mollerussa, in the province of Lleida. When I received the award, I had the chance to say a few words to those present.
It pays tribute to all of you, to all of us, to Pierre Parlebas, to motor praxeology, to our research group and to everything we have accomplished in these 28 years. Thank you all so very much.
Long live the science of motor action, and long live the Motor Action Research Group!
Lleida, Catalonia, Spain.
March 2019.