Santacana Scholarship

By agreement of the Governing Council, the PEMB has been promoting the Santacana Grant since 2018 in order to support research projects on topics of metropolitan interest. This scholarship is the first to focus specifically on issues related to the future of metropolitan Barcelona, and it is aimed at master’s or doctoral students in an official university programme. It is part of the PEMB’s strategic commitment to promote guidance for scientific knowledge towards improving living conditions in the metropolis.

The scholarship represents the continuity of the link between the PEMB and the world of research embodied at the time by Francesc Santacana i Martorell (1943-2014), who was the general coordinator of the PEMB from 1988 to 2013. A year later, Barcelona posthumously awarded him the Golden Medal for Civic Merit for his contributions from the Col·legi d’Economistes, the Fundació Bosch i Gimpera, the Fundación Conocimiento y Desarrollo, the CIDEU, Creapolis de Esade, the Cercle d’Economia and, above all, from the PEMB for more than 25 years.

The aim of this scholarship is to pay tribute to the unique figure of Santacana. Through the PEMB, Santacana made a significant contribution to the economic and social progress of both Barcelona and the metropolis, while also establishing links between universities and society. His interest in consensus, dialogue, collaboration and engagement of all economic and social players contributed to strengthening ties and cohesion in metropolitan Barcelona, increasing its international presence and turning the Strategic Plan into a point of reference. It also built bridges with numerous cities in Spain, Europe and Latin America.