The Zaragoza Provincial Council and the University of Zaragoza have created the Water, Health and Society Chair, an initiative focused on research, education and outreach on the applications of water in health and well-being, with particular emphasis on thermal treatments and hydrotherapy. The provincial institution will allocate €60,000 over its first two years of operation.
Water, Health and Society Chair strengthens research into thermal treatments in Aragon
The new chair will promote studies on water, thermal treatments and hydrotherapy, while also generating knowledge on their therapeutic applications and relationship with well-being. Its activities will also include conferences, seminars and courses, as well as support for doctoral theses, final degree projects and awards related to its areas of work.
The project also aims to connect innovation centers and entrepreneurs in the province involved in water-based health services. Its objectives include contributing to a shared strategy for Aragon’s thermal-treatment sector, which brings together spas, public administrations, the university and social organizations.
The launch event was opened by the president of the Zaragoza Provincial Council, Juan Antonio Sánchez Quero, and the University of Zaragoza’s vice rector for Innovation, Knowledge Transfer and Lifelong Learning, Manuel González Bedia. Sánchez Quero noted that the provincial institution has organized a social thermal-treatment program for more than 30 years to facilitate access to treatments for retired residents of the province and support Zaragoza’s spas.
Spas and social thermal treatments address the sector’s challenges
The chair’s director, José Miguel Tricás, delivered the opening lecture and advocated joining forces to build a shared vision for the future of Aragon’s thermal-treatment sector. The proposed areas of work include identifying challenges and opportunities, promoting research and innovation, practical training, and outreach on thermal treatments, hydrotherapy, salus per aquam and the rational use of water.
The event included a panel on Aragon’s spas, featuring the Alhama Spa, the spas of Ariño and Segura de Baños, the Vilas del Turbón Spa, the Virgen de Jaraba Spa and the Termas Pallarés de Alhama Spa. Professor Chaime Marcuello Servós moderated the discussion.
The second panel addressed social thermal treatments, with representatives from IMSERSO, the Spanish Confederation of Pensioners’ and Retirees’ Associations, and the Zaragoza Provincial Council, moderated by Professor María Orosia Lucha López. Sofía Monti Ballano and Loreto Ferrández Laliena presented the event’s conclusions, which ended with a reflection on future lines of work and initiatives for the sector.
