Yes. The four Spanish universities can clearly be grouped in pairs. The Autonomous Universities of Barcelona and Madrid are in the outskirts of their respective cities (on a sidenote, Madrid’s commuter rail is much better than Barcelona’s), on grassy campuses with old, grey buildings. They are rather paradigmatic examples of ‘developmentalism’ – in fact, they were created by the same decree-law under Franco, in 1968 – and they take a more practical, ‘brass tacks’ approach. In contrast, UPF and Carlos III exude competitiveness and progress; they are much more urban. They have a more professional character, perhaps a bit more economically oriented, and the student profile is higher-performing in terms of academics, which, unfortunately, shows that this performance often depends on socioeconomic means. Of course, there are great people everywhere.

UPF and Carlos III exude competitiveness and progress; they are much more urban

Sciences Po and UPF play in different leagues. They do things differently, but they have a lot of points in common. It is a somewhat bold comparison, since at Sciences Po, they are regularly checking your rucksack due to visits by French officials and other prominent figures. You have to show your student ID card at the entrance, and they have a security team worthy of the world’s most exclusive nightclub. Everyone from Macron to Chirac has passed through its halls; the elitism is palpable, and the institution weighs heavily. Nevertheless, if there is one thing I would highlight, it is the vitality of each university’s associations: there are more associations than you can shake a stick at and a vast array of activities. It did not take us long to find the equivalent of L’Universitari, the magazine La Péniche, and I hope we will soon be able to swap experiences with them.

My problem is that I like everything, and I often have a hard time deciding. I was looking for a flat in Maastricht to do an open degree programme there that would let me combine political science subjects with elements of programming, when I learnt that my university entrance exam marks qualified me to enrol on the Philosophy, Politics and Economics programme, which I had been eyeing since it was launched, several years earlier. I was not expecting that. I was drawn by the multidisciplinarity, the not having to choose. Even though you might not delve quite as deeply into each field, for me, it is worth it to gain a global understanding of everything. I can specialize later, if I want.

I think the multidisciplinary approach of the Philosophy, Politics and Economics degree programme is right

The other day I read somewhere that ‘social problems’ (in the plural) are simply different facets of a single problem: ‘the social problem’. To manage it – because solving it definitively would be impossible – you need the full array of perspectives. From an economist’s perspective, you need to maximize the available resources, make the pie bigger. But that is short-sighted. A political scientist’s perspective is going to show you that getting richer does not solve problems, whilst a philosopher’s perspective will make you aware of the position you are thinking from, the school of thought behind each argument. I think the multidisciplinary approach of the Philosophy, Politics and Economics degree programme is right.

I still remember joking on the train home from UAB the day before the state of alarm was declared. The first months were very difficult. At all the universities, some teachers had an easier time adapting than others. Overall, I think we have been lucky.

Moving from university to university has allowed us to experience different regional approaches to managing the pandemic. Whilst friends in Catalonia spent the day doing class online, in Madrid, we never stopped having face-to-face classes; even the bars were open. Coinciding with the ‘Ayuso phenomenon’ [Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the region of Madrid] and living through the electoral campaign in Madrid was quite an experience, albeit at times grotesque, but we managed to ‘make the best of it’ and we had a fuller university life as a result. In our case, face-to-face classes were only suspended for a few months, in the spring of 2020, and even though doing some work online allowed me to combine my studies with a lot of other things, I think face-to-face classes are infinitely better.

Moving from university to university has allowed us to experience different regional approaches to managing the pandemic

In computer science class, in compulsory secondary school, we touched on a tool called App Inventor, which lets you create apps without much programming. I was fascinated by it, and I spent the entire summer creating a fairly simple tic-tac-toe game. I was 14. From there, I took what seemed to me to be the logical next steps. I published the app on Google Play; I named my ‘company’ and set up a Twitter account... Along the way, I learnt a lot about marketing, web development and a bunch of digital tools.

I did my upper-secondary school research project on the world of apps, and that marked a turning point for me, because it gave rise to my first app, with more than 10,000 installs, which made me realize how important and significant all this was. My first big hit arrived the year I started university, Jo mai mai [I never]. With the help of an Instagrammer, it was number one in sales in Spain. I taught myself using YouTube tutorials, but especially through trial and error. For me, the world of apps was – and is – a hobby, like reading or video games.

There is a line by Josep Vicenç Foix that goes ‘I am excited by the new and enamoured of the old’. I like everything, too, so I juggle whatever I need to in order to combine the political and digital facets. Sometimes, it can be hard, because it means I get lower marks, for example. But, it is definitely worth it for me. Lately, I have been becoming more aware of my limitations. I have to learn to give some things up and prioritize.

I like everything, too, so I juggle whatever I need to in order to combine the political and digital facets

Sure, if you look at it that way, they don’t seem to be related at all. But the apps’ content does fit into my life story and my interests and concerns over time. Of course, that is not reflected later, so it is hard to understand from the outside. As for what drives me, at first it was the challenge of programming itself. I was motivated by the challenge of finding ways to use programming to get the screen to reflect what I wanted. Later, as things grew and I published more apps, I was really motivated by the statistics, seeing how people in hundreds of countries were downloading my apps, realizing I could see how many downloads there were in each region. All those statistics were really interesting. But, of course, once you hit a thousand, two thousand, three thousand downloads, even though I still can’t believe it, by the time you get to 30,000 downloads a month, you sort of lose sight of the numbers and their importance. These days I am motivated by imagining the social impact that some of the apps I have published could have. In particular, the one that helps children learn to separate words into syllables. Seeing that is a much bigger motivation and makes me want to make apps much more than large numbers of installs.

Juga amb les síl·labes is an app with five game modes intended to pave the way for learning the basics of Catalan spelling through gamification and by generating interactive classroom dynamics. It is a 21st-century JClic, because education will definitely have to adapt to digitization. But this process also entails major risks in terms of children’s privacy and the harmful consequences of technology. What matters most is for it to be led by teachers, not programmers. I am no education expert.

The project began as part of my research project, when I offered my services to the head of primary studies to develop an app to solve a persistent educational challenge. The app was used in a few sessions with students (which I loved attending) and, at first, that was it. But when the pandemic hit, everyone was swept up in the ‘everything is going to be fine’ spirit of solidarity. I wondered what I knew how to do that might be useful in that context. So, I dusted the project off and, through contact with the Agrupació Escolar Catalana [Catalan School Association], I was able to make the app available to all Catalan-speaking schools free of charge. Last academic year, some 30 schools, special education centres and NGOs throughout the Catalan-speaking regions signed up for the initiative. I think digital education is the future and that it is futile to resist it, but that does not mean it should not be used properly.

But when the pandemic hit, everyone was swept up in the ‘everything is going to be fine’ spirit of solidarity. I wondered what I knew how to do that might be useful

First of all, I should clarify that right now Splashapps is just me. Some friends have helped me in the past, and we have done some collaborations with influencers and organizations, but Splashapps is still a personal project that I dedicate some of my time to. Over the next few years, I would like to emphasize the social impact. I am not sure how to do that, but one option would be to maintain a more commercial line of apps to make the rest of the business financially sustainable. I also want to delve a bit deeper into the world of education and continue to improve the apps I have already published. I have a lot of specific ideas, which I keep track of on a list, but resource constraints are very important, especially time. After all, I am a student and I also participate in various organizations, so I often think I could use a hand. If by any chance anyone reading this is interested in the project, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

I have a lot of specific ideas, which I keep track of on a list, but resource constraints are very important

If the bachelor’s programme in Philosophy, Politics and Economics has taught me anything, it is that everything is connected. So, even if I wanted to, I could never leave either field behind. What I like is the naïve desire to ‘make a better world’. Traveling around the last few years, I’ve come to understand that you can do that from the public sector, but also from the private sector. The third sector and solidarity and the social economy should be the future, but that does not mean that the res publica necessarily has to be trimmed back. The digital revolution fully affects the humanities and the social sphere, and I am convinced my professional future lies in both.

What I like is the naïve desire to ‘make a better world’

I do not think you have to choose. All fields can be complementary, and I have a feeling that in the world we are headed towards, the digital field will continue to be essential. There is a lot of room to digitally assess public policy, to use digital services to streamline government, to leverage the digital field to imagine more participatory and democratic processes, etc. I had a lot of doubts when I was choosing my degree programme; now I know there is no need to set aside any of these passions. More specifically, in the future I would also like to work or spend time in an international organization such as the European Union or the United Nations, to see what they are like and whether I like them enough to try to stay there.

It is extremely important, because it provides a wealth of opportunities for the entire university community. The EU is taking the European Universities Initiative seriously, which takes Erasmus+ to the next level, moving towards a European federal university model in the medium and long term. To get there, it is offering funding to international university alliances such as EUTOPIA. In addition to the funding, EUTOPIA allows us to twin with very good universities from across Europe with similar profiles to UPF’s, to strengthen research, rethink the higher education model and promote international mobility in a sustainable way.

That is all very abstract, and we need to be able to explain to the average student what EUTOPIA is and how they can benefit from it. It is very important. My theory is that students need to be the main ones spreading the word amongst our classmates. First, there are specific scholarships and mobility programmes between the alliance universities, especially for doctoral and other forms of research. But there is also a lot of stuff for undergraduate students! There is a programme for designing solutions to social challenges that aims to link the knowledge generated at the universities to improvements in their surrounding communities, there is a cultural club, there is advice on how to find jobs in the respective countries, there is a sustainability committee, there are talks with world-class speakers... And there is also us, the EUTOPIA Student Think Tank (EUSTT). We publish papers by students ranging from first-year undergraduates to doctoral candidates, with the aim of empowering them and connecting them with prominent figures in their disciplines. In the medium term, we want to increase the influence of young people’s approaches to today’s challenges and bring them to European institutions and political actors.

The EUSTT aims to be a very broad space for generating shared knowledge with a view to transferring it to society. In recent months, we have been busy with the preparations and launch campaign, as we only made our debut on 4 October. There are 12 of us on the team – I’m the youngest! – and we work by area. My responsibility is to make sure we are all on the same page, that we know where we are and where we are going in general terms, so we do not lose our motivation for what we do.

On a day-to-day basis, I manage the bi-weekly board meetings, and I am in close contact with the president, to coordinate with the rest of the EUTOPIA alliance. Lately, I have been helping with the website in the Communication Area, which, by the way, is led by two amazing students from UPF. In the abstract, I like to think I make things easier for the real superstars on my team. Sometimes it is hard for me, but I think I just have to keep the machine well-oiled, because the individual parts are incredible and run fine on their own.

The impact of the pandemic has been harder on universities with weaker association networks and, in general, less resilience. At UPF, we are bouncing back relatively quickly, although I can only speak to the world of associations, which I am involved in. The problem of having to do all our activities online will eventually end, and the associations are really looking forward to doing things. The board cycles are very quick, with some students graduating and leaving the university and new ones coming in, with lots of fresh ideas.

Still, the pandemic has done a lot of harm to everyone, obviously including the university community. In my opinion, these years have accelerated both good and bad processes that already existed. The continuity of a lot of associations’ activities has been seriously compromised. For example, the United Nations Student Association of Barcelona (UNSA Barcelona) and the Barcelona Debating Society (BDS) have not been able to participate in their mock UN sessions and debates because trips, international conferences and face-to-face debating were all cancelled. It has not been too bad for me, personally, as the fact that a lot of the activity has necessarily had to be done online has allowed me to stay apprised of what is happening at UPF, despite being, first, in Madrid and, now, in Paris.

As for issues, on the one hand, there are the usual ones: unsustainably high youth unemployment, access to housing, balancing studies and work, etc. On the other, students are also concerned about everything else going on in the world, from climate change to cybersecurity, gender-based violence or the situation in Afghanistan. The upside of the pandemic – and this has been led by the younger generations – is that it has shone a spotlight on issues that were previously largely hidden from view, such as healthcare and mental health, especially the stress entailed in having to study online, and certain approaches to how online classes are conducted. Here, the university itself has an unavoidable responsibility, and I have heard that the attitude adopted in some cases has been worrying. 

Exactly. What we want to do at L’Universitari is give our generation a soapbox to stand on. Our generation has had to deal with a lot of hardships in many ways; at the same time, though, we have things to say and we want to contribute to the public debate. So, our first goal as an association, as reflected in our bylaws, is to give a voice to the university community in the broadest sense of the term, and to publish their articles and help their opinions be heard. Second, we want to defend the plurality of ideas, because the university also has to be a place for reflection. Finally, third, we want to connect and reinforce the association network. At UPF, we are lucky to have associations for a wide range of issues, and that sets us apart from other universities. I think if we manage to be a public forum and a place where all these associations can connect, we will strengthen this network and make the overall university experience much better for all students.

I don’t know whether the people in charge of UPF really understand the immense value of the university’s associations, particularly on the Ciutadella campus. I hope so. UPF’s associations are, without a doubt, the distinguishing feature that sets us apart from all the other universities I have visited in Spain and, at the same time, brings us closer to Sciences Po. They allow concerned and enterprising students to experiment in a safe environment before going all out in the real world. I think we need to increase the resources allocated to associations and listen to their needs in order to adapt the relevant administrative mechanisms. They are undeniably doing a very good job, but I really think that this kind of human capital is what makes the difference, what allows us to go on to secure such high slots in the rankings, because it affects the atmosphere at the university, its ability to attract international talent, the level of teaching, the organization of conferences with renowned speakers... UPF is home to Deba-t.org, for example. That is a very good thing for UPF, but it sometimes seems like it is not valued.

UPF’s associations are, without a doubt, the distinguishing feature that sets us apart from all the other universities I have visited in Spain and, at the same time, brings us closer to Sciences Po

Not just at the university, and not just their voices, but also their vote, to make it effective. I still do not know enough about the university’s governance mechanisms, but Rector Amat made some interesting proposals during the campaign because he listened to students and associations. On the other hand, as far as I know, these initiatives have not yet been implemented. Still, we should not overestimate our role at the university. Students have to study, and, obviously, we have to have both a voice and a vote in decision-making. There have to be mechanisms for effective participation. The politicization of these mechanisms – such as the struggles between unions and other ideological associations – is a challenge, but I’m certainly not going to be the one to advocate depoliticizing these spaces, because it would be absurd.

we should not overestimate our role at the university

I am afraid we do not take enough advantage of the participation bodies we have, because we are not sufficiently familiar with them. I think they are used asymmetrically. Some of us are very aware of them: we read all the e-mails, the newsletters... We are involved. And then there is a large number of students who are not that interested in these issues. These are the people we have to reach, and we have to do it in different and original ways. And we are not going to do that solely with an institutional campaign, no matter how good it is. Beyond the formal bodies, there are a lot of ways to exert pressure, which is how, for example, UPF became the first Spanish university to endorse the Menú Por el Planeta [Menu for the Planet] initiative, through a participatory mechanism that went beyond the established bodies.

I am afraid we do not take enough advantage of the participation bodies we have, because we are not sufficiently familiar with them

I am very optimistic. These days, it seems like everyone needs to have a motto, something profound to put in their Instagram bio and WhatsApp status. Mine is from a poem by Miquel Martí i Pol, the one where he says ‘everything is possible, and still to be done’. Earlier in the poem, he writes, ‘we are where we are’. That is the key, being aware of reality and its pragmatic limitations. Wasting as little time as possible getting angry at the parties responsible for climate change and investing our energy instead in reversing it. And if we need to send the culprits packing, then we will, but not vindictively.

The more political word, laden with moral connotations, is justice. Maybe that word can be used to sustain the narrative we need of boring, complex solutions without preconceptions. One of the top priorities is climate justice, to make sure that degrading the future of life is not free. That needs to go hand in hand with social justice, because we need to stop the growing inequality and make people’s lives better; economic growth is a means, not an end. Digitization offers us opportunities to go faster, but it also poses risks in terms of the concentration of power (by governments and companies). We also need global justice, in a certain sense redistributive.

I think a united and autonomous European Union can be key and can play a very strong leadership role in all these areas

I think a united and autonomous European Union can be key and can play a very strong leadership role in all these areas. It is trying to do that now, on issues like the green deal or social policy, for example. In my view, the EU is a place where all these things are being done better than in the rest of the world. But we need to disengage from the US, have strategic autonomy and be able to lead the world in order to bring everyone together, to generate positive leadership. And we must never forget that the economy has to work for society, not the other way around.