Josep Alonso, Head of Research and Conservation at the Barcelona Zoo, took part in the eighteenth session of the Planeta UAB lecture series, an initiative of the Gabinete de Comunicación y Educación (UAB) aimed at students of its master’s degrees.
This cycle of conferences is part of the project “Planet UAB: The journey to the other – equals in differences” organised by the Gabinete de Comunicación y Educación during the academic year 2020-2021, with the support of the Solidarity Fund of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, which organised a series of activities and awareness-raising actions based on the concept of the UAB campus as a “planet” and which dealt with major issues such as the culture of peace, sustainability, the environment and interculturality, among others.
Students from the Master’s in Travel Journalism, the Master’s in Environmental Communication and the Master’s in Communication and Education participated in this eighteenth session with Josep Alonso, entitled ‘Case Study: Zoos‘. In it, he presented the biodiversity conservation and research work in which the Barcelona Zoo is involved. Alonso explained to the students the desire of this institution to become a benchmark for conservation and stressed the importance of biodiversity conservation, in reference to the decline of species. The objectives of the Barcelona Zoo Foundation include contributing to research to combat the extinction of species, promoting the dissemination of scientific practice applied to fauna, conservation among visitors to contribute to their awareness and education, and improving the conditions of the zoo itself, among others.
Josep Alonso is Head of Research and Conservation at Barcelona Zoo. Graduate in Veterinary Science. Diploma in Advanced Studies, Marine Biology and Aquaculture. Specialised in veterinary medicine applied to marine wildlife, diagnostic imaging methodologies applied to wildlife, planning and development of wildlife conservation projects.
The Gabinete de Comunicación y de Educación is a consolidated group specialised in scientific research and dissemination, which belongs to the Department of Journalism and Communication Sciences of the UAB. Recognised by AGAUR (Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca) of the Generalitat de Catalunya as a Consolidated Research Group on the basis of its trajectory, projection and development, it develops projects and research in the field of convergence between communication and education. Since its creation, it has developed initiatives aimed at integrating, with awareness and freedom, communication technologies in the so-called global or knowledge society. Under the direction of Santiago Tejedor, the Office organises different master’s degrees, such as the Master’s Degree in Travel Journalism (on-site and online), the Master’s Degree in Communication and Education, the Master’s Degree in Environmental Communication and the Master’s Degree in Political and Electoral Communication Management. The group has a wide and varied collection of publications, in the form of scientific articles, books and book chapters, and other works, which is constantly being renewed. It also has a laboratory for teaching innovation projects, transfer and new formats that are conceived and developed from a perspective based on creativity and multidisciplinary work. Every year, the Cabinet organises an academic expedition that travels the world with students from different universities and degrees. This is the Tahina-Can Expedition, which has been awarded as the best educational project in Spain. It also has the portal Tu Aventura, the educational platform infoEDU and the newsgames and science project Reporteros de la ciencia.
