NEW GOVERNING BOARD TAKES OFFICE
On 15 June, the members of the new COAC Governing Board took office.
The Board is headed by the COAC dean, Guim Costa Calsamiglia, with Gemma Ferré Pueyo as secretary, Imanol Montero Viar as treasurer, and Inés de Rivera Marinelo, Greta Tresserra Sans and Pep Quílez Soler as members. The Board is complemented with a team comprising the presidents of the regional branches: Sandra Bestraten Castells (Barcelona), Claudina Relat Goberna (Comarques Centrals), Elena Rosales Castellà (Ebre), Marc Riera Guix (Girona), Lluís de la Fuente (Lleida) and Jordi J. Romera (Tarragona).
More profession, more prestige, more COAC
The new Governing Board assumes leadership of the COAC with the commitment to work to improve the future of the professional group through an association that is more open to everyone: one that is innovative, well-rounded, inclusive and that serves as a benchmark.
One of the aims is to better the situation and practices of the profession itself, with a focus on strengthening COAC services to make them more efficient and easily accessible; improving public tendering procedures through their simplification and to ensure equal opportunities; encouraging training, innovation and refresher courses to promote employment; promoting gender inclusion and supporting new generations by listening to the experiences of those that went before them.
There is also a firm desire to get back the prestige once held by profession and architecture itself. Therefore, work will be done to improve society's perception of the architect, a discipline at the service of the public and one which provides solutions to the difficult challenges that lie ahead.
A third aim on which the new Board will focus is to work to improve the institution's relationship with the members and between members, encouraging the COAC's role as a meeting point for connection, participation and cooperation among architects.