Launch of a new edition of Campus Ítaca
The socio-educational programme Campus Ítaca will once again this summer be offering a week-long stay at the UAB campus to third-year secondary school students. The campus includes a combination of recreational, academic and cross-skills activities. The UAB's Solidarity Foundation (FAS) recently held the first informational meeting with school centres and city councils to begin the organisation of the programme's 23rd edition.
This past 2025 marked a turning point for Campus Ítaca: new objectives were set, creating a new programme model that will be repeated this 2026. However, the main objective of the initiative has remained the same, which is to motivate students who are about to finish their third year of secondary school (ESO) to continue their studies once they have completed compulsory secondary education.
Dates and participation of the 2026 edition
The university will host two sessions: the first session will run from 25 June to 3 July, and the second session will last from 7 to 15 July.
The editions bring together more participants each year. In 2026 there will be a total of 326 students from 67 secondary schools belonging to 15 municipalities. Each year, around 50 members of the UAB teaching staff, 15 external collaborators and 20 monitors also are involved in the programme.
A programme focused on the future
On 14 January, a meeting was held with representatives of the collaborating institutes and municipalities to clarify doubts about this new edition. Jordi Prat, director of the FAS, and Àlex Márquez, technician of the Socio-educational Area and coordinator of the Campus Ítaca, clarified aspects such as the organisation of the closing ceremonies and the criteria for distributing the grants. In addition, the Campus Ítaca team had the opportunity to listen to the recommendations and proposals of the attendees to improve the functioning of the campus.
The visitors to the campus were then given a visit to two of the activities most liked by the students. In the Faculty of Communication Studies, lecturer Xavier Ribes presented the project "How to make a TV programme?". And in the Faculty of Science, lecturer Ramon Barnadas presented the activity "Colour. From physics to marketing".
Once again, Campus Ítaca is a leading initiative in the fight against early school leaving, and has the support of the Vallès Occidental Regional Council, the Barcelona Provincial Council, the participating town councils, and the Government of Catalonia.