The event, which was held at DFactory Barcelona, brought together more than 200 members and personalities such as the Minister of Health, Manel Balcells , the president of the Diputació de Barcelona and mayoress of Sant Boi de Llobregat, Lluïsa Moret , and the director of Territorial Services in Barcelona of the Department of Social Welfare, Marta Masagué .
After ten years of existence, today the cluster brings together more than 95 members of a growing sector – it has tripled in the last 6 years – and with greater weight, representing almost 4% of the GDP in Catalonia.
History and balance of the past, present and future of the cluster
The gala opened its doors with an exhibition space of 10 modules that allowed a chronological journey through the history of the CSMC and with unique spaces dedicated to the cluster’s own projects and tools, such as the Brains magazine , the new specialized training platform in health mental and occupational well-being Mind Excellence and the Care & Autonomy Living Lab .
Subsequently, the president of the CSMC, Francesc Arrufat, together with former presidents Alfons Icart, Pere Bonet and Joan Orrit, took stock of the past, present and future of the entity.
Jaume Bosch, former mayor of Sant Boi de Llobregat and one of the initiators of the cluster, and Josep Ramos, former clinical director of the Psychiatry area of the Sant Joan de Déu Health Park , also spoke .
“The successes obtained by the cluster during this decade support our proposal for a more social cluster model, which aims to improve the competitiveness of the sector by integrating users in the innovation process. At the same time, new challenges are opening up, such as counteracting the deficit of professionals, promoting talent and promoting more specialized training, or even the need for greater internationalization of the sector”, explained Arrufat.
Winners of the 1st edition of the Catalonia Mental Health Cluster Awards
Another of the most anticipated moments of the event was the presentation of the #CSMC Awards, a recognition of the most outstanding collaborative projects that companies, entities and agents linked to the cluster have launched.
This edition of the awards has been sponsored by Amalgama7 , Otsuka Pharmaceutical , Janssen , Ajuntament de Sant Boi de Llobregat , ITA and Dendrite Commons .
The winning projects in the different categories are:
- Digital innovation: KALA – App for tracking disorders related to the menopause stage, from the Qualud company .
- Social innovation : SOM CARE – Robotic management platform for healthcare, from the Saltó Group .
- Talent and training : MINDFUL SCHOOLS – European project for the prevention of mental health in schools, from the Orienta Foundation .
- Shared value and sustainability : #JUNTOSPORLASALUDMENTALENELTRABAJO – Awareness campaign, by the Afforhealth company
- Internationalization : Immersive Reality in International Markets, from the company Broomx .
- Strategic Change : Project Confluence, from the Sant Pere Claver Group and the Workshops Foundation .
The jury was made up of 17 experts representing the different links in the value chain, who evaluated the 55 proposals received and selected the winners.
WeMind Cluster, the new brand
Finally, the Cluster took advantage of the tenth anniversary to present the new brand, WeMind Cluster, with which from now on it will be called the Clúster Mental Health Catalonia. With this new name, the organization seeks to convey more faithfully the current ecosystem of the organization , which includes all agents who work for personal autonomy at all stages of people’s lives, with a biopsychosocial vision . Also, promote the internationalization of the sector.
“The new brand responds to the need to adapt to the reality of what the cluster is currently. Our perimeter has grown in these ten years and we can’t just talk about mental health. We have a holistic vision, which envisages offering fully comprehensive support to people with central nervous system disorders throughout their lives . Now, with the new name, this vision is better reflected”, explains manager Marta Sánchez Bret.
The gallery of the event is now available at this link .
