The Commission, formed by the Barcelona City Council, the Government of Catalonia and the Government of Spain, together with the four public universities in the Barcelona area — UPF, UB, UAB and UPC — and the research institutions BIST, CSIC, the Pasqual Maragall Foundation and PRBB, will promote shared projects and strengthen coordination across the different facilities, where more than 2,000 research professionals are expected to work by 2030
The chairman of the BIST Board of Trustees, Prof. Andreu Mas-Colell, among the representatives that form the Institutional Commission for the Ciudadella del Coneixement.
The historic Saló de Cent hosted today the signing ceremony formally establishing the Institutional Commission for the Ciutadella del Coneixement. The event, chaired by the Mayor of Barcelona, was attended by the Spanish Minister of Culture; the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Universities; the Catalan Ministers for Research and Universities and Culture; the rectors of the participating universities; and representatives of the research institutions that will be part of the Ciutadella del Coneixement ecosystem, including the BIST Community, CSIC, the Pasqual Maragall Foundation and PRBB.
BIST is part of the Ciutadella del Coneixement project through the future BIST Precision Medicine Hub, a 24,700-square-metre building currently under construction by the PRBB in Barcelona’s Ciutadella area. The facility, expected to become operational in 2028, will bring together researchers, staff and technical infrastructures from five BIST Community centres — IRB Barcelona, IBEC, ICN2, ICFO and CRG.
The Ciutadella del Coneixement Institutional Comission aims to streamline and coordinate all the actions required to transform the area surrounding Parc de la Ciutadella into a leading research, innovation and culture hub spanning more than 18 hectares, positioning it among the most important in Europe. With most of the planned facilities already under construction, the Commission will serve to foster collaboration, promote shared projects and strengthen coordination among the different stakeholders. Once fully operational, the Ciutadella del Coneixement is expected to host more than 2,000 researchers.
This new governance body has been established at a key moment, with the ten research and science outreach projects that will make up the future Ciutadella del Coneixement already underway and at different stages of development. The overall investment planned for the full deployment of the project, expected to be completed by 2030, amounts to around €500 million.
The goal is for the projects included in the Ciutadella del Coneixement strategy to generate synergies and further strengthen the research ecosystem already established in this area.
The Mayour of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, described the Ciutadella del Coneixement as “a new central hub for Barcelona” and thanked all the participating administrations for their contribution, highlighting a collaboration that “sends a very valuable message to the world” demonstrating “coordination and loyalty between democratic institutions, standing in favour of truth and knowledge”.
A new hub for research and knowledge
The Ciutadella del Coneixement project will bring together a wide range of scientific, cultural and public facilities aimed at transforming the area surrounding Parc de la Ciutadella into one of Europe’s leading hubs for research and innovation.
One of its main developments is the future research campus at the Antic Mercat del Peix (former Fish Market), which will host the BIST Precision Medicine Hub (PRBB Ciutadella), the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE, CSIC-UPF), and the Àgora Barcelona for Societal Wellbeing, led by UPF. In parallel, plans are also advancing for a new CSIC biosciences building nearby.
Beyond research infrastructures, the Ciutadella del Coneixement project also includes the restoration of the historic buildings within Parc de la Ciutadella — such as the Castell dels Tres Dragons, the Hivernacle, the Umbracle and the Martorell Exhibition Centre — which are expected to become spaces connecting scientific knowledge with the wider public through exhibitions and outreach activities.
The broader transformation strategy also encompasses the future State Public Library of Barcelona and the ongoing transformation of Barcelona Zoo into a leading centre for biodiversity awareness, conservation and science engagement.
