Heritage should be sustainable, accessible and profitable for it to play an invigorating role in a territory. This was stated in the conclusions of the 5th Session on Sustainable Management of Heritage, promoted by the abertis foundation, which took place today in the Teatro Real in Madrid. Jordi Juan Tresserras, coordinator of the Cultural Management Programme of the University of Barcelona, has been the scientific director of this session, which has had the participation of Luis Lafuente Batanero, sub-director general of Protection of Heritage of the Ministry of Culture as well as a number of national and international experts.

-Avoiding distractions and perception errors and punishing of offenders, the keys to reducing road accident rates.

-Additionally, calls are made to control advertising and to encourage a change in the “cult of speed” culture.

aumar, the abertis corporation motorway operator, has donated a specialised vehicle to the Association Madre Coraje for its vegetable oil recycling programme. The handover ceremony took place this midday in a shopping centre in Jerez de la Frontera. The van –the Jerez NGDO’s first new vehicle– will collect used vegetable oil (from frying pans, deep fryers and tins of preserves) which the public leaves in special containers spread throughout the city. Once cleaned and recycled, the oil will be used to make biodiesel and bars of soap to be sent to underprivileged communities in Peru.

Abertis has become a Corporate Sponsor of the Catalan Red Cross’s Centre For Peace, following the signing of an agreement between abertis Managing Director Salvador Alemany and the President of the Catalan Red Cross, Joan Badia. With this agreement, which was signed yesterday evening at the Centre for Peace, abertis will lend its support to the organisation’s activities for the 2005-2006 academic year.

Abertis has been retained in the selective Dow Jones Sustainability World index for the second year running, which groups together 10% of the companies in the world with the best sustainability criteria and represents 20% of the capitalisation in its sector.

The abertis foundation has become the protective organisation for the Cap de Creus Natural Park, following the signing this afternoon of an agreement between the Catalan Minister of the Environment and Housing, Salvador Milà, and the Chairman of the abertis foundation , Miquel Roca i Junyent. This partnership will last for a year and will permit the carrying out of public works, reclamation and conservation work on the area. Also present at the event was the abertis Managing Director Salvador Alemany.

The future implementation of the points-based drivers’ licence will be the best way of reducing traffic accidents, according to 55% of Catalan driving school directors. Some others (25%) believe that, to reduce accident rates, longer and more detailed training is required, whilst others (10%) believe in the effectiveness of fines. These are some of the conclusions included in the study Training responsible young drivers, presented today by the abertis foundation and prepared by the Grupo de Investigación sobre Envejecimiento (GIE, the Ageing Research Group) of the University of Barcelona (UB), led by Dr. Ricardo Moragas. At the presentation ceremony were Dr. Ricardo Moragas, the Director of the Catalan Traffic Service, Rafael Olmos, and the Director of the abertis foundation, Ricard Maxenchs.

abertis has been awarded the Social Initiative Award for the photograph exhibition Paths of Emotions and for its support to the Special Olympic Games and to the families of the mentally handicapped people who participated in the event. The award was part of the “Family” Business and Institutional Awards, organised by the Group of Catalan Family Associations. The manager of Institutional Relations and Quality, Ricard Maxenchs, collected the prize on behalf of abertis from the Catalan Minister for Well Being and Family, Anna Simó, at an event which took place on June 20^th at the FIATC Auditorium.

The thesis “Modelling of the actions and behaviour of underground car park users”, by Félix Andrés Caicedo Murillo, was the research project to receive the 2nd abertis Award. The work analyses how users make their choice of floor and empty parking space, and establishes some models that help predict driver behaviour in underground car parks. On the this basis, the thesis suggests new criteria to be borne in mind when operating these infrastructures, from the viewpoint of improving customer service.