TV3, the abertis foundation and the Catalan government’s education department today presented the “Paisatge i Entorn” (Landscape and Environment) prizes to the winners in the first year of these awards. The award-winning pupils were Guillem Maneja from Manlleu for his sixth-form project on “Les fonts de Manlleu” (The springs of Manlleu), and Laura Puyo, Laura Arias, Tecla Legasa and Helena Cristobal of Tarragona for their ESO project on “Els contenidors i residus especials” (Containers and special waste) at the Santa Teresa de Jesús school.

The boom in commercial tourism in Antarctica, with nearly 50,000 people visiting each year, according to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), is threatening the ecosystems of Antarctica. As a result, the abertis foundation is organising a scientific conference with a round-table discussion on "The Effects of Tourism in Antarctica", to be held this afternoon (4.30 p.m.) in Barcelona at the Francisco Godia Foundation (Diputación, 250).

The day after the new road safety act comes into force, the abertis foundation brings together those responsible for the reform of the law to outline the main changes in it and assess the implications of the rules for drivers, associations of accident victims and the General Traffic Directorate.

Thursday 6th May 2010 saw the presentation of the strategy to raise awareness of voluntary blood donation among young people, making use of new technology and social networks in a model which it is hoped will be exported to the rest of the world, taking advantage of Barcelona being the world centre for blood donation this year.

The study entitled "Traffic prediction based on license plate scanning. Observability and optimal location of traffic counters", by María Pilar Jiménez Gómez, has won the 7th abertis Prize – in the doctoral thesis category – on Transport Infrastructure Management, which is awarded annually by the UPC-abertis chair.

The winning study develops different mathematical models in order to reproduce traffic conditions, using the licence plate scanner and proposing methods to optimise the location of the scanning points. The ultimate aim is to provide solutions to mobility problems in cities.

abertis, as a European group dedicated to mobility and telecommunications infrastructure management,  has reaffirmed the commitment it entered into in 2006 by signing the European Road Safety Charter once more. This time the commitment includes the French motorway concession operator sanef. Another first is that the abertis foundation has signed the document as a separate body for the first time. Sergi Loughney, abertis corporate institutional relations manager and Director of the abertis foundation, signed the charter on behalf of the two organisations at the event held today at the Spanish Ministry of Health.