The University of Granada is promoting the first UGR Ecomarket together with the Granada Agroecological Network

The initiative was created with the aim of becoming a monthly event in the Paseíllos de Fuentenueva, connecting local producers with the university community.

The event is part of the activities of Granada Tierra Viva, SOILCRATES LL coordinated by Medialab UGR.

Granada, March 26, 2026 – The University of Granada (UGR) is holding the first edition of the UGR Ecomarket today in the Paseíllos of the Fuentenueva Campus. This initiative, jointly promoted by the academic institution and the Granada Agroecological Network , has the fundamental purpose of making the university an active agent in the transformation of food systems, fostering more sustainable and healthy models closely connected to the local area.

The UGR Ecomarket operates under the umbrella of Granada Tierra Viva , an open innovation space and living lab belonging to the European project SOILCRATES (funded by the Horizon Europe program). This initiative is coordinated by the Vice-Rectorate for Social Innovation, Employability, and Entrepreneurship, through Medialab UGR, and benefits from the cross-departmental collaboration of the Rector’s Delegate for Health, which reinforces its direct impact on promoting healthy lifestyles within the university community.

A meeting point between the countryside and the city. From 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the Ecomarket brings together around fifteen organizations and small producers from the province of Granada who work according to agroecological principles. The presence of the Granada Agroecological Network ensures that this space transcends mere commercial exchange, establishing itself as a place for raising awareness, learning, and building trust through direct sales.

With the aim of strengthening short supply chains, the UGR Ecomarket aspires to become a monthly initiative that reinforces the University’s strategy to generate impact in the region. Those who visit the University Walkways today will find a wide range of local products at the following stalls:

Local agriculture and food: Las Huertas de Paula, Asociación Somos Vega Somos Tierra, Cooperativa Valle y Vega, Asociación AlKhadra, Cooperativa El Encinar, Asociación Como de Graná and La Zarzamora.
Artisan products and transformative initiatives: La Vieja Buchaca (organic cheeses), Andalucía Selección (eco-shop of Andalusian products) and Intermón Oxfam (fair trade).
Personal care and well-being: Alkuza (organic artisanal cosmetics).
Networks and defense of the territory: Granada Agroecological Network, Granada Geopark, Save La Vega – Vega Educa and Granada Living Land.

Parallel program: reflection and debate at the ETSIE

Complementing the physical market, the Graduation Hall of the Higher Technical School of Building Engineering (ETSIE) hosts a debate program in the morning on the role of universities in food sustainability.

The event was opened by Esteban Romero Frías , Vice-Rector for Social Innovation, Employability, and Entrepreneurship; Virginia A. Aparicio García-Molina , the Rector’s Delegate for Health; and César Eduardo de la Cruz Abarca , President of the Andalusian Federation of Organic Consumers and Producers. The academic program also includes the presentation “The Long-Term Impact of the Ecomarket: A Project for Granada, the Land, and Its People,” by Professor Alberto Matarán, and the roundtable discussion “From the Field to the Campus,” where representatives from the Pablo de Olavide University (UPO), the Altiplano Horticultural Association, and the University of Granada (UGR) analyze ecomarkets as spaces for territorial and social transformation.

With the launch of this first UGR Ecomarket, the University of Granada reinforces its firm commitment to social innovation, environmental sustainability and the generation of a real and positive impact in its immediate surroundings, which will be evident on the fourth of each month in university walkways.