The fourth and final installment of the cycle “University and Territory” presents the exhibition of projects developed by students of the University of Navarra (UNAV). The exhibition will be open from September 10 to October 11.

The exhibition brings together proposals that reflect on the abandonment of villages, depopulation, and the urgent need to recover the territory and the productive activities linked to it. The students’ work proposes strategic interventions aimed at reactivating rural areas through new uses, community dynamics, and legal and technical instruments for territorial recovery.

On September 10, the first of four discussions programmed around these issues will take place:

Recovering the land: instruments for agroforestry reactivation, a debate with Inés Santé Riveiro (PhD in Agricultural Engineering and Associate Professor in the Department of Agroforestry Engineering at the University of Santiago de Compostela) and Quico Ónega López (Agricultural Engineer and researcher at the Land Laboratory of the University of Santiago de Compostela). The conversation will focus on the Land Recovery Law and on the legal and technical tools available to promote the productive and community use of abandoned land.

As part of the exhibition, three further sessions open to the public will be held at Casa RIA:

• Inhabiting the rural: new models of housing and co-housing
  Conversation between Luis Milia (Mayor of Carballeda de Avia), Agustín Jamardo (founder of Anceu Coliving), and María Ríos (urban planner, Agrelar Consultora)
  Thursday, September 18 at 6 pm

• Strategies for the recovery of the built environment
  Thursday, September 25 at 6 pm
  More information coming soon

• Productive activation: agroforestry systems, food, and economy
  Thursday, October 9 at 6 pm
  More information coming soon

All activities are free of charge, with limited seating until capacity is reached.

The exhibition will remain open until October 11 at the Casa RIA exhibition space (Virxe da Cerca 6, Santiago de Compostela), Monday to Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm.

The exhibition is part of the “University and Territory” cycle, promoted by Fundación RIA throughout the summer of 2025, which brings to Casa RIA collaborations with four universities: Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (July 10–26), Universidad de Alcalá (July 31–August 16), MIT (August 20–September 6), and Universidad de Navarra (September 10–October 11).

After years of work with local communities, Fundación RIA enables national and international universities to connect with specific places, concrete challenges, and actors in the Galician territory. Architecture students take part in processes of situated learning: they explore places, engage in dialogue with local residents, produce cartographies, identify needs, and propose strategic interventions.

Their projects address key issues such as rural depopulation, the valorisation of productive landscapes, the revitalisation of local economies, and the regeneration and planning of the territory. In this way, the exercise goes beyond the project itself: it is situated learning, mediation, and commitment. Applying knowledge means raising new questions, valuing local intelligence, and opening shared pathways towards a sustainable future for the territory.