The Regional Ministry of Industrial Policy and Energy is organising a conference aimed at architecture students to promote the stone and marble mining industry and to highlight Andalusia’s role as a benchmark industrial region in its production and transformation.
Under the title ‘Industry, Natural Stone and Innovative Surfaces’, the conference, which runs until Friday at the headquarters of the Association of Marble Entrepreneurs of Andalusia in Macael, includes lectures by several architects who are experts in this material, complemented by a series of visits to factories and quarries in the province of Almeria to provide an overview of the sector and its activity.
The general director of Mines, Jesús Portillo, highlighted at the opening of the conference the importance of organising this type of meeting, as «it is essential to promote a strong network of professionals and entities that know, value and develop solutions based on its products».
Thus, he pointed out that this is a measure included in the CRECE value chain plan for the stone and marble industry in Andalusia. Among the initiatives envisaged is the launch of conferences aimed at architecture students from Andalusian schools of architecture, particularly those of Malaga, Granada and Seville, in order to broaden their knowledge of the architectural possibilities and the value provided by stone and marble.
Portillo recalled that the Regional Ministry of Industrial Policy and Energy is drawing up a Strategy for Sustainable Mining in Andalusia 2030 in conjunction with the sector and that this week the Interdepartmental Commission for the Promotion of Sustainable Mining in Andalusia has been set up, aspects that demonstrate the strategic nature that the Andalusian Government gives to the extractive industry.
He pointed out that one of the Andalusian government’s objectives in the mining sector is to consolidate Andalusia as a national leader in terms of production, employment and number of mining operations and to position the region as a world technological benchmark, as well as making this sector an «essential ally» of the energy transition and the decarbonisation of the industry.
The meeting, which has around twenty participants, also seeks to promote one of the most important economic sectors in the province of Almeria, natural stone, a key instrument in the enhancement of the Marble Region, the main area of extraction and processing of natural stone and derivatives at national level and with a significant projection in the international arena.
Likewise, from the vision of the value chain for the promotion of industrial activities promoted by the Regional Ministry of Industrial Policy and Energy, stone and marble are commonly used in the cladding of buildings or other elements in kitchens, bathrooms, swimming pools, among others. The extension of their use in architecture and design, linked to their durability, aesthetics or thermal performance, opens up new challenges and opportunities for progress in sustainable and industrialised building.
The meeting, promoted by the General Secretariat of Industry and Mines, has the collaboration of the Regional Ministry of Universities, Research and Innovation and the Association of Marble Entrepreneurs.