Casa Wallonia brings together Spanish and Belgian companies from the creative industries at UDIT to promote business relations and collaboration between the two countries.
The Minister President of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Pierre-Yves Jeholet, and the Rector of UDIT, Juan Cayón Peña, were in charge of opening this third edition of Casa Valonia.
The third edition of Casa Wallonia began yesterday at UDIT, a meeting that brings together, until 27 April, more than 100 companies from the video games, 2D and 3D animation, immersive experiences (VR and XR), eSports and visual effects (VFX) sectors from Spain and Belgium to promote their economic, cultural and academic relations.
Casa Wallonia is organised by the Walloon Agency for Export and Foreign Investments(AWEX) and the Agency responsible for International Relations of Wallonia-Brussels(WBI), with the participation of a Belgian delegation of more than 100 people and more than 200 Spanish professionals working in the creative and digital industries.
The inauguration of Casa Wallonia, which was held at UDIT, University of Design and Technology, was led by the Minister President of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Pierre-Yves Jeholet, who stressed that "the cultural and creative industry is very important, with Spain being an inspiration in this area for Wallonia-Brussels" and also announced that this year they will open a new delegation in Spain to continue strengthening relations between the two countries.
The General Administrator of AWEX and CEO of WBI, Pascale Delcomminette, recalled that Casa Wallonia's mission is to strengthen the ties between Wallonia and Spain. "I hope that this third edition will serve to inspire and promote technological developments that contribute to building a better world," she added.
Juan Cayón, Rector of UDIT, said that "we are delighted to host this initiative that aims to forge synergies between companies from both countries and to boost the European creative industry".
He also pointed out that "the video games and animation sector, whose training is a pillar in our institution, is not only an economic engine in constant growth, but also an inexhaustible source of innovation and creativity. This event is therefore an excellent opportunity for students and companies from both countries to come together to apply video game and animation technologies to projects in sectors such as education, culture and tourism".
Spanish-Belgian Hackathon
Yesterday afternoon, the projects of the first Spanish-Belgian hackathon held between students and companies from both countries were presented, the aim of which was to develop new digital products or services that reflect the multiple uses of gaming technologies in the educational, cultural and tourism sectors.
The winning project of the hackathon, organised together with UDIT, is an independent educational video game called "Hidalgo", which uses the figure of Don Quixote de La Mancha to help parents educate their children in the figure of the famous nobleman, encourage reading and give visibility to Spanish and European culture.
Today, Casa Valonia moves to the Carlos de Amberes Foundation, where business meetings, workshops and panels will serve to deepen trade relations, create new synergies and analyse the future of digital and creative industries in Spain, Belgium and Europe.
Some of the issues to be discussed will be the metaverse and its application in everyday life, the opportunities for companies in Belgian-Spanish co-production (in collaboration with ICEX) and the European funding funds and programmes that exist for the sector.
