The 7th Forum Edita kicks off with a focus on digital transformation and green publishing

The Forum Edita, organised by the Gremi d'Editors de Catalunya and the UPF Barcelona School of Management (UPF-BSM), opens its seventh edition under the title "Transformation and impulses in the world of books", with a focus on digital innovation, eco-publishing and sustainability, as well as the presence of Spain as the guest countryat the 2022 Frankfurt Book Fair. 

"The crisis arising from the war in Ukraine and a galloping inflation that threatens consumption and savings, has caught the world of books in very good health", said Patrici Tixis, President of the Gremi d'Editors de Catalunya, who assured that the sector is prepared to face a time "full of unknowns". 

The seventh edition begins with an eye on to the presence of Spain as the guest country at the 2022 Frankfurt Book Fair 

Tixis, co-director of the Forum together with journalist Sergio Vila-Sanjuán, and Professor and director and creator of the Master in Publishing at the UPF-BSM, Javier Aparicio Maydeu, stressed that the book sector "does not follow economic cycles", and that, despite not knowing what effect the current economic indicators will have on the market, "anyone who needs to find answers to what is happening, can do nothing better than buy a book".

Institutional support

"Our university maintains a firm relationship with the world of books", assured the Rector of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Oriol Amat, who recalled that one of the priorities of his mandate is to "strengthen the transfer of knowledge that we make to society so that it has a more positive impact on social welfare". "We want to have an impact on the social sciences and humanities, becoming a focus of opinion and a contribution to social debate", he said. 

"We cannot fail to be amazed by the fact that a creation that has its roots in antiquity is today more necessary than ever", said Miquel Iceta, Spanish Minister of Culture and Sport, in reference to the book. In this sense, Iceta valued the sector's "concern for climate change" and its "commitment to sustainability and eco-publishing". "We will be showing off all these advances at the Frankfurt Book Fair", said the Minister. 

"Barcelona is, indisputably, a publishing capital. It has been, is and must continue to be if it is not to remain anchored solely in the model of tourism"

In turn, the Catalan Minister of Culture, Natàlia Garriga, congratulated the organisers for the "rigour and excellence" of the Forum Edita, which she considered to be a "point of reference for everyone". "Catalonia is experiencing a good moment in the book sector after our literature was central at the London Book Fair", she said, while insisting on the Catalan Government's commitment to promote reading as "the first leg of acces to culture". "Our goal is to get more readers, more regular readers, and in Catalan", she concluded.

Jordi Martí, sixth deputy mayor of Barcelona City Council and councillor for Culture, Education, Science and Community, concluded the institutional speeches and thanked the organisers for choosing Barcelona as the city to host the Forum Edita. "This city is, unquestionably, a publishing capital. It has been, it is and it must continue to be", stressed Martí, as "it will allow the city not to remain anchored in the tourism model". "If we were not commited to this, we would be making a mistake", he warned, while considering that neither Barcelona nor the sector would not have the projection it has if it did not count on the "commitment to reinforce the unique view of reality that literature in Catalan provides". 

Green publishing and innovation

For the first time since 2019, the public will once again be able to attend the event in person -with prior registration- to follow the different presentations and dialogues that will address issues such as green publishing, the presence of Spain as the guest country at the 2022 Frankfurt Book Fair and the impact of technolgy on the sector. 

In this regard, the presence and participation of the President of the International Publishers Association, Bodour Al Qasimi; the philosopher Javier Gomà; the International Policy Advisor of the Syndicat National de l'Édition (SNE) in France, Catherine Blanche, and the technology expert and advisor to the European Union, Sílvia Leal, among others, is particularly noteworthy.

See the program