Valencia hosts a healthy, sustainable and innovative congress on children’s diabetes

According to Dr Castaño, chair of the event, “Valencia is a good city”, with a palace that he says worked very well for a congress like this one. Besides the congress centre and the climate, another plus is that Mediterranean gastronomy helps fight diabetes. So fresh fruits were given in the breaks and healthy food with fresh fruit and vegetables was given in the lunch bags.

The educational programme featured more than 50 conferences, confirming the trend towards more numerous and specialized sessions. There were two main topics: education of patients, and new technologies, increasingly helpful in the treatment of diabetes.

In addition to the plenary sessions and symposia, new formats were implemented such as “meetings with the expert”, a format in smaller groups (30 people) that allowed more interaction. This edition was also paperless and app-powered, in line with the sustainable policy of the congress centre. The app was used to transmit information, the programme, but also to connect with other attendees, conduct live voting, and ask questions with subsequent selection of questions by the moderator.

In the age of internet, the doctor reminds us of the power of congresses beyond pure sessions: according to him, the knowledge that is presented is very important, but so are the relationships established outside the room, where common projects are proposed and information and knowledge exchanged more informally.