Spica and the Upcoming Revolution in Radio Astronomy

The new radio telescopes that are currently coming on line such as LOFAR and e-VLA and in the somewhat more distant future SKA, will revolutionize radio astronomy. Among many other things, they will enable observations of unprecedented detail of events where energetic particles and magnetic fields play a dominant role. This is the case for, for example, radio jets, supernovae and large scale shocks in galaxy clusters. SPICA will enable observations of crucial stages of the formation of both stars and galaxies. During the last years it has become clear that the interplay between highly energetic events and the more quiescent phenomenon related to the accretion of cold gas plays a crucial role in the formation and evolution of galaxies and their associated AGN, and clusters of galaxies. In this contribution we will review why the combined observations of future radio observatories and SPICA will advance our understanding in this field.