The metropolitan area of Barcelona is subjected to global changes and transformations which require measures to guarantee its sustainable, inclusive growth while adapting the region's economy to the new environmental, technological, social, territorial and governance challenges.
The 2015-2019 government agreement captured the principles that have driven the social and economic development policies during this mandate, both those geared at guaranteeing social cohesion, with the involvement of the institutions, civil society and economic and social stakeholders, and those meant to spearhead economic development initiatives in the broad sense. Thus, the Social and Economic Development Area works to achieve these objectives through two spheres: the Social Policies Service and the Metropolitan Economic Development Agency.
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Metropolitan Economic Development Agency
The Agency was created in 2018 in fulfilment of the government agreement and objective 2.3 of the 2015-2019 Metropolitan Action Plan (PAM), and it is the outcome and the expression of the new authorities on economic development matters that the AMB received via law 31/2010.
In response to the demands of municipalities and the social stakeholders expressed in the Economic Reactivation and Reindustrialisation Committee, the Agency has become a working instrument to spearhead internationalisation and investment promotion policies in the metropolitan area, to support companies and the job market, to foster innovation and technology and to support the local emerging economies.
The Agency has also worked to generate knowledge on the metropolitan socioeconomic reality, and it has made this information available to citizens and socioeconomic stakeholders. Noteworthy are the periodic economic reports from Flaix Econòmic, the TROP reports on trends and future challenges as well as the monographic studies associated with the Agency's projects and policies.
The Agency also spearheads broad action agreements with the socioeconomic stakeholders in the metropolitan area and adopts a clearly municipal-centred perspective, putting itself at the service of the 36 metropolitan municipalities in order to promote a competitive, innovative, socially- and environmentally-sustainable economy that is ready for the 21st century. In order to spearhead this participation and concertation, on 19 February 2019 the Advisory Council of the Metropolitan Economic Development Agency was established, a body made up of individuals with renowned scholarly and professional careers and representatives of the main socioeconomic institutions in the region.
Metropolitan Economic Development Agency
Studies
Publications
Data and statistics
Newsletters-
Economic Reactivation and Reindustrialisation Committee
The Economic Reactivation and Reindustrialisation Committee was created with a desire to spearhead and promote economic activity through the participation of the metropolitan socioeconomic stakeholders: more than 400 people participated in 28 sessions of the 7 working groups, 6 monographic sessions and 3 plenary sessions, which encompassed more than 100 hours of work and generated a significant volume of documentation.
What emerged from the committee's development and the methodology is a proposal of two plenary gatherings with all the town halls, in which they were provided with initial documentation generated previously as the point of departure for analysis and reflection. Subsequently, the debate was divided by topic into sectors with 7 working groups, with 3 meetings per group. One characteristic of these meetings was their regional distribution, which led to the involvement of 12 different municipalities as the working headquarters.
Finally, the last session with conclusions was held, where the project entitled Strategy for the Metropolitan Economic Reactivation and Reindustrialisation of Barcelona was presented. It discusses the strategies to improve the economic activity estates (PAEs), such as promoting innovation and technology and knowledge transfer, and strengthening the sectors with the most industrial potential and added value, as well as the emerging economies with the explicit goal of enhancing human capital and having the appropriate infrastructures.
It is worth noting that one of the major conclusions was the creation of the AMB's Metropolitan Economic Development Agency as a facilitating entity and instrument in this process.
Strategy for the Metropolitan Economic Reactivation and Reindustrialisation of Barcelona
Metropolitan Economic Development Agency
Economic reactivation and reindustrialisation
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Internationalisation and investments
The area of internationalisation and investment promotion of the AMB's Economic Development Agency works to promote and coordinate initiatives aimed at promoting the region and its economic activity, as well as helping to attract investment to the metropolitan area.
With these goals in mind, a support programme for the international outreach of metropolitan economic activities was developed throughout this mandate, another programme that seeks the recognition and promotion of the metropolitan identity, and a third one whose purpose is to promote the dynamisation of and investment in the metropolitan area.-
Attracting and tracking investments
The goal of the programme to attract and track investment is to facilitate investment and establish a metropolitan working model to attract it in all its aspects, with investment research actions, resource and asset inventories, and investment attraction and retention programmes. All these proposals have been agreed upon with the metropolitan municipalities.
These actions largely fulfil objective 2.2 outlined in the Action Plan for the 2015-2019 mandate.- Real Estate economic activity market
The search engine makes available to users more than 5,000,000 m2 of warehouses and lands distributed into more than 4,000 sale or rental offers around the region. Today it has garnered major recognition beyond the metropolitan area, and during the mandate this has led new agreements to be reached with the County Council of the Vallès Occidental, the County Council of the Vallès Oriental and the County Council of the Baix Llobregat to maintain and provide this service synergistically to citizens and to initiate joint economic promotion strategies.
This avenue of work has been complemented with the launch of the search engine for offices and commercial spaces, which covers almost the entire real estate supply related to the metropolitan economic activity.
Users may check these data and the evolution of the real estate market by the dynamic table of indicators in the search engine of warehouses and industrial lands; the half-yearly reports o, the industrial, office and commercial space market; and other publications that summarise this information such as Flaix Metropolità, which is published every three months.
Real estate search engines and market observatory
- Investment resources and assets
These assets are constantly updated in the interactive version of the metropolitan investment map and promoted jointly on the website.
Expansion of Discover Metropolis Barcelona
Development of hotel investment in Metropolis Barcelona
Development of offices and retail investment in Metropolis Barcelona
Metropolitan investment map
Barcelona Opportunity
Promotion of investment resources and assets -
Internationalisation of the metropolitan economy
The development of this programme has made it possible to support the international outreach of the economic activities and companies in the metropolitan area, while taking advantage of the cooperation and collaboration synergies with other administrations, bodies and business and municipal entities.
- Barcelona Catalonia: Projection of the economic community
This agreement currently takes shape in the presence at the leading international real estate investment trade fairs like MIPIM in Cannes, Expo Real in Munich and Meeting Point in Barcelona.
Over these 4 years, the Agency has participated in a total of 4 trade fairs in the real estate sector and has directly served more than 15 metropolitan municipalities by attracting economic activities to them.
The role of the Agency is to facilitate the presence of municipalities and the metropolitan business community in trade fairs and activities within the Barcelona-Catalonia Project and to maximise the impact of the actions taken as a trade fairs. Likewise, the project also allows the metropolitan municipalities to undertake internationalisation and increase their competitiveness in foreign markets. These actions seek to meet objective 2.6 in the Action Plan of this mandate.
Barcelona-Catalonia Project
- Economic coordination abroad
With the goal of coordinating the different international economic promotion initiatives taken around the region, the Agency has joined the International Economic Coordination Committee. This committee encompasses the public and private bodies and institutions that undertake international actions and strategies.
The Agency acts to disseminate these actions while also providing support to the metropolitan economic community and opportunities for it to internationalise. In this sense, it is currently working to develop trade missions abroad and to participate in certain international trade fairs and sectoral events.
International Economic Coordination Committee
- Support for exports
The project was launched in February 2019 and its objective is to support the growth and exports of metropolitan businesses, with the coordination and participation of the municipalities. This initiative is targeted at fostering the business development of more than 200 metropolitan companies and to increase their presence in foreign markets by detecting the needs to export their products while also providing the support services needed to bring this initiative to fruition.
ExportMetropolis, support for exports -
Metropolitan promotion and identity
- Metropolitan outreach of the Barcelona brand
Within this context, in July 2018 the study entitled Metropolitan Outreach of the Barcelona Brand was presented. This study identifies the common elements that constitute and contribute to building the imagery of the Barcelona brand as well as its promotion and economic and social development in the metropolitan area. Furthermore, it includes the contributions and needs of the metropolitan municipalities so they can take advantage of the Barcelona brand by maximising synergies and creating value for all the actors and stakeholders involved.
Beyond the study carried out with the participation of the municipalities, this project also seeks to establish collaborations and create a new space of communication among all the metropolitan stakeholders, both public and private, in order to develop a global strategy which also brings together the different identities that exist in the region.
Metropolitan outreach of the Barcelona brand
- Metropolitan resources and heritage
Along with the conclusions of the analysis in the Metropolitan Outreach of the Barcelona Brand, this study has enabled us to identify the metropolitan resources and heritage in order to showcase and disseminate them while increasing knowledge of them and generating complementary economic activity. These georeferenced resources are available in a map on the AMB website.
Identification of metropolitan resources and heritage
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Attracting and tracking investments
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Enterprise, economic activity estates and job market
In addition to supporting local economic promotion services, the Agency also works to consolidate business initiatives and entrepreneurship. For this reason, tools have been created such as the service and service-provider search engine, the creation of business service officers, a pilot project geared attracting and retaining investments, and measures to spur small retailers.
In terms of reindustrialisation, actions are promoted to foster industrial competitiveness and dynamisation, in addition to projects whose goal is modernisation. Previously, precise information was generated on the economic activity estates (abbreviated PAEs) in order to determine the measures that could help promote them. Action plans – called InfoPAEs – have been created around the analysis of the manufacturing community and the characteristics of economic activity estates, and actions have been taken – SupportPAEs – to support and improve the PAEs in terms of both their physical environment and business and management support. Actions – ImpulsPAEs – have also been launched to improve the management of the PAEs, with the impetus of the business community located in the metropolitan economic activity estates.
In its impetus for the job market, other initiatives have been developed to promote and manage employment in the job market via the cooperation and participation of local services and with the availability of new tools to adapt the information, guidance, prospecting and hiring processes to the ever-changing reality of employment. From this perspective, unique projects are being promoted which support the local employment policy office to facilitate high-quality, inclusive job insertion. The agency has also developed information collection programs with the support of the Institute of Regional and Metropolitan Studies of Barcelona (IERMB) via the Job Market Observatory. The AMB is also spearheading actions to foster and adapt vocational education programmes to the requirements of the local economic community.-
Coordination and support for enterprise and entrepreneurship services
The Agency has carried out actions to coordinate and support companies and entrepreneurship with the cooperation and concertation of local services to strengthen them, exchange experiences and create a network of good practices that helps consolidate the different municipal initiatives. In this sphere, some projects underway have continued and others have been started and must be consolidated.
- Business services search engine: This is a compilation of the different services and service-providers in the metropolitan area, and it is organised as an informative and updated platform. Thirty-six municipalities and other administrations participate in it, with a total of 132 entities and/or bodies, 751 services, a mean of approximately 600 visits per month and 150 up-to-date records.
- The ARIE Programme is a pilot project geared at attracting and retaining investment whose objective is to help companies reinvest and consolidate their economic activity in the region. In this first phase, it enlisted the participation of around 20 companies from 7 municipalities, and it lasted approximately 9 months.
- Support and creation of business services offices (BSOs). The first phase in a pilot programme has been undertaken to analyse the need to create a metropolitan model of BSOs. This project had the cooperation of 5 town halls, it was developed via 10 working sessions and it generated 3 working documents.
- Retail programme. Work began to design measures to spur small retailers and evaluate the sector and the impact of initiatives based on an initial workshop with the participation of 15 town halls.
ARIE Programme
Support and creation of business services offices (BSOs)
Retail Programme -
Metropolitan reindustrialisation
In the area of reindustrialisation, avenues of action were established to gain precise information on the real situation of the economic activity estates (PAEs) and the measures that can help promote them. These are programmes to foster actions in favour of competitiveness and industrial dynamisation and initiatives that seek modernisation, the rehabilitation of estates by refurbishing buildings and warehouses, energy efficiency, improvements and renovations of the urbanisation and service infrastructure, and mobility and accessibility:
- InfoPAE. This is an action plan around the analysis of the manufacturing community and the characteristics of the PAEs which takes shape as a collection of information to create a platform/portal of the metropolitan PAEs that should contain proven, reliable information with a higher level of detail on these PAEs than what has been available to date. There are also several studies analysing and describing the region in the sphere of urban planning and land use and availability to support the plan.
- SuportPAE. These actions to support and improve the PAEs in terms of both the physical environment and the support of business and management. This programme, which is managed jointly by the Infrastructures Area and the AMB's Economic Development Agency, has generated an investment of around 47 million euros; 159 projects have been submitted and validated, with a 90% execution rate, and 24 metropolitan town halls have participated.
- ImpulsPAE.This is a set of actions aimed at promoting the business community located in the metropolitan PAEs. It includes a programme to create and dynamise business associations based on an initial pilot programme with the participation of 7 town halls coordinated by Union of Industrial Estates of Catalonia (UPIC). Another programme developed in this initial diagnosis phase is quality certifications of metropolitan PAEs in order to be able to analyse them from the standpoint of certain quality indicators, with the support and concertation of PIMEC-CEPE.
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Impetus to the job market
In this section, actions were undertaken that directly affect the promotion and management of employment in the job market, seeking the complicity and participation of local services as well as new interest instruments to adapt the information, guidance, prospecting and hiring process to the ever-changing reality of employment:
- Unique projects. These are social plans that help the local employment policy office facilitate quality, inclusive job insertion. Innovative projects have been promoted whose objective is to facilitate the creation of new employment opportunities, self-employment, job insertion and improvements in professional qualifications in the sphere of commercial management and business management, always from the comprehensive vantage point of projects that affect various spheres.
- Job market observatory. In order to have elements of analysis, the Agency has developed information collection programs with the support of the IERMB and other platforms that supply and present data on the economic status and the main characteristics of the metropolitan job market in order to provide them to the different metropolitan town halls.
- Support for professional training. Professional training is a key factor in the competitiveness of metropolitan companies and a proven way for young people to access quality jobs. This is why the AMB is spearheading actions to foster and adapt vocational education programmes to the requirements of the region's economy. Different actions have been undertaken to associate professional training with the manufacturing community, such as programmes to improve employability and their need for training. A programme has also been created to search for new professional profiles, which revolves around prospecting and guiding these new activities and professional needs. Yet another programme developed was the Programme to Analyse Emerging Economic Sectors, which is related to training needs. The AMB has actively participated in the Sectoral Vocational Education Committee with the goal of pooling efforts and undertaking joint actions in vocational training matters, and it has helped evaluate the FPEmprèn prizes and the Innovative Measures Plan for Vocational Education.
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Complementary actions and programmes
With the goal of continuing to deepen cooperation with the region and to project economic tasks, other cross-cutting projects are worth highlighting:
- Meeting Point 2018: For the first time, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area participated in the 22nd edition of Barcelona Meeting Point (BMP). The event was presented with the proposal of leading the new real estate sector with a focus on internationalisation, trends and real estate innovation. The Agency showcased different search engines and platforms: warehouses and lands, offices and spaces, business services and entrepreneurship, and the circular resources platform.
- Workshop on Metropolitan Reindustrialisation in the 21st Century organised jointly with the Union of Industrial Estates of Catalonia (UPIC), which analysed and presented the study on the transformation of the different urban planning regulations in the metropolitan municipalities.
- Launch of the Twitter channel of the AMB's Metropolitan Economic Development Agency @AgenciaEconAMB. More than 1,000 tweets which covered many of the metropolitan events within the sphere of economic promotion and almost 350 followers in 6 months.
- Participation in different metropolitan gatherings. IND+I organised by the Viladecans Town Hall, lecture series by AEBALL, participation committees in PDUM, the Industrial pact, county councils, FP, National Industry Pact, Reindustrialisation Pact of the County Council of Vallès Occidental, PEMB.
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Coordination and support for enterprise and entrepreneurship services
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Technological innovation
The goal of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area is to be a cutting-edge region in economic, technological and social innovation projects and initiatives, as well as to train and support local services in identifying and promoting innovative experiences and generating synergies and partnerships with the metropolitan economic and social stakeholders.
The major transformation we are experiencing, from which there is no going back, can only be attained with innovative projects, technological tools and new professional profiles. To this end, during this period a series of programmes and projects have been generated targeted at training the metropolitan economic community and helping attract young talent to companies.
The goal of the programmes developed is to contribute to the challenges of the region and its economic community, to connect the innovative ecosystem and to contribute to cities' transition to the economy of the future: knowledge, sustainable energy, energy efficiency, digital transition, industry 4.0, and localised and circular production
The groundwork has been laid to define the Hub Talent Metròpolis Barcelona platform, which consists in creating a network of specialised benchmark innovation centres as spaces of creativity and transfer of innovation projects. Furthermore, the new platform seeks cooperation and collaboration synergies based on the initiatives of local services and has enlisted the participation of universities, companies, centres of excellence and economic and social stakeholders. Its method is the exchange of good innovation and economic and social development practices and the training of innovation agents who act to spur the projects and their ecosystem.
In the sphere of business training and technological advice, a strategic innovation plan is being developed as a pilot from the perspective of people throughout their lifetime. The plan seeks to turn innovation into a new public policy to provide equal opportunities and guarantees for all citizens within the city's ecosystem, with a plural and participative methodology.
Furthermore, innovative projects have been implemented which have put talented youths into contact with the business world, through which entrepreneurship is promoted and a solution is provided to companies' challenges, in addition to facilitating the modernisation of the metropolitan business community and generating new spaces of digital creation (fablabs), while fostering the access to and use of open data and their reuse via specialised mentoring.
In order to disseminate all of these projects associated with entrepreneurship and young talent, the AMB's platform to promote and support innovation (blog) was created, and channels were launched on Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
Blog and social media of the InnoAMB platform
Hub Talent Metròpolis Barcelona-
Social and technological entrepreneurship grants
Entrepreneurship and young talent programme
These grants are targeted at tech-based entrepreneurial projects in the metropolitan area of Barcelona with a social return, and they also provide mentorship in launching the projects. The goal is to connect metropolitan entrepreneurial talent, their activity and their ideas with the reality and needs of people and their public services, and to facilitate cohesion and social inclusion by creating jobs in strategic activities in the sphere of technological and social innovation as an engine of economic growth.
The initiatives can be related to three project areas: social innovation practices; smart technological, environmental, health and quality-of-life solutions; and emerging technological trends in the circular economy.
In the most recent call for applications (2017/18), a total of 63 projects were received, 15 of which were chosen with a minimum of €5,000 per project and a total outlay of €120,000.
Social and technological entrepreneurship grants -
MetròpolisFPLab
The MetròpolisFPlab project was carried out in academic year 2018-19 in conjunction with the BCN Vocational Training Foundation and with the support of other local stakeholders like Innobaix, Port de Barcelona and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The objective is to become a meeting point between companies and vocational training centres in order to generate economic, social and cultural value in the metropolitan area. For this reason, the project combines business demands with the creation of an environment of analysis and specialised training in order to encourage entrepreneurship, teamwork, the promotion of key competences and experimentation.
In this first edition, the project chose 152 ideas with a total of 695 registered users of the platform (including students and teachers) and a total of 30 vocational training centres in the metropolitan area of Barcelona.
MetròpolisFPLab -
Metropolitan Innobús
Innobús is a project targeted at university graduates who are unemployed or seek to improve their jobs. It offers participants an opportunity to share their professional potential while making a route of visits to local companies who offer them challenges of real needs. This generates entrepreneurial teams who use a training, acceleration and mentoring methodology to develop innovative projects to provide to companies.
The project combines business demands and the creation of an environment of specialised analysis and training with the goal of fostering entrepreneurship and teamwork, as well as key competences and experimentation. Furthermore, it helps young university graduates' talent blossom and it enables them to launch their innovative projects, while also benefitting local companies by capturing new ideas from multidisciplinary teams and individual talent.
The first edition of the programme had two weeks of routes (400 km), 17 participating companies and 3 weeks of acceleration with 15 projects submitted. There were 68 registrations and 42 people were chosen, 35 of whom have finished the project.
Metropolitan Innobús
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Social and technological entrepreneurship grants
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Local emerging economies
From the sphere of local emerging economies, the AMB's Metropolitan Economic Development Agency spearheads programmes in projects related to third-generation economic development policies geared at fostering the existing local capacities to meet the needs of the people and communities in the same metropolitan society.
This is an innovative area of work which joins the existing public local development policies, such as fostering the economic assets in the region, in order to promote global competitiveness, as well as policies aimed at attracting talent and investment in the metropolitan area. In this way, the local emerging economy projects complement the other actions undertaken by the Economic Development Agency and have a major transversal and innovative component.
During this mandate, three working programmes were created and promoted which affect different aspects of the competitiveness and resilience of the metropolitan economic communities, thus fulfilling objectives 2.4 and 2.5 in the Action Plan of this mandate.
Local emerging economies-
Circular economy
Promotion of the green and circular economy
This programme has spearheaded projects in the green and circular economy among the local administration and business community with the goal of fostering the sustainability, innovation and the competitiveness of the economic activity and contributing to the resilience of the metropolitan economic community. In this way, the goal has been to promote a metropolitan model based on the maximum efficiency in the use of resources which promotes the reuse of waste as a new source of materials and energy, while taking advantage of synergies within the system.
One of the tools to achieve this goal is the creation of the circular resources platform, a website which contains information on the main circular economy and industrial symbiosis projects which are being carried out in the metropolitan area. Furthermore, it also has international benchmark reference cases, a document resource centre and a database on technical staff specialising in the most common issues that companies tend to face when spearheading a project. The goal of the platform is to become a reference space for all metropolitan agents that want to undertake the transformation of their activity from the perspective of the green economy. Currently, the platform has 70 reference experiences.
Likewise, a Municipal Support for Industrial Symbiosis Service has been created, which offers local municipalities and companies services and assistance to analyse the potential of their economic activity spaces to implement industrial symbiosis strategies. The programme will also integrate these data on a metropolitan scale, such that a new layer of information will be generated on the metropolitan economic and industrial communities which will allow new opportunities to be seized on a metropolitan scale.
These actions are coordinated within the AMB's Circular Economy Committee, an arena of reflection and participation which brings together the municipalities and stakeholders who participate in green and circular economy projects to guide and evaluate the actions that the Metropolitan Economic Development Agency undertakes. Two gatherings of this forum have been held with the participation and attendance of the metropolitan town halls, companies from the region and different departments of the Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona Provincial Council.
Circular resources platform
Circular Economy Committee -
Fostering the cooperative, social and socially-conscious economy
With this programme, the Agency spearheads economic practices that seek objectives that go beyond mere economic profitability and bear in mind criteria beyond profit, such as the incorporation of democratic management methods, the primacy of the labour factor over capital, and the provision of services to their members or to the community in which they operate. Therefore, these are economic practices which tend to revitalise the local economic assets as well as the existing social capital, and which generally tend to be concerned with the local challenges and needs, and often with innovative and/or tech-based strategies.
The programme has developed three projects. The first is an assistance programme for new economic activities and projects in the sphere of the cooperative, social and socially-conscious economy (CSSE) with the goal of contributing to the launch and consolidation of technically feasible projects which have difficulties securing the economic contributions needed to carry them out. The budgetary allocation for 2019, the first year when a call for applications was announced, is 100,000 euros.
Work has also been done on the information available in the metropolitan area on the existing entities and practices in the sphere of the CSSE. The goal was to contribute to the systematisation of this information and to generate indicators that would enable the economic, social and environmental impacts of this kind of process to be evaluated, as well as the support actions spearheaded by different stakeholders and public administrations. In this sense, the Agency has promoted several studies, participated in different forums and helped develop actions to promote these practices, such as the CSSE Fair of the Baix Llobregat or the Badalona Town Hall. The Agency is currently developing what will become the map of CSSE experiences in the metropolitan area of Barcelona.
The third action was to foster social or complementary currencies. In this case, the Agency's objective was to evaluate the potential of these practices as a tool of local development available to municipalities; it did this by supporting and tracking the most consolidated project in the region, the one developed in Santa Coloma de Gramenet. This partnership has shed light on the impact of the grama (the local currency in Santa Coloma de Gramenet) in spurring the local and community economies, as well as the feasibility of the new tech-based methodologies and tools used.
It is thus possible to develop what has been identified as "smart public-spending strategies" which enable several public economic, social and environmental purposes to be pursued by creating this kind of mechanism of exchange. In this sense, on 25 October an international technical meeting was held on local and complementary currencies which shed light on not only international benchmark experiences but also the complementary currency being spearheaded by Barcelona (the REC) and Viladecans (the Vilawatt).
Fostering social and complementary currencies
Assistance for new economic activities and projects in the sphere of the cooperative, social and socially-conscious economy
Workshop on social currencies
Social and socially-conscious economy in the metropolitan area of Barcelona: Contextualisation and current status
Social currencies as a tool of social development
Social currencies, cryptocurrencies and blockchain -
Food policies
The Action Plan of the 2011-2015 mandate incorporated three objectives related to food (from 2.5.3 to 2.5.6) such that for the first time, the AMB defined its own actions within a metropolitan food policy. To fulfil these objectives, the Metropolitan Economic Development Agency has developed the following studies and actions with the desire to ground the metropolitan food policy in line with the development for other metropolitan settings and in accordance with the recommendations of international bodies like the FAO and the EU.
The first action was to Commission the study entitled The Economic Dimension of the Food System in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, a benchmark study which for the first time describes all the activities related to food that take place in the metropolitan area in terms of both labour and economy. Strictly within the agrofood sector, two studies were promoted in conjunction with the Fundació Fòrum Ambiental to analyse market trends and innovative projects that the agrofood industry is carrying out to adapt to environmental challenges, which mark the future competitiveness strategies. These studies were presented at different public events with the participation of the public administrations and the socioeconomic stakeholders involved.
Another area of intervention is promoting local agrarian production by stepping up the demand for local products. This objective has translated into the creation of two training activities targeted at primary school students, along with the Environmental Education Programme of the Environment Area, aimed at promoting good eating habits and studying the social and environmental impacts of the different food consumption options. The other project was carrying out research around the short agrofood commercialisation channels existing in the metropolitan area, which should allow support actions to be designed by the Agency.
The Agency has also participated in several spaces of debate and reflection. It participated in a course around cities' food policies and in the gatherings organised by the Barcelona Strategic Metropolitan Plan (PEMB) to define the way to translate the Milan Charter to the Barcelona metropolitan setting. Within this framework, and in conjunction with the Barcelona Town Hall, the Agency has promoted the previous studies to evaluate the creation of a local food exchange centre in the metropolitan area as a strategy to promote short food circuits.
Finally, in a more strategic area of work, the Agency is working to create a battery of indicators (Food System Observatory) which will allow reliable, exhaustive information to be generated on the main features of the metropolitan food system in order to evaluate the public policies promoted by the AMB and the other local public administrations and stakeholders. In a similar vein, the Agency has coordinated and spearheaded the drawing up of the Metropolitan Food System Action Plan, a document which groups together the AMB's different areas and departments to define the strategic objectives and the actions and projects which will comprise the AMB's food policy for the forthcoming mandate.
Metropolitan Food System Action Plan
Workshop: Eco-innovation in the Agrofood Sector
Studies:
The Economic Dimension of the Food System in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona
Eco-innovation trends in the food sector
Opportunities for an eco-innovative food sector: From trend to opportunity
Challenges and opportunities of short commercialisation channels in the metropolitan area of Barcelona
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Circular economy
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Economic Reactivation and Reindustrialisation Committee
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Social policies
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The Social Policies Service was created in July 2015 to fulfil the 2015-2019 government agreement and intervention line 1 of the Metropolitan Action Plan (PAM), as a result and exemplification of the new competences on social development matters that the AMB was assigned via Law 31/2010. Its action was aimed at spearheading programmes and projects to deal with inequalities, to reinforce equal opportunities and social rights, and to promote metropolitan coordination and peaceful coexistence policies that reinforce the social guarantees of the citizenry.
Throughout the mandate, the four main strands of the metropolitan social policy were peaceful coexistence, employment, vocational training and equity and social cohesion.-
Peaceful coexistence and territory
The effects of the economic crisis and social heterogeneity on the emergence of new patterns of coexistence have highlighted the need to revise and adapt municipal public policies on matters of social cohesion and peaceful coexistence in the metropolitan area, as well as to analyse their effects on the public space and other issues of notable interest (accessibility and mobility, prevention and security, social participation and dynamisation and the generation of opportunities to improve the population's living conditions).
In this context, the area of peaceful coexistence of the Social Policies Service sets out to offer tools and knowledge to municipalities so they can work towards proactive management of coexistence in neighbourly relations in neighbourhoods and foster interaction and respect amongst people while promoting the use value and appropriateness of spaces of interaction, as well as providing for mediation systems when new realities that can affect this coexistence arise.
Within this working framework, several studies, projects and partnerships are underway. The most important ones are highlighted below.
Study on the reality of peaceful coexistence in the metropolitan area
- Social uses of spaces of coexistence in metropolitan neighbourhoods: Everyday practices and social discourses
The following studies fall within this sphere of analysis:
- Study of the neighbourhood of Les Planes, Sant Joan Despí
- Study of the neighbourhood of Sant Cosme (el Prat de Llobregat)*
- Study of the neighbourhood of El Pomar (Badalona)*
- Study of the neighbourhood of La Roca (Viladecans)*
- Study of Badia del Vallès*
Action and intervention framework of reference to improve the management and analysis of the spaces of coexistence in metropolitan municipalities
- Development of a Guide to Recommendations on Matters of Peaceful Coexistence targeted at municipalities
Promotion and support of strategies aimed to fostering cohesion and peaceful coexistence in the neighbourhoods within the metropolitan area
- Inclusion and social cohesion strategy in the Besòs area
- Culture and safety in the Besòs Social Committee
- Besòs Social Territory Committee
- Social cohesion around the Besòs
- Agreement for the Project to Manage Good Neighbourliness and Good Use of Public Space in the La Mina Neighbourhood: through this agreement, support was provided to the management of the Project to Manage Good Neighbourliness and a Good Use of Public Space in the La Mina Neighbourhood in Sant Adrià de Besòs, specifically in the areas of mediation of coexistence conflicts, as well as support for the Local Housing Office in its interactions with vulnerable families at the risk of social exclusion and with severe economic constraints.
Besòs Social Territory Committee
Social cohesion around the Besòs
Study on the social use of metropolitan spaces: Les Planes de Sant Joan Despí
Similar experiences:
Peaceful coexistence in public metropolitan spaces. The case of Ciutat Cooperativa -
Job market and employment
The employment area of the Social Policies Service has promoted the job insertion and contractual stability of people in situations of high vulnerability based on the 2016-2019 Metropolitan Programme to Support Municipal Social Policies. This programme is a continuation of the 2012-2015 Plan to Support Social Policies, which allowed 3,822 people to be hired through the co-financing of 117 municipal projects during the previous mandate.
Throughout the current mandate, the new programme has supported municipal actions aimed at facilitating the job insertion of young people, women, long-term unemployed persons, persons over the age of 45, members of families where everyone is unemployed, single-parent families and disabled persons. The programme has particularly focused on promoting job insertion via:
- Facilitating the appearance of new job opportunities in metropolitan municipalities
- Promoting active employment and training policies to leverage job insertion
These objectives took shape in projects to promote entrepreneurship and help companies hire and the creation of a line of unique projects that generate new formulas to facilitate the participants' employment, qualifications and job insertion. The current programme has co-financed 80 % of the projects chosen with a fund of €30,000,000.
On the operational level, it was divided into 2 calls for applications: a first one for 2016-2017, which enabled 1,472 people to find jobs, and a second one for 2018-2019, which is still underway, which has found jobs for another 1,944 people to date.
The projects to employ these people were spearheaded, designed and developed by the different town halls, which also defrayed part of the financing.
Assignació AMB. 2016-2019
Call for applications 2016-2017 (completed)
Municipi Assignació AMB Beneficiaris Badalona 2.176.435,69 € 266 Badia del Vallès 148.635,00 € 14 Barberà del Vallès 302.677,98 € 77 Begues 37.071,31 € 4 Castellbisbal 94.824,00 € 7 Castelldefels 484.034,14 € 41 Cerdanyola del Vallès 465.240,62 € 24 Cervelló 62.613,00 € 6 Corbera de Llobregat 99.180,00 € 5 Cornellà de Llobregat 713.413,50 € 134 Esplugues de Llobregat 336.224,22 € 37 Gavà 247.544,47 € 25 Hospitalet de Llobregat, l' 2.097.724,66 € 189 Molins de Rei 189.308,67 € 43 Montcada i Reixac 359.100,00 € 24 Montgat 95.490,00 € 5 Pallejà 90.510,00 € 4 Palma de Cervelló, la 21.432,40 € 2 Papiol, el 32.970,00 € 3 Prat de Llobregat, el 594.807,58 € 34 Ripollet 400.920,70 € 32 Sant Adrià de Besòs 190.620,63 € 50 Sant Andreu de la Barca 141.294,94 € 26 Sant Boi de Llobregat 648.287,95 € 71 Sant Climent de Llobregat 28.770,00 € 4 Sant Cugat del Vallès 223.456,22 € 57 Sant Feliu de Llobregat 316.228,10 € 25 Sant Joan Despí 260.490,00 € 30 Sant Just Desvern 93.659,10 € 8 Sant Vicenç dels Horts 329.310,00 € 14 Santa Coloma de Cervelló 55.770,00 € 3 Santa Coloma de Gramenet 993.660,31 € 111 Tiana 47.790,00 € 3 Torrelles de Llobregat 44.610,00 € 4 Viladecans 566.848,58 € 90 TOTAL 12.990.953,77 € 1472
Call for applications 2018-2019 (underway)
Municipi Assignació AMB Beneficiaris Badalona 2.233.919,97 € 123 Badia del Vallès 198.180,00 € 12 Barberà del Vallès 320.700,00 € 31 Begues 28.268,69 € 2 Castellbisbal 105.360,00 € 5 Castelldefels 505.810,61 € 75 Cerdanyola del Vallès 479.850,00 € 33 Cervelló 69.570,00 € 5 Corbera de Llobregat 99.180,00 € 5 Cornellà de Llobregat 847.620,00 € 92 Esplugues de Llobregat 366.270,00 € 22 Gavà 420.466,46 € 93 Hospitalet de Llobregat, l' 2.329.800,00 € 134 Molins de Rei 191.730,00 € 43 Montcada i Reixac 359.100,00 € 23 Montgat 95.490,00 € 57 Pallejà 90.510,00 € 4 Palma de Cervelló, la 24.300,00 € 1 Papiol, el 32.970,00 € 1 Prat de Llobregat, el 611.432,42 € 126 Ripollet 414.959,30 € 26 Sant Adrià de Besòs 429.060,00 € 66 Sant Andreu de la Barca 259.140,00 € 23 Sant Boi de Llobregat 1.005.120,11 € 421 Sant Climent de Llobregat 28.770,00 € 3 Sant Cugat del Vallès 555.571,84 € 62 Sant Feliu de Llobregat 404.071,90 € 27 Sant Joan Despí 260.490,00 € 34 Sant Just Desvern 93.870,00 € 6 Sant Vicenç dels Horts 329.310,00 € 12 Santa Coloma de Cervelló 55.770,00 € 3 Santa Coloma de Gramenet 782.171,69 € 193 Tiana 53.100,00 € 3 Torrelles de Llobregat 44.610,00 € 3 Viladecans 644.420,25 € 175 TOTAL 14.770.963,24 € 1944
Plan to Support Social Policies 2016-2019
Informative brochure on the programme -
Vocational training
The area of vocational training of the Social Policies Service has developed the objectives of social cohesion and inclusive growth by promoting vocational training as a strategy in favour of equal opportunities, equity, the development of the manufacturing community and the improvement in people's employability.
The action was carried out jointly with the BCN Vocational Training Foundation. This partnership has promoted vocational training as a potential future option, fostered innovation, enhanced the relationship between schools and companies, developed research with a metropolitan vision and internationalised the local vocational training schools.
Undertaken in 2015 with some of the metropolitan municipalities, this partnership was solidified in 2018 with a stable agreement that has enabled the Foundation's sphere of action to expand to the entire metropolitan area. This agreement has been allocated a subsidy of €247,400 for 2018, which has taken shape in these objectives:
Fostering innovation
The BCN Vocational Training Foundation, the AMB and the Barcelona Provincial Council have spearheaded the Plan on Measures and Innovation in Vocational Training, which sets out to award educational projects which focus on quality and innovation in education through experimentation, key competences, teamwork, project-based learning, educational guidance and partnerships with other stakeholders and/or schools.
In academic year 2017-2018, 22 projects in the city of Barcelona and 10 projects in metropolitan municipalities were accepted. In the 2018-2019 edition, a total of 88 projects were submitted: 32 from schools in the city of Barcelona, 21 from schools in metropolitan municipalities and 35 from the remaining municipalities in the province of Barcelona. This participation is a good sign of vocational training schools' desire to keep working on educational innovation and to focus on projects that bring added value and quality to the vocational training ecosystem.
Of the projects submitted, 33 within the Barcelona metropolitan area were accepted (19 from Barcelona and 14 from other metropolitan municipalities), as well as 12 from the remaining municipalities in the province of Barcelona. The type of projects that were accepted is quite varied: active vocational training methodologies, healthcare simulations, accessible urban gardens, bioengineering projects and others.
In parallel, the AMB and the Foundation also promote the FP Emprèn Prizes, which reached their 10th edition this year. They are spearheaded by the BCN Vocational Training Foundation with the support of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area and Social Business City Barcelona, with the participation of Barcelona Activa, the Education Consortium of Barcelona, the Department of Education, the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona, PIMEC, UPC, SECOT, Seed&Click, Sigma and the Economic Circle Foundation. The prizes seek to identify and promote business projects by mid- and upper-level vocational education students in the metropolitan area that foster innovation and the entrepreneurial culture.
In the 2018 edition, a total of 82 projects went on to the second phase, 27 of which are from mid-level vocational training degrees in 55 from upper-level degrees.
Winners of each prize category
CFGS Entrepreneurship Prize eTorn (Institut Ausiàs March, CFGS Desenvolupament d'Aplicacions Multiplataforma)
Click it up (Col·legi Badalonès, CFGS Administració i Finances)CFGS Social Economy and Solidarity Prize COR-ART (Institut Miquel Tarradell, CFGS Integració Social) CFGS Energy and Sustainability Prize ECOLY (Escola Pia Nostra Senyora, CFGS Laboratori clínic i biomèdic) CFGS Education, Culture and Entertainment Prize La Granja dels Signes (Institut Rambla Prim, CFGS Educació i Control Ambiental) CFGS Hotel and Tourism Prize Edén (Escola Superior d'Hostaleria de Barcelona, ESHOB, CFGS Direcció de Cuina) CFGS Health, Sport and Wellness Prize Ecofit (Institut La Pineda, CFGS Administració i Finances) Industry Prize Fem-ho (Institut Bernat el Ferrer, CFGS Administració i Finances) Artegg (Escola de Mitjans Audiovisuals, EMAV, CFGS Animacions 3D) CFGM Entrepreneurship Prize YABLOKO (La Salle Barceloneta CFGM Vídeo, discjòquei i so, CFGM Sistemes Microinformàtics i Xarxes i CFGM Electromecànica de Vehicles Automòbils) CFGM Social Economy and Solidarity Prize Vittum Work (Sagrat Cor Sarrià CFGM Atenció a persones en situació de dependència) Energy and Sustainability Prize (desert) CFGM Education, Culture and Entertainment Prize Nomen Clapp (Institut Rubió i Tudurí, CFGM Jardineria i Floristeria) Hotel and Tourism Prize (desert) CFGM Health, Sport and Wellness Prize YAMANA (Institut Salvador Seguí, CFGM Atenció a Persones en Situació de Dependència) Industry Prize Disseny i fabricació d'un kart de competició (Escola d'Aprenents Seat CFGM Mecanització i Manteniment Electromecànic)
Finally, the MetròpolisFPlab project was promoted, which is carried out in conjunction with Innobaix, Port de Barcelona and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The project set out to get companies and vocational education schools in contact with each other and to offer students the possibility of developing their personal competences by creating and developing innovative projects which meet the demands of the business world. The edition from academic year 2018-2019 had almost 700 active participants (teachers and students) from around 30 vocational training schools in the metropolitan area.
Relationship with business and the Vocational Training Observatory
The partnership between the AMB and the BCN Vocational Training Foundation has led to a series of sectoral committees to reflect and debate on how to improve vocational students' job insertion with different agents representing the region. In particular, the Sectorial Industrial Training Committee (TSFI), which brings together representatives from vocational training schools, companies, education, industry, technology centres, management organisations and unions, is determined to position Barcelona and the metropolitan area as an international node of industrial companies.
Likewise, the Insert Point service was also promoted, which provides support for schools and companies in the metropolitan area related to internships and job insertion.
The partnership between the vocational training area in the Social Policies Service and the Foundation has enabled them to promote an observatory to identify and learn more about the main trends in vocational training and the job market. Throughout this mandate, the Vocational Training Observatory has conducted three studies: a diagnosis of the status of initial vocational training in the Barcelona metropolitan area and two studies on the relationship between vocational training and the emerging economic sectors (Industry 4.0 and the chemical sector).
Furthermore, the Observatory has also published the 2016 and 2017 Metropolitan Vocational Training Yearbook.
Internationalisation
The partnership between the vocational training area in the Social Policies Service and the Foundation has also enabled mentoring to be offered to projects which seek to promote the mobility of students, teachers and the administrative teams of vocational training schools in the metropolitan area, in different institutions or companies from different European Union countries. Among these programmes, the most prominent is Erasmus.
A total of 39 vocational training students and graduates from 19 vocational training schools from 16 metropolitan municipalities participated in the 2018 Erasmus+ call for applications. In the 2019 call for applications, 19 vocational training schools from 12 metropolitan municipalities are participating in project KA102 Erasmus+ for the mid-level vocational degree, which will enable 40 students to be mobilised. On the other hand, around 30 vocational training schools are expected to participate in the KA103 Erasmus+ project for the upper-level degrees in the 2019 call for applications.
Support and visibility
The vocational training area of the Social Policies Service carries out different support and visibility actions to promote and spread the word about vocational training. Projects and actions have been undertaken to disseminate the range of vocational training options in the region and to promote it as a future option for youths, under equal conditions with other kinds of studies. Two standout projects are the guide containing the entire range of initial vocational training programmes and the interactive map of schools in the AMB.
Work is also underway to support the local vocational training committees and the Baix Llobregat Vocational Training Council.
"FPro, amb l'FP aviat podràs volar" campaign
Finally, the first phase in the promotion campaign entitled "FPro, amb l'FP aviat podràs volar" was spearheaded. The campaign has the following objectives: to enhance the image of vocational training, to showcase the innovation ecosystem in vocational training, to spread the word about vocational training's capacity to foster both the traditional trades and new trades associated with the emerging sectors, to promote the relationship between vocational training and the manufacturing community in the region and to break the gender roles traditionally associated with some professions. The campaign was developed through outdoor media (advertising panels, banners and bus), radio and online channels, and through special actions at schools. It also had the support and participation of the metropolitan municipalities.
Plan on Measures and Innovation in Vocational Training
FP Emprèn Prizes
MetròpolisFPLab
Sectorial Industrial Training Committee (TSFI)
Study on initial vocational training AMB
Study on the emerging economic sector and vocational training: Industry 4.0
Study on the emerging economic sector and vocational training: Chemical Industry
Vocational Training Yearbook
Guide to all the initial vocational training programmes
Interactive map of schools in the AMB
BCN Vocational Training Foundation -
Equity and social cohesion
The equity and social cohesion area of the Social Policies Service has carried out different actions targeted at studying, coordinating and promoting policies that guarantee social rights and the struggle against poverty and inequalities.
The actions include:
- Analysis and studies of the social reality
- Food guarantee
- Energy poverty
- Publicly-subsidised housing
- Disability Observatory
- Social urgencies and emergencies
- Cooperation with civil society organisations
Analysis and studies of the social reality
The Social Policies Service has analysed different spheres in the social reality to guarantee that the public policies undertaken have solid footing, while stressing the improvement in their efficacy, efficiency and quality.
Throughout the current mandate, the following studies were conducted, among others, in conjunction with different entities:
- Municipalities' need for income: The objective of this study is to determine the income needs of the different municipalities in the metropolitan area of Barcelona and the town halls' ability to reach them, with an analysis of the different sources of financing.
- Basic citizen income guarantee: This report analyses the impact of implementing the basic citizen income guarantee (RGC) in the entire metropolitan area of Barcelona. The methodology used combines quantitative methods (questionnaires) and qualitative ones (interviews with key stakeholders in implementing the measures).
- Proposal of the metropolitan reference salary: Based on the cost of covering the basic needs in the metropolitan area, a study has made it possible to propose an initial calculation of the reference salary for the metropolitan area of Barcelona. The proposal takes into account the different kinds of households and types of municipalities in the AMB. In fact, it is the first calculation of the reference salary determined in Spain based on the methodology used in the USA in the United Kingdom. The proposal will enable headway to be made in defining new poverty and inequality indicators as well.
Proposed metropolitan reference salary by family unit and budget of basic family needs. AMB (in euros)
Single person Single person with children Couple without children Couple with children Household of three adults Budget of basic needs (households) 1.268,61 1.825,40 1.756,62 2.516,43 2.572,05 Reference salary (individual) 1.268,61 1.825,40 878,31 1.258,22 857,35
- Study: Towards metropolitan social policies: This collects reflections on social inclusion in the metropolitan area and the advantages and limitations entailed in intermunicipal cooperation.
- Social indicators: Publication of a set of data and indicators on some of the dimensions of the metropolitan reality which are associated with the current Social Policies Service (economic vulnerability, energy poverty, job instability, residential vulnerability, and others).
- Demographic change, ageing and the metropolitan area: The Social Policies Service has commissioned the Institute of Regional and Metropolitan Studies of Barcelona (IERMB) to diagnose the situation of elderly people living in the metropolitan area. In particular, it seeks a description of the different profiles of the elderly and an inventory of the public facilities which this group can use.
Food guarantee
In 2016 and 2017, the Social Policies Service developed an initiative to collect key information and share knowledge and experiences on the food guarantee in local entities, private initiative and the third sector in the metropolitan area of Barcelona.
In addition to guaranteeing that the basic food needs of particularly vulnerable groups and people with few economic resources are met, the food guarantee also sets out to promote personal capacities and community integration. It takes shape in the metropolitan area via initiatives that bring value to food, with awareness-raising, co-responsibility and education actions. Thus, access to resources is dignified and people's participation is encouraged through projects and actions such as inclusive social gardens, the "targeta solidària" food assistance card, cooking workshops and food training actions.
In this sense, in October 2017 the first metropolitan food guarantee workshop was held, which allowed experts and municipal officers to meet and share strategies and contents on food guarantee projects. The workshop led to the conclusions that these projects should be targeted at the population as a whole, that they must be sustainable and not wasteful, that they should foster the creation of jobs for people at the risk of exclusion, and that they must prioritise the quality of foods over the quantity by promoting the consumption of fresh local foods and equipping individuals and families with the resources they need for their own dignity and autonomy.
Subsequently, an interactive map has compiled the actions and projects that metropolitan municipalities are carrying out. Currently, work is continuing to develop knowledge and spearhead actions and projects that allow food to be guaranteed to the metropolitan population.
Food guarantee
Energy poverty
In 2015, because of the recent crisis, the Metropolitan Council approved the Metropolitan Programme on Measures against Energy Poverty, with the goal of dealing with situations stemming from cut-offs in the energy and water supply because of a lack of economic resources. The programme has an initial allocation of 5 million euros (operating from a single pluri-annual fund until the allocation is spent) and later 6 million euros for the period 2016-2019.
Metropolitan Programme on Measures against Energy Poverty
Study on the impact of measures against energy poverty
Study on proposals to improve the energy poverty programme
1st Catalan Conference on Energy Poverty in Catalonia: Challenges and Dilemmas, June 2017
Agreement with the Metropolitan Housing Consortium (CMH) to implement energy-saving measures in housing within the AMB's Metropolitan Programme on Measures against Energy Poverty
Publicly-subsidised housing
The Social Policies Service has participated in the platform on homelessness of the Government of Catalonia, specifically in following up on the document Quantification and Territorial Distribution of the Poorly-housed Population of Catalonia – a report on the results from the Housing Agency of Catalonia in April 2016. Likewise, the AMB has participated in the committee on housing, residential vulnerability and homelessness in the Besòs Consortium and became a member of the project underway entitled Reconnecting the Besòs, spearheaded by the Besòs Consortium and the Barcelona Town Hall.
Quantification and Territorial Distribution of the Poorly-housed Population of Catalonia
Reconnecting the Besòs
Study on empty housing, housing needs and existing resources
Disability Observatory
The Social Services and Economic Development Area has signed an agreement with the Barcelona chapter of COCEMFE (Spanish Confederation of Persons with Physical and Organic Disabilities) to define the priority avenues of intervention on matters of accessibility which are the responsibility of the metropolitan administration. This agreement was carried out in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
This partnership seeks to foster respect for human dignity, equality and personal freedom and to encourage social inclusion by applying the principles of independent living, non-discrimination, universal accessibility, normalisation of the environment and civil dialogue in the municipalities within the AMB.
Agreements:
Agreement 2016
Agreement 2017
Agreement 2018
Agreement 2019
Products:
Infographics:
Disability in our municipalities
Disability in our society [PTM1]
Workshops:
Driving group
Jornada Sant Feliu de Llobregat sobre la discapacitat al comerç
Sant Climent de Llobregat workshop: Accessibility in small municipalities
Guides:
Guide to accessible retail
Social urgencies and emergencies
In 2015, the Social Policies Service of the AMB and the Barcelona Town Hall signed an inter-administrative partnership agreement which has equipped metropolitan municipalities with the social emergency assistance services provided by the Barcelona Centre of Social Urgencies and Emergencies (CUESB). This service offers metropolitan municipalities a permanent psychosocial care service which attends to any social urgency or emergency in the municipalities, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Over the 4 years since this agreement was reached, the number of participating municipalities has increased, and currently 20 municipalities use the CUESB's service, which added 930,000 people to the total number of potential beneficiaries. Within this agreement, a total of 2,452 interventions were carried out and 2.131 people were assisted.
Actions of the CUESB in the metropolitan area (2015-18)
2015 2016 2017 2018 TOTAL Emergencies 7 23 28 25 83 Urgencies 38 126 169 343 676 In-person information 51 23 37 34 145 Telephone guidance - 251 443 523 1.217 Alerts received - 15 92 224 331 TOTAL INTERVENTIONS 96 438 769 1.149 2.452 Persons assisted in emergencies 41 236 415 141 833 Persons assisted in urgencies 55 218 303 722 1.298 TOTAL PERSONS ASSISTED 96 454 718 863 2.131
Once the 2015-2018 agreement expired, given the positive evaluations of it, a new agreement between the AMB and the Municipal Social Services Institute was signed in 2019 in order to continue this partnership and offer the service to the metropolitan municipalities which request it.
Source: CUESB
CUESB
Video presenting the CUESB
CUESB partnership agreement
Cooperation with organisations and civil society
One of the objectives of the Social Policies Service is to coordinate metropolitan policies. In fact, cooperation among administrations and public institutions and with civil society entities enriches the reflection on social policies and helps them all act more efficiently and effectively. Thus, with their perspective and professionalism, the partner institutions have shared their knowledge, methodological quality, proposals and initiative with the AMB.
The following actions stand out:
- Expansion of the partnership agreement with the Carles Pi and Sunyer Foundation, which expands the sphere of studies carried out throughout the metropolitan area.
- The provision of information, research and reflection from the IERMB, and carrying out studies on the projects and plans currently underway in the metropolitan area.
- Cooperation with the Third Sector Committee to organise and finance the 6th Conference on the Third Social Sector.
- Cooperation with the Baix Llobregat County Council in holding training workshops for municipal officers. Currently a partnership agreement between the two institutions is being prepared to work jointly on training social assistance teams.
- Participation in the Besòs Social Territory Committee. The committee is a workspace promoted by the Besòs Consortium whose goal is to foster shared responsibility among the different stakeholders working in the Besòs region, which stresses three main strands of work: culture and education, safety and health, and housing.
Institute of Regional and Metropolitan Studies of Barcelona
Third Sector Committee
Baix Llobregat County Council
Besòs Consortium
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Peaceful coexistence and territory
