Mobility is today one of the main axes of urban transformation. The climate and energy crises are leading to a paradigm shift of which mobility has been very focused on the ownership of the private combustion vehicle during the last decades. In the coming years we will experience a profound transformation that, faced with the difficulty of having a car for each cohabitation unit, the shared mobility systems will be in increasing demand. It is strategic to position the social economy sector in this area and to do so in cooperative housing, taking into account the moment of growth that the model is currently experiencing in Catalonia, is a priority.

However, environmental sustainability has already been one of the pillars of Sostre Cívic since his birth, and thus appears collected in the Social Statutes of the entity (article 8). We want to move forward in this line, taking advantage of the fact that our social base has a special sensitivity to power share and pool services of all kinds and to grow responsible consumption in other areas of their lives (food, textiles, mobility, energy, data...).

Shared and sustainable mobility

In this sense, during the year 2023 and thanks to Unique Projects, we want to promote and establish sustainable mobility in cooperative housing projects that are mainly in the coexistence phase or about to enter it. It's about the project Unique – New infrastructures and services for the construction of sustainable communities, led by Sostre Cívic, together with the entities bike i We are Connection as grouped and We are Mobility i Granollers Pedal as collaborators. 

The planned actions are: 

• Raise awareness and train about the new context of mobility, shared electric mobility and the use of the bicycle as an everyday mobility option.
• Define the technical criteria to incorporate safe bicycle parking, charging cycles and electric cars in the building design processes.
• Design an internet connectivity service for housing communities that is scalable. 
• Define and design a rental system with the option to buy bicycles and cargo cycles for cooperative housing projects that is replicable for communities of neighbors.
• To study in a personalized way the most suitable electric bicycle models and charging cycles for each group, based on work sessions and surveys on mobility needs.
• Promote the generation of local communities of shared vehicles from housing cooperatives.
• Create spaces for coordination between housing cooperatives in right of use and other strategic cooperative projects for the medium and long-term promotion of cooperative, sustainable and self-sufficient communities and neighborhoods, based on the generation of cooperative infrastructures and the sharing of services

Presentation to cooperative housing projects

The past 14 of març we did the presentation session of the project in the common space of la Balma, with the presence of partners from La Balma, Cirerers, Clau Mestra, Chicory and Princesa49. During the meeting, the work methodology to analyze the different mobility needs of the groups living together and the action plan to implement the current measures were detailedponents. 

This mobility analysis will consist of studying the context and conditions, mobility habits, ideas and proposals for transformation as well as the predisposition to change in mobility habits through face-to-face dynamics, online surveys and working groups. Once the information is collected, one will be made proposed measures which will be transferred to the study groups and the implementation of the identified measures will be evaluated.

In terms of the calendar, it is planned to hold these dynamic sessions during the month of April, to carry out the emptying of information during the month of May and to start implementing the mobility proposals from the month of June.