The European Commission has already announced the 21 finalist proposals for this year's European Social Innovation Competition, among which are different cooperative housing projects in the right of use of Catalonia

Sostre Cívic i Celobert we are finalists with the cooperative housing projects of Cirerers, a co-housing building in the Roquetes neighborhood of Barcelona, ​​and Calonge, a rehabilitated building intended for the young group in a municipality with housing difficulties.

The European Commission has already announced the 21 finalists of the tenth edition of the European Social Innovation Competition (EUSIC), which this year was called with a specific call for projects that face the challenge of innovation for housing districts affordable and sustainable. 

Among the pre-selected are Sostre Cívic i Celobert, which we presented two cooperative housing projects at different scales that incorporate social and environmental impact strategies, in addition to having a desire for replicability in the territory. 

One of the projects is the cooperative co-housing Cirerers built on municipal land in the Roquetes neighborhood of Barcelona, an eight-storey community building with a wooden structure that houses 32 coexistence units. This has been designed together with its inhabitants and stands out for its commitment to the city, the community and the environment. It is a passive building designed with bioclimatic criteria that incorporates efficient and renewable installations, with minimal environmental and energy impact and that integrates into the neighborhood through its volume and use of low floors.

The other project is a building recovered in Calonge intended for village youth, one of the first in Catalonia intended exclusively for this group. The rehabilitation of the building has given the space habitability, sustainability and energy efficiency, and has converted a system of individual facilities into a collective one that works through renewable energy. In addition, there is an energy control and management system that allows you to considerably reduce energy consumption. This project represents a key strategy to make the right to housing effective through the cooperativeization of disused spaces and public-private collaboration, and serves as a precedent to promote similar initiatives in neighboring towns on the Costa Brava, many with problems of access to housing due to tourism.

But also in the list we can see two cooperative housing projects in right of use from Catalonia: The Board, pioneering project of new construction in the Sants district (Barcelona) which has been a reality since 2018; i The Titaranya, a cooperative housing promotion project accompanied by the dynamo which includes different social premises in right of use in the historic center of Valls. Sharing a list with these projects is for us a global recognition of the movement for cooperative housing in right of use in Catalonia, which for two years has been organized in the housing sector of the XES and which is defined as the cooperative way to guarantee the right to housing, non-profit, self-managed and co-responsible with the environment.

Now all the finalists must present a complete proposal with more details of the projects. From December 2022, the jury will select the three winning proposals. The European Innovation Council and the SME Executive Agency (EISMEA), which manages the Award, will invite all finalists to attend the award ceremony during the first quarter of 2023.

The EUSIC Competition aims to stimulate the potential of different social innovation initiatives that offer solutions to the social challenges we face, and to encourage sustainable and inclusive growth in Europe. The jury evaluated all social innovation applications taking into account the degree of innovation, social impact, financial and environmental sustainability, and their scalability and replicability. 

You can consult the full list of shortlisted here.