Last weekend, Barcelona hosted a meeting of more than half a thousand members from different groups and cooperative housing projects from Catalonia and the whole state

The Mayor of Barcelona, ​​Ada Colau, and Juli Fernàndez, Councilor of the Territory, lead the signing of the so-called 'Declaration of Barcelona', a manifesto of support for public-cooperative collaboration that has gathered the support of different administrations and entities across the state

The first Forum for cooperative housing in right of use took place this weekend, November 26 and 27, in Barcelona at the Ciutadella Campus of Pompeu Fabra University. With the slogan "The cooperative way for the right to housing", it was conceived as a space to learn about experiences, show good practices, address financing, regulatory and land access challenges for the projects. During the more than three days, the different activities happened there more than 600 people from groups and projects of cooperative housing throughout Catalonia and from different places in the Spanish state, as well as technical support teams and people with a technical and political profile from different public administrations.

The three days consisted of different workshops, talks, debates to strengthen the networks of the movement. Aimed at projects, technical entities and public administrations, the meeting was organized by the cooperative housing sector of the XES (Network of Solidarity Economy of Catalonia), Habicoop (the Federation of Housing Cooperatives of Catalonia) the Housing Group de AREAS Network of Alternative and Solidarity Economy Networks, with support from Barcelona City Council and the Generalitat de Catalunya. 

Opening with a woman's voice defending the right to housing 

Thursday, one day before its start, in the afternoon, the Forum was inaugurated at the Palau Robert with a round table where different entities and administrations were present, contributing their views and debating the general fit of the different ways they work to ensure the right to housing, its challenges and opportunities for mutual strengthening. In an unfortunately unusual line-up, all the representatives were women: Carmen Arcarazo of the Union of Tenants of Catalonia, Martiza Buitrago of Coop57 and member of the housing cooperative movement, Carme Trilla president of the Barcelona Metropolitan Housing Observatory, Lucia Martin, Councilor for housing and rehabilitation of the Barcelona City Council and Doris Gonzalez, Executive Secretary of Condominiums of the Ministry of Housing and Urbanism of Chile.

The inaugural event was the first public debate between housing cooperatives, social movements, the third sector and local administration. All the parties involved agreed to intensify the collaboration agreements, recognizing all the ways as valid: public rent, protected rent and cooperativism in right of use. In addition, they demanded new multi-sectoral pacts to expand the social housing stock and advance land decommodification policies.

Signing of the Barcelona Declaration

Friday was the first day of the Forum specially intended for technicians and public administration officials, with the presence of more than 150 people who listened to representatives of the Barcelona City Council, the Department of Social Economy of the Generalitat of Catalonia, the Catalan Housing Agency and the General Directorate of Social Economy of the Ministry of Labor. In addition, councils such as Manresa, Calonge and Santa Maria de Palautordera also shared their concrete experience.

The different tables were an interesting exercise in dialogue between administrations and between the different housing and social economy promotion departments. It was shared how pioneering experiences have been reached that have been successful and a model to follow, such as the agreement for the transfer of land to non-profit promoting entities of Barcelona City Council (which plans to build or rehabilitate 1000 social flats in the coming years) or direct aid to capital contributions from the Generalitat for new cooperative housing developments (with a budget of 2 million euros in the last year). Alvaro Porro, Commissioner of Social and Solidarity Economy of Barcelona City Council, i Josep Vidal, Director General of Social Economy, the Third Sector and the Cooperatives of the Generalitat of Catalonia, highlighted these public policies for the boost they have given to housing cooperatives in recent years, at the same time that they have put in value the human factor and public interest in cooperative housing developments.  

Other positions that participated were Silvia Grau, the recently appointed director of the Housing Agency of Catalonia, who announced that in her new stage she will promote a comprehensive policy with the Department of Social Economy. And, on the part of the Spanish government, Wonders Espín, Director General of the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, introduced the state scale, highlighting the new European funds as strategies to promote public-cooperative collaboration in tractor and transformative sectors such as cooperative housing in the right of use

As a conclusion of the day, which aimed to promote public collaboration to carry forward more cooperative housing projects, it ended with the signing of a declaration that includes a series of measures to be promoted by different local administrations , autonomous and state. The signing event was hosted by the La Xarxaire cooperative housing project, in its building in the Barceloneta neighborhood, built on municipal land ceded by Barcelona City Council. The Regional Councilor of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Juli Fernandez, Ada Colau, the mayoress of Barcelona and president of the Network of Municipalities of the Social and Solidarity Economy (municipalist association representing 50 Catalan municipalities) led the signing of the declaration. 

📄 Barcelona declaration document

The content is inspired by the resolution of the Parliament of Catalonia in support of the cooperative housing model, approved by a broad consensus of the Catalan parties. The signatory administrations of the declaration undertake and urge the other administrations with powers to work, among others, for the following objectives:

• Develop specific public policies for cooperatives in right of use.
• Push for legal changes to shield the model permanently.
• Transfer land and public heritage and promote the capture of land and heritage.
• Promote financing lines and establish tax credits.
• Create lines of guarantee to facilitate access to private financing, especially for ethical or cooperative banking.

They also attended the event and signed their commitment to the measures described Pedro Javier Jauregui, deputy councilor for housing of the Basque Government; Elena Azcárraga Monzonís, Second Vice-Presidency and General Director of Housing and Urban Regeneration of the Government of the Generalitat Valenciana; Cristina Gómez Estevez, Minister of Employment, Housing and Local Cooperation of the Insular Council of Menorca; i Gemma M. Martínez Soliño, Deputy Minister of Social Rights of the Government of the Canary Islands.

Demonstration and rally for cooperative housing

On the morning of Saturday 26 the different cooperative housing groups in Catalonia and throughout the state opened the day with a demonstration to claim public support for the model that welcomed more than 400 people. The demonstration started from Parc de la Ciutadella, near the UPF Campus in Ciutadella, where the meeting continued over the weekend, and reached Plaça Sant Jaume in Barcelona, ​​where the protest action ended with the reading of a manifesto. Under the motto "We gain ground on speculation!" a series of measures aimed at both local, regional and state administrations were demanded:

• Direct support to acquire private land to develop projects there.
• Develop own regulation that shields the general interest and collective property on a permanent basis.
• Tax credits, access to financing, public guarantees and direct aid for initial capital contributions.

📄 Manifesto document "Let's gain ground on speculation!"

Feminism, inclusion and the right to housing, at the center of the debates

On Saturday 26th in the afternoon and Sunday 27th in the morning, more than 20 technical sessions were held around different topics such as financing, care and community creation, articulation with social movements for the right to housing and ecological transition, among others. Of the nearly 500 people who participated in the different sessions, there was absolute consensus in claiming the cooperative housing in right of use as a real way of access to decent housing and in expanding the park of 'decommoditized housing, in alliance with movements in defense of the right to housing and the various public administrations. 

The talks about financing, with the presence of Juan Garibi, director of Fiare Banca Ètica, and Raimon Gassiot, coordinator of the Coop57 credit cooperative (two of the entities that have given the most historical support to the model), were the ones that aroused the most interest. Both entities reflected on the financial future of housing cooperatives, and explored new instruments of guarantees and public and collective guarantees to secure the projects. In addition, they opted for necessary alliances with more actors for their necessary leap of scale to make it more affordable to popular sectors. 

But beyond financial issues, the management of care and the contribution of transversal movements such as feminism i theantiracisme they also attracted the attention of most participants. The experiences of feminist cooperative housing projects for women and the LGTBI group such as La Renegà (in Santa Maria de Palautordera) or La Morada (in the Roquetes neighborhood of Barcelona) took center stage, or exclusive for the elderly to live in old age in a self-managed way as an alternative to the model of private residences like Can 70 (in Sarrià, Barcelona), Walden XXI (Sant Feliu de Guíxols) or Trabensol (Madrid), among others. On the plus side inclusive but also anti-racist and anti-capacitist, entities such as TEB, which work to support people at risk of exclusion such as those with intellectual disabilities, Point of Reference or the Nazareth Foundation, which work with young ex-guardian minors, shared com housing cooperatives facilitate social inclusion of the accompanying persons.

But also architecture in its most social aspect, from the perspective of people and communities, had its space. Different cooperative architecture offices such as Lacol, Celobert, Voltes, or Arqbag reflected on the new models of coexistence that are experienced in different projects that they have had the opportunity to design. At the same time, cooperative housing already with extensive experience in coexistence such as Cal Cases (Santa Maria d'Oló, Bages), La Borda, Cirerers i La Balma (Barcelona) shared their experience in the design of common spaces. 

And in its more technical aspect but also with a perspective of ecological and energy transition, reference organizations of cooperatives such as Som Energia or Som Mobilitat disseminated their experiences within cooperative housing. And housing projects located in rural environments with El Turrós (Garrotxa, Girona) or Arterra Bizimodu (Navarre) self-claimed a model that is also developed outside the big cities and metropolitan areas.

As the main vector that transited between the different activities there was the so-called "cooperative way" for the right to housing, as a ready and mature option to make the leap up the ladder, but which needs the support of the administration, both to guarantee and expand its affordability and to shield itself from speculation. The cooperative housing model in right of use needs public support for a legal consolidation of its transformative capacity and resolution of multiple needs and social problems.

The Forum was also used to present the maps that locate the different cooperative housing initiative projects in the territory. Inspired by the map Llargavista.coop, produced by the Observatory of cooperative housing promoted by Sostre Cívic in Catalonia, the state map of cooperative housing in right of use, the result of the joint effort between AREAS and the research team Altered habitat. These maps are freely accessible and provide up-to-date information provided by the groups of the different territories in any of their phases: training, promotion or coexistence. Thanks to these maps, the current reality of the cooperative housing model can be measured with data and its growth evaluated. Currently, in Catalonia, there are 15 coexistence projects and 15 in the promotion phase, totaling nearly 600 homes. In Spain, the sum rises to 28 projects in coexistence and 33 in the construction phase. Groups in formation looking for opportunities to promote their own projects, on the other hand, can be counted in several dozen, which measures the high demand for the model.

More photos from the Forum a https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAh2Ay