Implemented in four districts of Madrid – Vallecas, Villaverde, Vicálvaro and Centro – the EU-funded MARES project focuses on a different sector in each one: mobility, food, recycling and energy, with a focus on the care economy common to all four districts. It is deploying the models and values of the social economy to generate economic activity and create jobs, as well as improving employability among the unemployed and people at risk of social exclusion.
- 13 July 2018
Social economy is something extraordinarily innovative… there are many ways in which we must explore it, in line with that beautiful quote: 'Let my money be where my ideas are'. There are many possibilities, let’s be open-minded, let’s be aware of this wonderful instrument to improve the world.
MARES is transforming disused public areas into spaces where new productive initiatives can be created, and where economic participation by local citizens can be triggered.
Learning communities will be launched through MARES to provide a space for people to acquire training and to come together around a shared socio-economic interest.
Citizens’ skills laboratories
In addition, MARES is organising citizens’ skills laboratories. Open to all residents, these labs aim to identify and map peoples’ skills and the links between them, as well as social needs. Opportunities are then identified for the creation of social enterprises which help participants make the most of their skills.
This approach stimulates existing productive resources and gives the emerging collective forms of economic activity a more central role in the economy. Thus, the project is generating a new social-economy-based economic fabric, while the innovation it fosters is improving the competitiveness and sustainability of conventional sectors.
MARES is also encouraging awareness raising on the social and solidarity economy, territorial economic revitalisation and the creation of ecosystems for diversifying the production and growth of collective methods of enhancing employment and employability at the local level.
A wide array of projects
MARES projects in the care sector include the design of cooperatives offering care services for the elderly and the development of neighbourhood health plans. As regards mobility, a delivery bikers’ cooperative has been set up, while another project aims to introduce reverse logistics to Madrid, which involves moving goods from their normal final destination (often the consumer) for reuse.
Furthermore, MARES is involved in projects aimed at creating localised, sustainable food production networks such as cooperative enterprises, restaurants and supermarkets. The recycling element supports projects that focus on products like textiles, IT equipment, furniture and building materials which are not widely recycled and could boost Madrid's recycling rate. In relation to energy, development of solar-energy-system installation cooperatives could help Madrid achieve its energy transition goals, particularly in the housing sector.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “MARES - Resilient urban ecosystems for a sustainable economy” is EUR 5 999 509, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 4 799 607 through the “Urban Innovative Actions” Initiative for the 2014-2020 programming period.