Can Batlló: future centre for the promotion of cooperative projects
Work continues on the renovation and conditioning of the industrial unit for cooperative projects, BLOC4BCN, at the Can Batlló complex in the neighbourhood of La Bordeta. The premises will offer 4,500 square metres of floor space with a capacity for eighty projects in the social and solidarity economy linked to sustainable food, local commerce, new technologies and care and support for people. Set to become the largest hub in Europe for the promotion of cooperatives, the centre should become operative in the third quarter of 2023.
The renovation of unit 4 at the former yarn factory of Can Batlló started last year and will be completed in 2023. The budget for the work is 8.5 million euros. Named BLOC4BCN, the building will have two floors and be distributed into practical spaces for the conceptualisation of business projects, incubation programmes, coworking areas and workshop spaces for manual and semi-industrial activities. The reconditioned space will keep the historical and architectural values of the building and recycle existing structures made from wood, brick and metal.
The facility will be open to citizens and offer individual assistance, ongoing support for economic and financial management for initiatives and help with funding projects and going digital. The centre will also promote generational handovers for companies and organisations in the social and solidarity economy. Opportunities will also be studied for promoting projects in different neighbourhoods and districts and the creation of sectoral hubs.
Priority will be given to the development of projects in the strategic sectors set out in the Strategy for the Social and Solidarity Economy in Barcelona 2030:
- Sustainable food and agro-ecology
- Assistance and care of people
- Local commerce
- Culture
- Energy
- Housing
- Mobility
- Technology and digital
- Tourism
- Textiles
The facility will also be the home of the Barcelona Cooperative centre and a local branch of Barcelona Activa, offering support for labour insertion and the defence of labour rights.
The future BLOC4BCN will be managed by an alliance of cooperatives in the social and solidarity economy, the Confederació de Cooperatives de Catalunya, the Federació de Cooperatives de Treball and the Associació Coòpolis. Barcelona City Council has awarded the management of the centre to these three organisations, constituted as the Associació Bloc4, for a period of four years. Management costs will be funded through the income generated by the activities at the facility, with contributions from both the City Council and the Government of Catalonia.
