Bloc4BCN has also provided support in the creation of eleven new cooperatives, between them generating seventy jobs.

Bloc4BCN has been very active in its first year of operation, summarised as follows:

• 325 training sessions, with over 5,000 participants in all.
• Assistance for over 200 people at the information point.
• Support for 92 organisations with advice on funding worth nearly 8 million euros.
• 479 meetings and 55 important events, such as the International Conference on Plural Economy and the third edition of La Febrerada.

Also worth noting is the range of services such as TechBloc4, which has backed digitalisation and social and tech innovation in six projects; JovESS, which connects cooperatives with people between the ages of 16 and 30, and the Challenges Service, to detect and respond to the main challenges for cooperatives.

Consolidation of the project

Bloc4BCN is a public-private initiative funded by Barcelona City Council and the Government of Catalonia and headed by the Associació Bloc 4. The City Council contributes 2.5 million euros to the project, accounting for 54% of the overall cost (4.6 million euros), complemented by an injection of 28% from the Catalan government’s Ministry of Business and Labour (nearly 1.3 million euros) and the generation of its own income.

The building, occupying 4,500 square metres in one of the units at Can Batlló, opened in March 2024 following a renovation project with a municipal investment of 10.3 million euros. The building is also home to the Sants-Montjuïc Activa office, the Directorate for Social Economy and Cooperatives from the Ministry for Business and Labour and the Ateneu Cooperatiu de Barcelona (Coòpolis).

This year is the International Year of Cooperatives, an opportunity to broaden the scope of Bloc4BCN and continue to promote cooperatives and the social and solidarity economy, inside and outside Catalonia.