ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives.

Las Mercedes: a new model for sustainable and inclusive mobility 

Las Mercedes is a non-profit cooperative founded by women in Barcelona, initially focused on educational tourism. The COVID-19 crisis led them to transform their business model, embracing a cooperative structure with a focus on sustainable, gender-inclusive, and socially responsible mobility solutions. They aim to create a more inclusive urban transport system while advocating for environmental and social change. 

Eco-friendly courier services with a human touch 
The cooperative provides ecological courier services for local businesses, e-commerce, restaurants, and offices, using a fleet of 100% green, non-polluting vehicles. Their services include express, daytime, and scheduled deliveries, as well as a unique food delivery system that ensures no waste or CO2 emissions. Their commitment to ethical production chains and local sourcing further sets them apart. 

Empowering women and vulnerable groups through employment 
Las Mercedes prioritises hiring women and people from vulnerable backgrounds, creating jobs for those at risk of exclusion. They focus on offering accessible opportunities in the traditionally male-dominated courier industry and aim to change the sector’s gender dynamics. Through this inclusive approach, they contribute to both social and environmental sustainability. 

Collaboration and recognition in the local community 
By working with other cooperatives, institutions, and local authorities, Las Mercedes has established strong partnerships that help strengthen their impact. The cooperative has received multiple recognitions for its contributions to sustainability and social inclusion, including awards from AMB and BCN Activa. Their role in shaping the future of sustainable mobility in Barcelona is growing, with plans for expansion. 

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ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives.

Creating a greener, healthier Barcelona 

Camins Verds is an innovative initiative in Barcelona aimed at promoting sustainable mobility through urban green spaces. By using a collaborative map and mobile app, the project helps locals find the greenest walking routes, encouraging healthier, active transport while fostering a stronger connection with nature. 

Transforming school journeys 
One of the project’s key activities is the Green School Path, a pilot project in the Sarrià neighbourhood. This initiative focuses on greening the routes children walk to school, improving air quality, and promoting active mobility. It enhances children’s autonomy and well-being while involving local schools and the broader community in creating a healthier urban environment. 

Open-source urban solutions 
The heart of the project is the Camí més verd map, which showcases the greenest routes across Barcelona. Developed with open-source technology, it allows citizens to contribute by sharing photos of local green spaces. This collaborative, participatory tool is designed to be replicated in other cities, spreading the benefits of urban greening and sustainable mobility. 

Building connections through nature
The success of Camins Verds relies on community engagement, especially from local families, schools, and businesses. By promoting walking over driving, the initiative not only improves air quality but also strengthens social bonds and encourages collective responsibility for urban spaces. It’s a project that brings citizens together to make their city greener and more sustainable. 

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ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. This bottom-up initiative was collected by Blanca Callen Moreu within ACCTING’s mapping of inspiring practice cases, within the diversity and Farm to Fork research lines. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives. 

Photo by Randy Fath from Unsplash

Col-lectiu Eixarcolant, Spain

The Col-lectiu Eixarcolant aims to promote a more sustainable, ethical and fair model of food production, distribution and consumption, and socio-economic development by recovering edible wild species and traditional agricultural varieties.  

Recovering edible wild species and traditional agricultural varieties:  

To advance in the transformation of the agri-food and socio-economic model through the recovery and valorization of wild edible species and traditional agricultural varieties, the initiative operates on the following lines of action:    

• Recovering the traditional varieties and wild edible species and selling them (more than 600 edible and traditional species and more than 200 traditional fruit trees)   
• Promoting territorial dynamism, generation of synergies and social transformation     
• Transferring knowledge.    
• Preparing informative material and disseminating training for all kinds of audiences (More than 300 informative activities per year) 
• Providing consultancy for agricultural, business, food and gastronomy 
• Developing Manual tools to improve the efficiency of small-scale agriculture
• Developing food products based on wild species and traditional agricultural varieties.    
• Naturalizing the management of green spaces in urban areas  
• Promoting environmentally sustainable and non-sustainable food values depending on culture (countries), age groups, gender, or key vulnerable groups.  
• Valorising species that help to change the consumption and agri-food model based on sustainability and proximity    
• Publishing three books containing more than 88 edible wild plants    

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Photo by Iñigo De la Maza from Unsplash

ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. This bottom-up initiative was collected by Blanca Callen Moreu within ACCTING’s mapping of inspiring practice cases, within Biodiversity and Farm to Fork research lines. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives. 

 

 

Kilombo, Spain

An exemplar of inter-cooperation

Kilombo is a collaborative project between the cooperatives LaFundició, Keras Buti, Tarpuna I Voltes, the association Keras Buti and the Distributor Ecocentral. 

The initiative strives to build a new social, cultural and economic ecosystem where the countryside and the city are connected, production and consumption are brought closer, and a new form of community is built. One of the founding cooperatives La Fundició specialises in developing methods of conviviality. Another one, Keras Buti, contributes by recovering and updating traditional Romani knowledge and practices and linking them to circuits of value production within the social and solidarity economy. In other words, they are inspired by the local Roma community to build sustainability while empowering migrant people, women and the Roma communities.   

Ensuring sustainability and empowering communities  

The initiative has several activities. Among these:  

• Runs a 2-hectare farm dedicated to organic farming and eco-social transition. While the first provides food and job opportunities for the Roma community, the latter refers to enlivening “rurban” imaginaries and practices, including but not limited to sustainable beekeeping, bio-construction, and vegetable fibres.    
• Researches plant fibres, their role within the ways of life of the Roma people, and their aesthetic and material potentials.   
• Recovers and enhances the value of the neighbourhood’s agricultural past and relates it to current organic production in the Baix Llobregat Agricultural Park  
• Runs a community kitchen restaurant committed to sustainable food systems and food sovereignty. In addition, the kitchen restaurants generate employment opportunities for vulnerable people, such as migrants or young people from the Roma community   

• From April to June 2021, they organised workshops to learn how to compost and make an urban vegetable garden. Beyond the workshops, the project envisages the continuity of the action so that the compost bins built in the civic centres will be used to process and reuse the organic waste from the La Suculenta kitchen restaurant. Likewise, the compost bin at the Institut Escola Gornal will be used in the school canteen. The one at the Casa de la Reconciliació will compost the waste generated in the Conserves Litorals kitchen space.  
• Promoted sustainable mobility, which includes a cycling services project.   

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Photo: Casa dels Futurs

ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. This bottom-up initiative was collected by Blanca Callen Moreu within ACCTING’s mapping of inspiring practice cases, within the Climate Action research Line. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives.

Casa dels Futurs, Spain

Building solidarity and cooperation in times of climate crisis

Casa dels Futurs is a Spanish initiative aiming to save the planet and catalyze the transition to climate-resilient communities by building an educational and physical infrastructure to further reinforce social and ecological movements.

Getting climate-ready

The volunteer-led project focuses on converting Barcelona’s abandoned Hospital Sant Llatzer into a Climate Justice Center and Movement School to provide a cornerstone for tackling climate issues and thriving for a healthier planet. The inclusive approach adopted by the organisation will increase the participants’ understanding of the causes of climate change. Therefore, communities will transition to a more sustainable lifestyle and green economies by taking appropriate actions and acquiring the required values and skills. Casa dels Futurs will achieve this through focusing on the following objectives:

 (1) Climate Resilience: creating a model of large-scale infrastructure that reduces ecological impact while building climate resilience. The project also offers an encouraging example of engaging local knowledge, traditional crafts, and community-driven solutions to respond and adapt to the impacts of climate crisis.

(2) Building Knowledge: building a home for a Movement School that can stimulate social solutions addressing the main causes of climate change. Besides, the initiative builds a community of changer-makers intending to fight for diverse movements such as decolonial, ecofeminist, and anti-racist practices for mutual aid.

(3) Global Solidarity: developing infrastructure to support long-term and international organisations for social and ecological movements. The project prioritizes communities that have been negatively impacted by the crisis such as economic refuges and at-risk environmental defenders.

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