We came to the neighborhood 6 years ago because it was close to uni, and the truth is that we love the mix of cultures it has

One day we received an email from the landlord saying it was raising the rent

We were willing to keep living here, so we started to see what we could do

*In Barcelona, in the last 3 years new builts have risen by 20%, rents by 30% and second hand purchase by 40%*

Since we became members of la Borda I've been in the conviviality committee, Raquel has been in a couple of them

Now we are already trying out with the rest of members how we want to live together

*Household lifestyles and it’s associated activities are a crucial factor for personal environmental impact and transformations*

the goal now is to make it easier for more people to make their own cooperative housing.

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Conviviality in cooperative housing, La Borda

Posted on Wednesday June 13th, 2018Tuesday March 2nd, 2021 by weareholon

Systemic challenge

Housing in Barcelona and across the world is far from being fulfilled as a human right, whereas is becoming one of the main assets for the financial sector. On top of this there are signs of how this is contributing to the unsustainability of our lifestyles.

Concrete challenge

We supported La Borda, a pioneering shared ownership housing cooperative in Barcelona, to foster more convivial and sustainable lifestyles in their community through the design of the shared every day life services and practices.

Impact

8 services designed, 6 implemented so far
Internal capacity to design and evolve convivial practices and services
On indicators such as:
- energy consumption
- water consumption
- waste generated
- C02
- gender balance

Interventions

Co-design research, co-concept development, co-design and implementation of services.

Team

Adrià Garcia i Mateu, Ariadna Rubio, Max Augustijn, Dom Burton, Flora Somos, Paula Guallar, and Prem Garjam, Txell Palau and Natalia Rodriguez

Read the full story in Medium

We work closely with clients, mainly here in Congo, to help them find out how the circular economy is good for their business

for most of them eco-innovation means engaging all their value chain, and this feels sometimes challenging

Some really embed this new thinking at strategic level and is when big changes happen

*SMEs in transitioning economies sustain 70% of their national GDP and 2/3 of formal employment*

I have to admit that for our clients to work with UN knowledge gives them security, and it does to us too

*For many of these countries circular economy is one of the best way to build strong and sovereing local economies*

this means we are getting more and more projects where what we end up doing is creating new business models

one never knows but I am seeing many companies shifting and that gives me hope

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Eco-innovation in SMEs for a Circular Economy, UN Environment

Posted on Tuesday June 12th, 2018Thursday April 18th, 2019 by weareholon

Systemic challenge

Climate change and global inequalities among and within countries are fostered in part by business cultures solely focused on profit growth. Emerging economies have the opportunity to show how raising living standards can be done in more sustainable and fairer ways.

Concrete challenge

We supported UN Environment in making the expertise generated in their Eco-innovation Project accessible and usable to their audiences, SMEs and consultants, scaling up the program’s impact in the field.

Impact

Inclusion of end users needs at a strategic level of program design
Re-structuring Eco-innovation Manual’s information architecture based on ‘Activities’
unep.ecoinnovation.org
Used in 143 countries

Interventions

Design research, concept development, design and implementation of online and in a manual

Team

Mercè Rua, Adrià Garcia i Mateu, Naoise Golden, Noelia Felip and Enric Adell.

I was with jobs on and off without being able to find something meaningful to work on

until 2012, when my partner and I started a project to transition his whole country, Liechtenstein

it's been an amazing journey so far, specially to be able to practice what we preach

*Many youngsters in Europe faced the aftermath of 2008, and still today are, by creating their way out of spiking unemployement*

work with clients was great, but it was hard to find ways to organise ourselves beyond business as usual

also to get support during hard times from peers or people who where going through similar challenges

now its us who share practices or tips from what worked for us, so we support each other as entrepreneurs

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Emerging entrepreneurial practices and stories, EEP

Posted on Tuesday June 12th, 2018Thursday April 11th, 2019 by weareholon

Systemic challenge

Disfunctionalities of the current dominant economic paradigm are not just affecting the climate, but also the job market, were youth are one of the most affected population segments struggling to operate under formal employment and sustain their lives.

Concrete challenge

We, young entrepreneurs who were starting sustainability minded business and digital natives, were lacking business practices to grow as professionals and as successful companies aligned with our values.

Impact

Creation of a Erasmus + project ‘Entrepreneurship in the emerging paradigm’
6 international gathering of entrepreneurs (art of entrepreneurship)
1 open source platform with 50+ practices of entrepreneurship at weareeep.eu
Spin-offed projects, such as the creation of Communities of Practice with Barcelona Activa or CoBoi Social Innovation Lab

Interventions

Concept and project design, design research, branding and platform design

Team

Mercè Rua, Adrià Garcia i Mateu and Marcela Arreaga

Last weekend we presented our first full collection, and today we're going to sell it for the first time.

so I am very excited to see how people respond 'cause this is one step further from what we did before

*Increasingly more social groups are facing barriers to enter the job market and find ways to sustain their lives.*

people like to pass by the stand and try something out, most of them ask me if we have an online shop

at the end most people come to eat or drink something, listen some music, to spend some time off in the weekend

*Neighbourhoods are struggling to find the balance between creating a dynamic environment and not falling into a scenario of gentrification*

for us is also important the tips we get from the other people in stands who are also starting their business

because we know is not easy to start something, but I guess we all have experienced that at some point

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La Pionera: a platform for those who start, Formació i Treball and Barcelona Activa

Posted on Monday June 11th, 2018Thursday April 11th, 2019 by weareholon

Systemic challenge

Global shifts are making cities more vulnerable, for example to changes in job markets, were barriers are increasing as well as the number and type of people struggling to thrive and sustain their lives.

Concret challenge

We teamed up with Formació i Treball foundation and the Municipality of Barcelona to conceptualise and design an open air platform or market for socially minded entrepreneurs exploring new economic paradigms

Impact

Concept of ‘the market for those who start (‘el mercat de la gent que comença’)
Design and implementation of a multi-stakeholder community participation process
Brand strategy and experience design of the space
lapionera.barcelona

Interventions

Design research, concept development, participatory process, branding experience and production

Team

Mercè Rua, Adrià Garcia i Mateu, Esteve Padilla, Markel Cormenzana + Labcoop + 131.gd

Can’t believe it's been already 8 already since we started and the size it got!

I'm in the communications department since the beginning, and with the growth the needs of the team have changed

It's fun and at the same time a lot of work, now, for example, we are preparing the member’s school in September

*The energy sector is the main contributor of greenhouse emissions, increasing and reaching in 2018 its highest historical level*

where we will meet many active members and local groups. Part of my day to day is to support them.

*Renewable energies are the ones that have grown the most, despite only reaching a quarter of global production*

Everything is easier thanks to the team, I am lucky to work with very motivated and mission driven people open to continuous learning

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Mainstreaming community-led cooperative renewable energy, Som Energia

Posted on Monday June 11th, 2018Thursday November 5th, 2020 by weareholon

Systemic challenge

Energy is the biggest and growing contributor to global emissions and reached its historic maximum in 2018. Furthermore even if renewable energies are the fastest growing sources, just account for a quarter of total production.

Concrete challenge

We are working with Som Energia, the biggest community led renewable energy cooperative in Catalonia, to evolve their branding experience of current and new audiences joining them in the replication of their local groups.

Impact for the client

Updating brand strategy from a new organisation strategy
Brand re-styling (ongoing)

Interventions

Design research and market analysis, design strategy and branding.

Team

Mercè Rua, LiseLotte Erich, Esteve Padilla, Airí Dordàs and Anna Bosch