“Opengela has made it easier for us to rehabilitate not only buildings in Otxarkoaga, but also spaces that were in disuse”

Interview

“Opengela has made it easier for us to rehabilitate not only buildings in Otxarkoaga, but also spaces that were in disuse”

Jon Bilbao, Councillor for Housing and President of the Bilbao Municipal Housing Association.

The city of Bilbao is promoting one of the two pilot experiences of the Opengela project. The Otxarkoaga neighbourhood has set up an office to help the neighbourhood throughout the process of refurbishing its buildings. Within the scope of this European project, five blocks of buildings with 16 portals and a total of 240 dwellings are being rehabilitated.

In the case of Otxarkoaga, unlike the other pilot project in Txonta (in Eibar), the particularity lies in the fact that most of the housing (around 60%) is publicly owned, through the company Viviendas Municipales de Bilbao. Its president, in addition to being the councillor responsible for Housing, is Jon Bilbao.

Bilbao City Council has an ambitious urban regeneration plan for the Otxarkoaga neighbourhood, with the Orain Otxar plan. Within this framework, there is the Opengela project and the neighbourhood office that has been operating for almost two years. How do you assess the progress of the project so far?

It has been a very positive experience. The project has enabled us to rehabilitate not only residential buildings, but also spaces that were in disuse in the neighbourhood, giving them new life and services for Otxarkoaga. The office allows us to have a local view of the progress of the refurbishment work and to have a real awareness of what is happening in each dwelling and thus be able to make better decisions.

In this case, the City Council, as well as being the driving force behind the project, is also the owner of many of the homes that form part of it. What lessons and conclusions can be drawn from this dual status?

We had already carried out similar projects in Otxarkoaga and other neighbourhoods in Bilbao, which allowed us to use the experience we had gained in this project. The idea of tackling projects in public-private properties seems to us to be a great success that benefits both parties. The owners are delighted to be able to count on the professionalism and involvement of the Municipal Housing workers in the projects and we are delighted to be able to count on them in the various participatory projects, as well in the day-to-day running of the works.

How is the neighbourhood reacting to the creation of the office and all that it entails, and what receptivity and encouragement do you see?

We believe that the office is working very well. The people who are affected by the works know where to go with any doubts that may arise in a project of this magnitude and it allows us to organise ourselves better with all the agents involved in these processes.

This is a vulnerable neighbourhood, what difficulties are you encountering in intervening there, and how are you dealing with them?

The great difficulty is the uncertainty that comes with these major rehabilitation works, nothing that does not happen in other neighbourhoods. We deal with the problems one by one and try to provide ‘ad hoc’ solutions to each of the queries. Transparency and constant information about the projects help to deal with the inconvenience of such lengthy projects.

How is the financing of building renovation projects being resolved?

This is currently being channelled using a programme of instalments over a long period, combined with public financing via subsidies and the added improvements of financing from private entities and the construction companies awarded the works. A specific working methodology has been developed.

The European project will end in 2022. With the knowledge already accumulated over the years, what would you say to any other municipality interested in applying this model, both in the Basque Country and at the European level?

They should be encouraged to set up this type of mechanism in their municipalities. Many neighbourhoods need to undertake this type of projects and having neighbourhood offices facilitates the task of individualised assistance.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 846707.

Otxar Opengela

Address: Avenida Pau Casals, No. 16, Otxarkoaga, Bilbao (In front of Plaza Kepa Enbeita)

Telephone: 946 85 19 32

E-mail: otxaropengela@vvmm.bilbao.eus

Txonta Opengela

Address: Calle Txonta No. 3, ground floor, Eibar

Telephone: 688 77 97 37

E-mail: txontabulegoa@eibar.eus

22/12/202113/08/2026

Opengela brings its urban regeneration model to Abanto-Zierbena, Trápaga eta Santurtzi with three new neighbourhood offices

The three municipalities will benefit from the funds of the Berpiztu programme, through which the Department of Territorial Planning, Housing and Transport will allocate 17 million euros to strengthen urban regeneration actions in neighbourhoods in the Basque Country between 2021 and 2023.

Opengela is taking its urban regeneration model to the Ezkerraldea-Meatzaldea region, where it will set up three new neighbourhood offices in the municipalities of Abanto-Zierbena, Valle de Trápaga-Trapagaran and Santurtzi.

This measure is part of the Berpiztu programme, with which the Department of Territorial Planning, Housing and Transport will allocate 17 million euros to strengthen urban regeneration actions in neighbourhoods in the Basque Country between 2021 and 2023. The direct subsidy to these town councils, in addition to Portugalete, was approved by the Governing Council, at the proposal of Iñaki Arriola, Minister of Territorial Planning, Housing and Transport.

In the three cases, Abanto-Zierbena, Valle de Trápaga-Trapagaran and Santurtzi, highly vulnerable neighbourhoods have been identified in which, according to preliminary analyses, the average income per household does not exceed 15,000 euros per-home per year. In the three cases, a neighbourhood office (known as opengelas) will be set up to accompany and advise residents and communities on how to carry out and finance the works, and families with the greatest economic difficulties will be given access to a guarantee fund for complementary financing to help them pay for the works.

In the case of Abanto-Zierbena, the direct subsidy of 6.28 million euros between 2021 and 2023 will be earmarked for the Peñucas neighbourhood, an area of 200 homes spread over 20 portals (seven blocks). The comprehensive action will consist of energy rehabilitation, accessibility, habitability, security and digitalisation of buildings and housing, the redevelopment of the area paying attention to accessibility, energy rehabilitation of the municipal euskaltegi, employment plans, financing and studies of the neighbourhood.

In the case of Valle de Trápaga-Trapagaran, for its part, the direct subsidy of 3.91 million will go to the San Andrés neighbourhood, where 195 homes will participate in the urban regeneration project. The intervention will cover the refurbishment of buildings and dwellings in terms of energy efficiency and various urban planning actions in terms of environmental sustainability, as well as the analysis of the reuse of obsolete buildings and actions for social inclusion, employment and R+D+i.

In Santurtzi, the Basque Government grants a direct subsidy of 3.42 million euros to refurbish a group of buildings housing 104 dwellings -Aurora Vildosola 1-13-.

The aid to these three new town councils will increase the number of neighbourhoods in the Basque Country that form part of the network of municipalities with urban regeneration projects underway. At the moment, those of Bilbao, Durango, Eibar and Lasarte-Oria are active, initiatives that are improving the quality of life of around 2,000 people living in 741 dwellings divided into 42 buildings.

The Opengela model is based on the implementation of district offices, which unify the regeneration processes of the neighbourhoods, serving both the neighbourhood and coordinating the rest of the groups involved. Opengela, which starts with two pilot projects in the neighbourhoods of Otxarkoaga (Bilbao) and Txonta (Eibar), seeks to be replicable throughout the Autonomous Community and to this end establishes guidelines that facilitate scalability to other territories.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 846707.

Otxar Opengela

Address: Avenida Pau Casals, No. 16, Otxarkoaga, Bilbao (In front of Plaza Kepa Enbeita)

Telephone: 946 85 19 32

E-mail: otxaropengela@vvmm.bilbao.eus

Txonta Opengela

Address: Calle Txonta No. 3, ground floor, Eibar

Telephone: 688 77 97 37

E-mail: txontabulegoa@eibar.eus

20/12/202113/08/2026

Five European regions and cities to replicate the Opengela model

Five entities from Croatia, Spain and Romania have been selected to bring the Opengela model to their respective regions.

The Replication call launched last October by FEDARENE, the European Federation of Energy and Environment Agencies and Regions, has resulted in the selection of five European regional and local authorities out of nine candidates one in Romania, two in Croatia and two in Spain, to export the Opengela model to their territories. Each of them is either already engaged in housing renovation projects in its territory, or is planning to do so in the near future.

The initiative will give the selected authorities access to the keys of the Opengela model, which is being developed in two pilot neighbourhoods in the Basque Country: in Txonta (Eibar) and Otxarkoaga (Bilbao). To this end, they will visit the two neighbourhoods on 31 March and 1 April 2022 to learn about their experience and to be able to transfer this model to their own projects, creating a network of ‘Opengelas’ throughout Europe.

First, the municipality of Sighetu Marmatiei, in Romania, is currently immersed in a project that aims to improve the accessibility of the municipality and the living conditions of the population in some areas, introducing a new rainwater drainage network and another sewerage network, among other initiatives. Sighetu Marmatiei municipality is joined by two regions in Croatia.

The first one is Medjimurje County, which comprises three cities and 22 smaller-scale municipalities. It is represented by the regional energy agency MENEA which acts as an advisory centre for energy and climate issues and is currently in the process of expanding its services, aiming to integrate a home renovation service in a collaborative way and ensuring financial sustainability.

The second one covers the counties of Varazdin, Koprivnica-Krizevci and Virovitica-Podravina, represented by the regional energy agency North, REA North, which has already started to provide consultations and technical guidance related to home renovation. However, they are looking for ideas to address the financial side and questions on how to establish an innovative citizen-driven one-stop-shop model at local/regional level.

The last two selected regions are in Spain, one is the Extremadura region and the other is Lleida municipality. In Extremadura, the energy agency AGENEX, which has already participated in European projects such as INNOVATE or HousEEnvest, is looking for ideas and experiences to address social housing from a perspective in which homeowners are involved, in addition to the search for sustainable financial tools.

Lleida, for its part, is committed to designing and implementing a one-stop-shop renovation office to improve the energy performance of the building stock, within a year. To this end, they want to develop instruments to overcome the main barriers such as lack of knowledge, lack of interest or financing, in order to accelerate the energy transition of their city.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 846707.

Otxar Opengela

Address: Avenida Pau Casals, No. 16, Otxarkoaga, Bilbao (In front of Plaza Kepa Enbeita)

Telephone: 946 85 19 32

E-mail: otxaropengela@vvmm.bilbao.eus

Txonta Opengela

Address: Calle Txonta No. 3, ground floor, Eibar

Telephone: 688 77 97 37

E-mail: txontabulegoa@eibar.eus

01/12/202113/08/2026

The Euskal Hiria congress highlights the role of urban regeneration and the Opengela model

This forum, organised by the Basque Government and UN-Habitat at the end of November, stressed the need to recover cities, focusing on social and environmental aspects.

The Euskal Hiria congress held its twentieth edition this year. It is a classic event for experts in territorial planning, an area in which the Basque Country has excelled in recent decades. On this occasion, the focus was on the social and environmental transformation of cities, and it focused on specific cases of urban regeneration in vulnerable areas of the Basque Country, especially the Opengela model.

The importance of urban regeneration took centre stage at this congress held in Vitoria-Gasteiz. In a keynote speech, Ignacio de la Puerta, Director of Territorial Planning and Urban Agenda of the Basque Government, explained the need to “recover cities”. A study by the Government itself reveals that, despite the last 40 years of public investment, “30% of the Basque Country’s neighbourhoods are in conditions of high or very high vulnerability”, as well as “the relationship between vulnerability and health”.

To tackle this situation, the Basque Government has proposed a PERTE (Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation) for integral urban regeneration, a project open to multiple agents to intervene in 47 municipalities. To carry it out, it is proposed to “extend the Opengela model”, funded by the European Commission.

Ignacio de la Puerta, Director of Territorial Planning and Urban Agenda of the Basque Government, stressed the importance of generating “trust” with the neighbourhood, “raising awareness of the benefits of intervention to improve comfort and habitability”, carrying out a “diagnosis of economic, social and cultural aspects”, promoting employment opportunities and “offering a space for meeting and trust that functions as a one-stop shop”. In this sense, the Opengela model promotes the creation of proximity offices in each neighbourhood, which accompany the neighbourhood in the process of urban regeneration”. He also pointed out the novelty that it provides “fair and affordable financing for all”.

On the opening day, Iñaki Arriola, Basque Government Minister of Territorial Planning, Housing and Transport, encouraged us to “consider the promotion of new urban models that allow the different fabrics that make up our cities to coexist and improve their interrelation with the rural and natural environment, through a new configuration and use of public spaces and a new mobility”.

To achieve this, the Basque Country has equipped itself with a fundamental tool: the Bultzatu 2050 Urban Agenda, one of the first to be drawn up at regional level and which is aligned with the United Nations New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this regard, Iñaki Arriola highlighted urban regeneration as a way to achieve “the transformation of cities towards fairer and more sustainable cities”.

The Basque Country already has several experiences in this area, which involves not only the rehabilitation of buildings, the improvement of energy efficiency and the accessibility of housing, but with a broader sense and consequences in social, economic, environmental and governance aspects. Opengela served as an example on several occasions for the speakers at the congress.

During Euskal Hiria, the head of UN-Habitat’s Spain office, Carmen Sánchez-Miranda, stressed that “if the Sustainable Development Goals are the What, the urban agendas are the How. UN-Habitat has been accompanying the Basque Agenda Bultzatu 2050 since its creation, convinced that the territorial level is a key level in the processes of implementation, coordination and promotion of effective governance, and that the role of sub-national governments is just as important as that of the national and local levels in this regard”.

The head of UN-Habitat in Spain added that “the way in which towns and cities recover from the pandemic will have a major impact on global efforts to achieve a sustainable future for all (…) the Sustainable Development Goals are precisely the articulating rails capable of ensuring that the short lights of the emergency are aligned with the long lights of development”. Euskal Hiria served as a contrast between experiences at a more local level and others at a global level.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 846707.

Otxar Opengela

Address: Avenida Pau Casals, No. 16, Otxarkoaga, Bilbao (In front of Plaza Kepa Enbeita)

Telephone: 946 85 19 32

E-mail: otxaropengela@vvmm.bilbao.eus

Txonta Opengela

Address: Calle Txonta No. 3, ground floor, Eibar

Telephone: 688 77 97 37

E-mail: txontabulegoa@eibar.eus