• The agreement will create the Opengela Fundazioa, which will begin its work in 2021 to promote comprenhensive urban regeneration in neighbourhoods in the Basque Country, through local offices that will advise neighbourhoods.
• The actions aims to reduce the social inequalities, facilitate the eccess to reforms for vulnerable groups, and promote CO2 neutral cities through energy efficiency actions.

The Minister of Territorial Planning, Housing and Trasnport of the Basque Government, Iñaki Arriola, and Antonio Calçada, Director General of the Fundación Repsol, signed a pre-agreement on Monday for the creation of the Opengela Fundazioa, the organisation through which they will jointly promote a comprehenseive plan for eco-sustainable renovations in the Basque Country.

The new Foundatión will maage the eco-sustainable rehabilitation projects throughout the autonomous community and progress is already being made in identifying the areas of action. These interventios are currently being carried out through the european Opengela Project, financed by the Horizon 2020 programme, in the pilot neighbourhoods of Txonta (Eibar) and Otxarkoaga (Bilbao) and its model is being replicated in Aramotz (Durando y Basaundi Bailara (Lasarte-Oria). In addition to these projects, the Basque Gobernment has promoted urban regeneration actions in the neighbourhoods of Cororación (Vitoria-Gasteiz) and Txomin Enea (Donostia).

With this new step towards the creation of Opengela Fundazioa, the Basque Government and Fundación Repsol are seeking to extend to the whole of the Basque Country. the evolution towards a news model of sustainable neighbourhood that is energetically sustainable, accesible and socially and urbanistically cohesive.

The actions will focus on energy efficiency, accesibility y structural safety, contributing to reduce emissions and improving people’s quality of life. The local offices, Opengelas, will facilitate the technical assistance to carry out these refurbishment and will also offer financing programmes to give Access to this type of intervention to people in situations of social vulnerability, long-term unemployment of energy poverty.

Opengela Fundazioa will be a private foundation and is expected to start its activity during the course of this year, after its registration inte Basque Country Foundations Registeer, an activity which will carry out  in close contact with both the Basque Government and the Basque Town Councils.

Equality and innovation in rehabilitation and urban regeneration

The Minister of Territorial Planning, Housing and Trasnport pointed out tha “Basque Country has one of the oldest free housing stock in the whole or southerns Europe and we have the obligation to make the revolutions od the energy-sustainable rennovarons available to everyone, regardless of therir purchasing power”.

For his part, António Calçada, Director General of Fundación Repsol, stressed that this collaboration “promotes sustainable and includice energy transition, contributing to the objectives of reducing emissions and improving the quality of life of families, especially the most vulnerables. In addition, it has a great impact on economic recovery, supporting the development of the Basque Business fabric to carry out the refurbishments”.

The agreement, will also promote research, development and innovation in building retrofitting, urban regeneration and sustainable, inclusive, cohesive and resilient cities.

In the neighbourhood offices linked to the Opengela project, the aim is to provide information regarding public aid which can be applied for, to help neighbourhoods with the paperwork involved in undertaking renovation work, to provide guidance on hiring professionals and companies to carry out the renovations, to improve the energy efficiency and accessibility of buildings, and to create financial instruments to ensure that no one is excluded as a result of their inability to pay for renovation works. All these tasks are performed by the Opengela offices, which are now open to the public.

The two pilot experiences in Txonta (Eibar) and Otxarkoaga (Bilbao) are underway and operate as one-stop-shops, serving the respective neighbourhoods included in the project.

The offices also serve companies and professionals in the sectors involved in the retrofitting of buildings. The aim is to ensure that the work is carried out following quality standards and that procedures can be carried out as far as geographically possible.

Due to the pandemic, the offices are taking special health and safety measures. In Otxarkoaga, Bilbao, it is necessary to make an appointment to visit the one-stop-shop. This location is carrying out work on five buildings with a total of 16 apartment buildings and 240 homes. 

In the Txonta neighbourhood in Eibar, refurbishment is also being undertaken with energy efficiency and accessibility criteria. The pilot project has begun work on 221 homes in 17 apartment buildings.

Otxar Opengela is located at 16 Avenida Pau Casals, opposite the neighbourhood’s metro station. They can also be contacted by telephone at +34 946 851 932. Or by e-mail at otxaropengela@vvmm.bilbao.eus.

Txonta Opengela is located at 3 Calle Txonta. They can also be contacted by telephone at +34 688 779 737 and by e-mail at txontabulegoa@eibar.eus.

Appointment to adapt to the pandemic

The pandemic has been an obstacle to the implementation of the pilot projects in Txonta and Otxarkoaga, but it has not prevented their opening. The 3 people who run the office in the Bilbao neighbourhood and the person in charge of the Txonta Opengela office will be the first point of contact for those interested in the urban regeneration process. However, interactions must take place following health and safety protocols and as such, in the case of Otxarkoaga, it is necessary to make an appointment in advance.

Please call or send an email to either of the two offices to set a date for the consultations. 

Among the different perspectives that are applied to urban regeneration processes, the gender perspective has not traditionally occupied a prominent place. However, a close analysis can provide many clues about the implications of the urban environment for gender inequality.

Sonia De Gregorio, a researcher at the Department of Urban and Territorial Planning at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid, has carried out an exhaustive study on the gender perspective in urban regeneration within the scope of the Basque Urban Agenda, called Bultzatu 2050. It is available here (in spanish).

One of the fixed objectives of this work, commissioned by the Basque Government’s Directorate of Territorial Planning and Urban Agenda, is «to guide those potentially involved in urban regeneration programmes in the Basque Country so that they give rise to strategies that are characterised by an integrated approach with a gender perspective.» In this way it aims, on one hand, to «advance the definition of urban regeneration strategies to incorporate the gender perspective (with a demonstrative capacity that can be transferred to other projects)», and on the other hand, to «promote and consolidate the change of values necessary for equality.»

The work calls for «the reality and needs of women to be taken into account in the framework of regeneration strategies.» Participation amongst vulnerable neighbourhoods and calls, among other issues, is needed in order to take the gender perspective into account and to listen to the voice of all social groups, especially women.

Sonia De Gregorio, with the collaboration of staff from the Urban Regeneration Service of the Basque Government Directorate, provides guidelines for defining strategies that establish indicators to «measure» how the actions implemented respond to the needs of women.

The researcher has established three tranversal axes, as have the Territorial Planning Guidelines of the Basque Country: the gender perspective, climate action, and urban health.

Why should this gender perspective be applied to urban regeneration? The key lies in «the transformative capacity that regeneration policy has», which should be used «to advance equality between men and women as a priority for action.»

A diagnosis in Otxarkoaga

De Gregorio provides ideas for taking the gender perspective into account in matters which, although they may seem small, substantially modify the current model. Some actions improve, for example, the daily life of the people who do care work (mostly women).

Possible improvements in public space are also defined from the point of view of «walkability», by making it friendlier and more attractive for walking. This also applies to the perspective of «perceived safety» as well as «renaturalisation and climatic comfort.»

As part of this work, a test has been carried out in the Otxarkoaga neighbourhood, with a diagnosis and a proposal for a pilot intervention to implement a series of actions aimed at integrating the gender perspective in the urban regeneration of the Bilbao neighbourhood.

Sharing experiences with other one-stop-shops at the European level is one of the objectives that has been an integral part of the Opengela project from its inception. As an initiative supported by the European Union, the exchange of knowledge with similar projects or initiatives on the continent – irrespective of whether they’re more consolidated or incipient – has been one of the priorities of this project from its onset. We aim to learn from others and share our experiences to move forward.

Although the pandemic has hampered this mission, visits have been made to Tipperary (Ireland), Paris-Îlle de France and Amiens/Picardie (France) prior to COVID-19, while virtual sessions have been organised with Milan (Italy) and Vienna (Austria) since the outbreak.

«It is a very interesting process», stresses Andoni Hidalgo, an expert in Urban Agenda who is part of the Opengela team and who has facilitated learning from other programmes, «as there is a lot to learn about the models in other countries. Each case is different, but there are some common characteristics (between them) – for example, in terms of organisational models, financing mechanisms or communication strategies – that have given us very instructive clues.»

This activity has been combined with the participation of Opengela representatives in various international conferences over the last few months and will continue throughout the project.

Opengela started in May 2019 to produce a model of replicable local offices which serve neighbourhoods during their urban regeneration processes, and more specifically, with the refurbishment of their buildings. Now, having crossed the halfway mark of the project, the offices in the two pilot neighbourhoods are up and running, works are beginning to take place on local buildings and several Basque municipalities have taken note of the initiative and have expressed their interest in replicating the model. 

The project, funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme, has focused on two pilots in the neighbourhoods of Otxarkoaga (Bilbao) and Txonta (Eibar). Opengela is expected to last three years and to be replicated in other municipalities within the Basque Country. Durango and Lasarte, in particular, have already shown interest, as have Vitoria-Gasteiz, San Sebastian and Pasaia. Subsequently, the Opengela model can be used amongst the rest of the Basque Country and scaled to the European level.

The urban, sustainable, and social dimension

The ultimate goal of the programme is to promote deep renovations, greater energy efficiency, improved accessibility, and the incorporation of fire protection and safety systems in the oldest or most needy neighbourhoods in the Basque Country, thereby reversing the conditions which can lead to urban vulnerability.

This project takes the social dimension into special consideration. «The focus is on people and neighbourhoods, making them part of the process», explains Ignacio de la Puerta, Director of Territorial Planning and Urban Agenda of the Basque Government’s Department of Territorial Planning, Housing and Transport, who is leading the project.

The launch of Opengela coincides with a crucial moment in which the Renovation Wave Strategy is being promoted by the European Union. «The current moment», emphasises De la Puerta, «is (an ideal time to) take advantage of the opportunity and put building renovation projects and comprehensive urban regeneration of neighbourhoods on the country’s list of priorities through specific projects. This will not only help us to invest today in a green, digital and fair recovery, but will also prepare us for the demands that – by European mandate – are just around the corner.”

In addition to the Department of Territorial Planning, Housing and Transport of the Basque Government, this project is an example of public-private collaboration, as it includes 8 other partners: the local urban development companies of the two municipalities (Viviendas Municipales de Bilbao and the Gipuzkoa-based Debegesa), the Basque Energy Agency (EVE), a company specialising in financing (GNE Finance), one in European affairs (Zabala),  another in communication (Gabineteseis), and two European organisations based in Brussels, namely the Federation of Energy and Environment Agencies and Regions (Fedarene) and the European Federation of Public, Cooperative and Social Housing (Housing Europe).

On 12 May an international multi-stakeholder Webinar was organised by Opengela (an EU-funded project led by the Basque Regional Government), gathering representatives from 5 other projects from France, Austria, Italy, Ireland and Spain. The event, followed by more than 180 participants from 26 countries and 4 continents, aimed to foster a collective brainstorming on how to tackle the situation provoked by the COVID19 crisis in local urban regeneration projects.

Moderated by representatives from EASME, the European Commission’s Agency for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, participants fostered a lively debate on the effects of the COVID crisis on local One-Stop-Shops for building renovation, the specific actions foreseen for the “new normal” scenario and the best possible ways to place sustainable urban regeneration at the core of forthcoming regional, national and European recovery programmes.

Among the main challenges for the way ahead, speakers underlined the need for solid financial schemes to overcome the barriers that citizens will face for making the decision of renovating their homes. But, according to the experience drawn on the field from the participant projects, finance is not the main potential barrier: other elements, such as integrating building refurbishment with other socio-economic measures fighting energy poverty, increasing accessibility to buildings and strengthening the social fabric in neighbourhoods, were judged to be as important as the availability of funds.

“European Regional and local authorities need a signal from the EU to ensure that the Renovation Wave is made real not only top-down, but also bottom-up, from our neighbourhoods,” said Ignacio de la Puerta, Opengela Coordinator and Director for Territorial Planning, Urbanism and Urban Regeneration of the Basque Government. “The deployment of the Green Deal on the ground will only be successful if it takes into account the essential contribution of One-Stop-Shops already in place at local level, and working on a broad approach: this is about energy savings, but also about fostering social fabric, ensuring healthy homes and promoting local, long-term job creation».

All participants agreed that the current crisis has shown the importance that our homes and neighbourhoods have in our daily life: the dwellings in which we have spent almost our entire time have suddenly become learning, working and care centres, and – as our societies learn to live with the effects of the pandemic – it is increasingly clear that our immediate vicinity will play an essential role in our daily lives in the future, therefore increasing the importance of holistic, integral and fair urban regeneration, leaving no one behind.

* Interview in the regional media Radio Euskadi to Ignacio De la Puerta and Davide Cannarozi about the Opengela project and the webinar ‘Post Covid-19 Urban Regeneration: One-Stop-Shops for a fair, green and social recovery’ HERE