aquí SCCL

🌾 How can cities weave together affordable housing, local food production, and social support, all within a single urban space? As part of our P.O.N.T. journey, we explored these questions at La Ferme du Rail, guided by architect Marine Kerboua of Grand Huit Architecture. Located on former railway land, La Ferme du Rail is a pioneering experiment where architectural innovation meets social inclusion and urban ecology. This unique project combines housing for both homeless individuals and social students—mainly from landscaping backgrounds—each of whom contributes to a vibrant community garden as part of their residency. Residents benefit from private rooms, bathrooms, and communal kitchens on each floor, with stays typically lasting two to three years, providing a supportive structure for those transitioning to stable living. La Ferme du Rail goes beyond housing by intertwining economic and environmental circles: the on-site restaurant sources its ingredients from the garden, returns its organic waste for composting, and closes the loop by using the resulting compost to grow more food. This model not only produces healthy, local food but also demonstrates a real-world urban circular economy. The project also stands out for its experimental use of bio-sourced materials, featuring thick straw insulation and wood pellet heating—testing new, more sustainable ways to build in cities. By working with regulatory agencies, the team aims to make such ecological construction more accessible for future projects. Rooted on city-owned land with a long-term lease, La Ferme du Rail blends social inclusion, green architecture, and circular resource management—offering a tangible answer to how cities can cultivate resilience, empowerment, and community, all at once. _ 🤝 P.O.N.T. program is co-led and co-designed with aquí SCCL team 🇪🇺 This project is co-founded by the European Union as part of the Erasmus+ small scale partnership program _ #PONT #UrbanEcology #CircularEconomy #SocialInnovation #AffordableHousing #ErasmusPlus 🌱

🌊 How can citizens shape the future of a city’s rivers —and what can this mean for urban governance? During the visit to Paris as part of Erasmus+ program P.O.N.T., we explored this question with Céline Marty of the Académie du Climat, an organization at the heart of ecological transition in Paris. The Académie opens its doors to both youth and adults, serving as a vibrant space for learning, experimentation, and collaborative climate action. Its mission is twofold: fostering climate education through innovative programming, and serving as a living lab where new ideas and practices can be demonstrated, shared, and scaled citywide. A recent milestone is the Citizens’ Convention for the Seine. In a city increasingly reclaiming its river through pedestrian zones, cleanup efforts, and even urban swimming, this convention asked: Should the Seine be recognized as a legal entity to ensure its long-term protection? For several weeks, a diverse group of citizens selected by lottery engaged in mapping their perceptions of the river, exploring its biodiversity, and debating the possibility of granting the Seine new legal rights—such as the right to flow freely, remain unpolluted, and regenerate. The process concluded with a public presentation at city council, resulting in recommendations that advocate recognition of the Seine’s legal personhood and the establishment of fundamental rights for the river. While such conventions are advisory and cannot directly enforce policy, they play a vital role in broadening public understanding, creating new spaces for dialogue, and inspiring policy innovation. Participants gain new insights into ecological challenges, and their proposals feed into broader conversations at both local and national levels. Even as decision-making authority ultimately rests with elected officials, these participatory experiences help depolarize debate, raise civic literacy, and support Paris’s ambition to remain an inclusive, climate-resilient city for all. Through its work, the Académie du Climat demonstrates the transformative potential of education and citizen engagement in meeting urban climate challenges. _ 🤝 P.O.N.T. program is co-led and co-designed with aquí SCCL team 🇪🇺 This project is co-founded by the European Union as part of the Erasmus+ small scale partnership program _ #ErasmusPlus #PONT #CitizenEngagement #UrbanEcology #ClimateEducation #ParisTransition 🚲🌳

De nombreuses initiatives de science citoyenne génèrent des données environnementales précieuses, mais peinent à traduire ces résultats en leviers d’action pour les politiques locales de résilience climatique. Parallèlement, les autorités locales disposent rarement des mécanismes et outils nécessaires pour intégrer les savoirs issus de la participation citoyenne dans les processus de planification urbaine des territoires environnementalement et socialement fragilisés. Dans le cadre du projet d’échange et de recherche P.O.N.T., aquí SCCL (Barcelone) et Umarell (Pantin) interrogent les obstacles au transfert des connaissances citoyennes dans les projets de résilience urbaine et explorent l’émergence de nouvelles formes de coopération entre sciences participatives et politiques publiques face aux enjeux identifiés. _ EN/ Many citizen science initiatives produce valuable environmental data, but struggle to translate these results into local policies aimed at improving the climate resilience of their neighborhoods. At the same time, local authorities sometimes lack the mechanisms and tools to integrate citizens' knowledge into the urban planning processes of shared territories. Through the @erasmusplusfr ‘P.O.N.T.’ exchange and research project, aquí SCCL (Barcelona) and Umarell (Pantin) are exploring what are the barriers to transferring citizen knowledge into public resilience projects and what could be the new forms of cooperation between participatory science and public policy based on identified challenges _ 🇪🇺 This project is co-founded by the European Union as part of the Erasmus+ small scale partnership program Graphic design: hugo Soriso _ #erasmusplus #citizenscience #translocal #PONT #resilientcommunities #resilientcommunities

🔍 What if cities stopped seeing land as flat, buildable surface — and began recognizing soil as a living system essential to our future? On our first day of visits in Paris with the Erasmus+ P.O.N.T. program, we met with Margot Holvoet, Director of the Institut de la Transition Foncière, an organisation working at the intersection of climate policy, land governance, and ecological restoration. Their message is clear: soil is far more than a surface for construction—it is the planet’s second-largest reservoir of biodiversity after the oceans, a crucial carbon sink, and the source of 95% of our food. Yet, over 60% of Europe’s soils are now degraded, driven largely by urban expansion—strikingly, 89% of land artificialisation occurs on fertile agricultural ground. Rather than treating land as a commodity, the Institute promotes a 3 dimentional approach to land: one that considers the underground ecosystem, the actors who shape it, and the barriers to regenerating it. Through a unique model combining research, policy advocacy, and operational tools, they support multi-actor governance, pilot projects, and strategies to make soil restoration more accessible — economically, legally, and socially. _ 🤝 P.O.N.T. program is co-led and co-designed with aquí SCCL team 🇪🇺 This project is co-founded by the European Union as part of the Erasmus+ small scale partnership program _ #PONT #UrbanEcology #LandJustice #ClimateAdaptation #SoilIsLife #CitizenEngagement #ErasmusPlus

How can shared spaces foster urban resilience, community identity, and sustainable practices in rapidly changing cities? 🌱 As the first stop on our Paris journey with the Erasmus+ program "P.O.N.T.", Les Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers’ La Semeuse garden offered both a practical and symbolic answer. What was once a parking lot now serves as a diverse community hub—where local residents, artists, and newcomers exchange agricultural knowledge, host participatory events, and experiment with new forms of collective care. Faced with urban pressures and evolving political landscapes, La Semeuse stands out for its capacity to adapt: annual journals, evolving thematic formats, and open invitations to the neighborhood ensure the space remains accessible and relevant. The visit also included a workshop lunch designed by artist Joanna Wong, where food and ecology merged in a hands-on demonstration exploring the migration of ingredients and the search for cultural belonging in new environments. Through activities like these, La Semeuse cultivates inclusion and agency, echoing the goals of P.O.N.T.: fostering adult learning, intergenerational skills, and resilient participation. Thank you Alix Gigot, Carlos, Les Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers' team and Joanna Wong for hosting us! _ 🤝 P.O.N.T. program is co-led and co-designed with aquí SCCL team 🇪🇺 This project is co-founded by the European Union as part of the Erasmus+ small scale partnership program _ #UrbanEcology #ErasmusPlus #CommunityClimateAction #PONT