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The big mission of the project is to bring new residents, especially new generations, to rural areas and help them build a fulfilling life there that is sustainable both for them and for the planet.
The key element to achieve it, is Las Aldeas del Futuro – a full-rounded development center located in a rural area of Spain. It will bring together local communities and people who are looking to build a sustainable future. Among new residents we’ll see makers and entrepreneurs, students and young adults, researchers and green technology startups, young families, and people from around the world looking to embrace conscious living from the heart.
Las Aldeas del Futuro is a prototype of new life – in harmony with yourself and nature. Our goal is to shift the way the planet lives now. From one village it will be replicated across Spain, Latin America and Spanish-speaking countries, with a potential to be brought to all continents.
Partners
Our partners are governments of municipal, provincial, and regional level, investors, local community, activists, businesses, and NGOs, universities and schools, research centers and incubators.
Level 1: Land, Construction, and Funds
Level 1: Land, Construction, and Funds
1.1. Location
The whole village becomes a circular, yet open network where each element is a business partner to the other. We use the power of a think tank to bring the community together. The project starts with a community town hall that invites current residents to speak and co-create. To revitalize rural places, we have to build the place together to allow ownership.
1.2. Construction
All processes embed sustainability by design. The aspiration is to use building materials that are abundant in the location (0 km traveled). Harness nature to help the community. We will explore zero-footprint housing and engage students of sustainable engineering to design how to utilize some of the unique natural features present. The art, architecture, and vocational schools will be invited to participate in building and decorating.
1.3. Investment and funds
The land and properties of the project are a long term investment. Additionally, conscious investors can take the extended village under patronage, for example existing vineyards, farms, entrepreneurs and startups. That would ensure a functioning support ecosystem. Investment might come in-kind in a form of building business capabilities and distribution channels.
For different conscious businesses developed in Las Aldeas del Futuro, there can be other funding options available in collaboration with municipalities: the EU and Spanish grants for rural, digital, infrastructure, female entrepreneurship, youth development, reviving villages, and agro tourism. It is also possible to run a crowdfunding campaign to microfinance them.
Level 2: Co-living as an Integration Engine
Level 2: Co-living as an Integration Engine
Co-living and co-working become the glue that brings together new and current residents, thinkers and doers, advisors and entrepreneurs, youth and elders. Combining co-living with an ecosystem of actors and a landscape will nurture and develop conscious businesses and close-by settlements.
Co-living will provide the social and technical infrastructure for the functioning of the development center. The services of the co-living are covered by a pay-to-stay model for all residents of Las Aldeas del Futuro.
Level 3: Ecosystem - Development Center
Level 3: Ecosystem - Development Center
La Aldea del Futuro is a full-rounded development center located in a rural area. Below are the five key target groups we focus on. Its new ecosystem will consist of people who
want to stay in a rural area
are sustainably conscious
want to feel part of the community
enjoy peace and quiet
aspire to grow, reskill, or upskill
network and create new opportunities
3.1. Sustainable Living Retreat
3.1. Sustainable Living Retreat
Everybody who interacts with Las Aldeas del Futuro has a mind change. It makes them feel or do things that they have not done. “Aha moment”: life can be simple. The retreat may include a meditation program; a Nourish Program where people subscribe to stay at any time to rest, get nourished through fresh food, healthy diet and nature. We will use the Encyclopedia on Sustainable Living to guide them. Possible guests could be eco-tourists, yoga and spiritual schools.
3.2. Apprenticeship School
3.2. Apprenticeship School
The whole village and neighboring settlements become a vocational school for young adults where craftspeople take them in as apprentices. It will encourage intergenerational learning and allow the preservation and promotion of traditional arts and crafts.
3.3. Pioneers Village
3.3. Pioneers Village
La Aldea del Futuro becomes a pioneers’ village where people who want to relocate to the rural areas together with their families can start their new life. It is especially relevant for recent graduates, young couples, people working in remote jobs with children, and corporate employees who were asked to retire early.
3.4. Conscious Businesses Builder
3.4. Conscious Businesses Builder
To help the newcomers to settle in, we will run a six-months Entrepreneur-in-Residence program where people looking to live in the rural areas are hosted in La Aldea del Futuro to identify a business opportunity relevant in the local circumstances and develop it with the help of facilitators, fellows, local community, and invited experts. After six months, participants who qualify and are willing to stay find a place to rent locally. Others could be offered to go to another Aldea of our network or complete the program with a certificate.
Differentiators
It addresses several key challenges of existing projects:
Find candidates for relocation
Bring them over to settle
Integrate in the local community
Ensure a way to sustain themselves economically
Retain them for permanent residence
Enablers
Relevance: Business opportunities are identified locally, tested, tailored, and revised with the help of the supporting network.
Integration: Local people will be invited to join the program as participants or advisors.
Low threshold: Participants do not need to commit to move permanently or work on the business that is not viable.
Focus: Participants don’t need to worry about a place to live or food, and can spend their time on their projects.
3.5. Innovation Maker Space
3.5. Innovation Maker Space
The startups have the opportunity to pilot their invention in our sustainable village and its surroundings. They become builders of the place where they can showcase their product, and get the United Nations badge for their contribution.
We will invite green tech startups, university researchers, and independent experts. The place becomes a mecca for experts and learners to meet and exchange knowledge. We can also invite representatives of big businesses and corporations to engage them in innovation brainstorming and showcase the applied sustainability.
We will work together with local businesses and farmers to help them build more sustainable business models, train successors, and modernize their processes to have a positive or zero impact on the environment.
An innovative multi-stakeholder partnership
An innovative multi-stakeholder partnership
The innovativeness of the approach to SDGs implementation on the ground lies in three dimensions: integrating and enabling; going to the ‘field’; and including everyone.
First, instead of duplicating what’s already being done – we INTEGRATE and ENABLE others. We find local entities and activists who have already been trying to implement one small element of the project on their own. We learn from their experience and the ideas they have. Using our methods from the SDG Good Practice (#SDGAction33515), we enable them to make small but impactful changes to multiply their positive effect. We feature and promote what they do under the umbrella of the SDG partnership to add credibility to their initiative and allow them to open doors. We connect them to initiatives locally and internationally that can give them a boost.
Second, instead of inventing or re-inventing how the project for rural areas can be done from the comfort of a city apartment – we GO TO THE ‘FIELD’. We spend months in various rural locations, meeting local people, asking what they enjoy about living in a village and what they are missing. At the same time, it allows us to truly experience local life - the challenges and advantages it has. And of course, to create deeper meaningful connections with the people and entities who will become the partners in implementing this SDG action in the near future.
Third, instead of limiting this SDG partnership to only a few entities – we INCLUDE everyone. Starting from the pilot project in Spain, to make sure that there is support, political will, and alignment with existing policies and actions, we have invited every single regional and provincial government to be part of it. In the brainstorming process during the fieldwork, we have already included local people from 3 years old to 87 years old. For example, we asked 260 children from a local school between 3 and 12 years old to draw or write what they love about their village and what ideas they have for it. They were extremely enthusiastic and proud to participate in formulating what will be the future of their village. We made all results, including featured drawings and stories, available online publicly.
The encompassing nature of this project calls for truly a multi-stakeholder partnership.
Background
Background
Rural Development
Rural Development
The DNA of the project is Rural Development. The goal is to revive and repopulate the rural areas of Spain. It will be achieved through integrating several pillars: Local Youth Development; Academic Innovation; School-to-Work transition; Ecological transition and energy; Agrifood; Biotechnology; Social Entrepreneurship. In line with the Next Generation EU, the idea is to create Villages of the Future (Las Aldeas del Futuro) while preserving the local communities, environment, and cultural heritage.
We aim to provide opportunities for education and employment to rural youth; bring and develop sustainable entrepreneurs in rural communities; and solve the housing crisis by creating rural alternatives. The vision is to create sustainable self-sufficient rural communities driven by youth.
Approach
Approach
The approach to solving these is to create Villages of the Future – innovation settlements that bring rural youth, researchers, schools, startups, businesses, experts, and NGOs to reside there and co-create solutions to the most pressing local problems together with the community.
Once we have defined the practice that can be applied more widely, we will create a “learn by doing” movement. We’ll invite representatives from rural communities of the EU and Spanish-speaking countries worldwide to come, stay, learn and then bring this model to their villages with our guidance.
Challenges we address
Challenges we address
We will address the key problems of rural areas:
population decline;
aging;
lack of employment;
brain drain;
and environmental degradation.
Key Objectives
Key Objectives
Acting in full support of the Next Generation EU and Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan we aspire to
Create new employment opportunities for the local community and youth from nearby universities.
Improve access to education for rural youth and give the youth of cities a chance to learn tangible crafts.
Engage universities and schools in collaboration projects.
Improve the state of local businesses by providing support and new distribution channels.
Remove inequalities by digitizing and improving the state of rural areas.
Foster gender balance in rural areas by giving the leading role to female entrepreneurs.
Create a more sustainable life on land through designing and implementing breakthrough environmental solutions to issues, like irrigation, zero-footprint housing, and others.
All of these will be achieved through tight partnerships with regional and municipal authorities, local community leaders and entrepreneurs, green incubators and accelerators, universities, and vocational schools, and investors.
SDG Good Practices
SDG Good Practices
The project will integrate the existing SDG Acceleration Actions of the Think Tank AlterContacts:
Encyclopedia on Sustainable Living in the Post-Pandemic World #SDGAction43888;
AlterContacts Academy: SDG Education in Universities #SDGAction43835;
and Sustainable Makeover #SDGAction43874.
In the implementation, we will utilize the practices we developed for SDG Good Practice “Lockdown Economy” #SDGAction33515.
Impact on Sustainable Development Goals
Impact on Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 8: Sustainable Economic Growth
Target 8.2: Diversify, innovate and upgrade for economic productivity
Target 8.3: Promote support for job creation and growing enterprises
Target 8.4: Improve resource efficiency in consumption and production
Target 8.6: Promote youth employment, education and training
SDG 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Target 1.4: Equal rights to ownership, basic services, technology and economic resources
Target 1.5: Build resilience to environmental, economic and social disasters
SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Target 3.4: Promote mental health
SDG 4: Quality Education
Target 4.4: Increase the number of youth who have relevant skills for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.
Target 4.5: Eliminate all discrimination in education
Target 4.7: Education for sustainable development and global citizenship
SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Target 5.5: Ensure full participation in leadership and decision-making
Target 5.A: Equal rights to economic resources, property ownership and financial services
Target 5.B: Promote empowerment of women through technology
SDG 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries
Target 10.2: Promote universal social, economic and political inclusion
Target 10.3: Ensure equal opportunities and end discrimination
Target 10.7: Responsible and well-managed migration policies
SDG 15: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss
Target 15.1: Conserve and restore terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems
Target 15.3: End desertification and restore degraded land
Target 15.9: Integrate ecosystem and biodiversity in governmental planning
SDG 17: Global Partnership for Sustainable Development
Target 17.6: Knowledge sharing and cooperation for access to science, technology and innovation
Target 17.16: Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development
Target 17.17: Encourage effective partnerships
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