The Social Innovation Chair of the UdL evaluates the Vincles project in Erill la Vall

Last Thursday, March 27, the team from the Social Innovation Chair of the University of Lleida (UdL) began the evaluation of the Vincles Alt Pirineu-Aran project in Eril la Vall, taking advantage of one of the activities promoted within the framework of the project: the monthly traditional cooking workshop. The Vincles project, coordinated by the iSocial Foundation, aims to detect and intervene early against unwanted loneliness in people over 65 years old, and is active in several municipalities in the Alt Pirineu and Aran territory, including the municipality of Eril de Vall.

Vincles combines the use of technology with community activation, which, through activities such as this cooking workshop, seeks to create community and socialization spaces to improve the quality of life of older people. From a technological standpoint, the project uses Big Data technology to identify and classify the risk of loneliness in individuals, allowing for more precise and effective community intervention.

The University of Lleida is one of the project’s partners, and the involvement of its Social Innovation Chair is key to ensuring the measurability and reproducibility of the results achieved in the implementation of Vincles. During the evaluation carried out in Eril de Vall, the research team, which is currently in the first phase of qualitative analysis, organized several focus groups with the workshop participants to gather information on how the project has impacted their perception and experience of loneliness. This methodology has allowed them to collect data on the participants’ satisfaction with the actions and initiatives developed within the project framework.

The evaluation process will continue in the current weeks with new visits to other areas of the project, such as Cerdanya, Val d’Aran and Alt Urgell, to continue expanding the collection of data and analyzing the effectiveness of the interventions. The Vincles project, in which the Regional Councils and Municipalities of the Alt Pirineu-Aran also participate, in addition to the entities ABD, Alba Jussà and Integra Pirineus, is supported by the Diputació de Lleida, the Fundació La Caixa and the Generalitat de Catalunya through the Next Generation funds.

The Vincles Alt Pirineu-Aran Project is now active in over twenty municipalities and has 171 community agents

The Minister of Social Rights, Mònica Martínez Bravo, visited the “Vincles Alt Pirineu-Aran” project in Sort—an initiative aimed at tackling unwanted loneliness in the Alt Pirineu and Val d’Aran through community intervention, technology, and citizen involvement. The visit was also attended by the President of the Pallars Sobirà County Council, Carlos L. Isus Castellarnau; the Mayor of Sort, Baldo Farré; the Public Health Deputy of the Lleida Provincial Council, Òscar Martínez; the County Director of Social Services, Adriana Vidal; and the Director of the iSocial Foundation, Toni Codina.

During her visit, the Minister learned firsthand about the program’s operations. Since 2023, Vincles has been established in over twenty municipalities across the Catalan Pyrenees. The project introduces a more proactive approach to addressing unwanted loneliness, leveraging Big Data technology for early detection of social isolation in people over 55 and activating local networks and citizen participation to intervene and provide support in identified cases.

Following the project presentation, Vincles representatives and the Minister visited a local business involved in the program, where they spoke with the project’s community activator in Pallars Sobirà, social worker Elena Santos, as well as two community agents (local business professionals who voluntarily participate in the project to identify potential cases of unwanted loneliness) and two elderly beneficiaries. This exchange provided valuable insight into the work of Vincles and the positive impact it is having in the region.

Positive Impact of the Project

Since its launch, Vincles has achieved significant results: it currently has 54 social and healthcare professionals working across the six Pyrenean counties, along with 171 trained community agents who help identify and address cases of unwanted loneliness in towns and villages. Additionally, 47 social awareness training sessions have been conducted to improve detection, and 209 community activities have been organized for beneficiaries, including workshops, participatory processes, and talks.

The project, led by the iSocial Foundation and funded through Next Generation funds from the Department of Social Rights of the Government of Catalonia, has become an innovative solution and a benchmark in Catalonia and Europe in this field.

The meeting provided an opportunity to share the work done so far and to coordinate the promotion and management of Soliguia, an online social services search engine.

On March 18 and 19, the iSocial team attended an international meeting of the Solidigital project in Toulouse, where the seven partner organizations of the project came together. The goal of the meeting was to finalize the details for the launch of Soliguia, an open-access online search engine for social services that will soon be available in Catalonia and Andorra.

During the meeting, we validated the joint dissemination strategy for the project and discussed technological aspects related to integrating Soliguia with our Nidus app and the French app Coffre-Fort Numérique by Reconnect.

Solidigital is a European project co-funded by the European Union through the Interreg POCTEFA program. Its objective is to create a comprehensive database of social services and facilities across Catalonia and Andorra, ensuring that the data is verified and up-to-date, and making this information accessible to both the general public and professionals. Soliguia will provide access to this information through an online search engine, where resources will be listed based on proximity and will include key practical details such as operating hours, risk of saturation, and the target audience for each service.

Soliguia is based on the model of its French counterpart, Soliguide, a tool that already facilitates nearly 3.5 million searches per year. As part of the project, Soliguide will also be expanded to the French departments of Occitanie.

We at iSocial would like to thank Solinum and Reconnect, the French partners of the project, for their warm welcome in Toulouse, as well as our Catalan and Andorran partners—Associació Alba, Fundació Resilis, Grup Pere Claver, and Fundació Andorra Recerca i Innovació—for their contributions and all their hard work. Their efforts will help make Soliguia an efficient and accessible tool, fully integrated into the social services ecosystem.

We are launching a digital support service for Nidus users

Nidus has expanded its support capacity with the addition of three technical digital support specialists. The main role of the new additions is to assist entities and individuals in implementing this application, which aims to provide a set of digital tools to facilitate autonomy and inclusion for people in situations of social exclusion.

The digital support specialists are responsible for providing assistance to Nidus users, both professionals and beneficiaries, to ensure they can effectively use the application and make the most of all its features. Through two monthly visits to the entities using the Nidus tool, they offer continuous follow-up that allows them to build relationships with users and adapt to their needs.

On the other hand, the support provided by the technical specialists is not limited to using Nidus; they also complement their work by offering information and support on other technological matters that may be of interest to users. In this way, their role also facilitates the comprehensive digital inclusion of people in situations of social exclusion.

Currently, the specialists are supporting entities located in Barcelona and Girona, with plans for the team to continue expanding to reach other entities.

The Rehab-Lab network expands with 10 new organizations across Catalonia, establishing itself as a leader in the production of customized functional aids using 3D printing

The Rehab-Lab project, dedicated to creating personalized functional aids through 3D printing, takes a significant step forward with the addition of 10 new organizations across Catalonia and the official launch of the Rehab-Lab network. These new entities, equipped with 3D printers and becoming FabLabs within the network, will provide tailored solutions to more people with motor disabilities, improving their independence and quality of life.

Functional aids are custom-made plastic components that are low-cost and quickly manufactured to meet the specific daily needs of individuals with disabilities. While assistive products exist on the market, they are often standardized and do not adapt to each person’s unique requirements. According to a 2022 survey by Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE), 46% of people with disabilities require assistive devices in their daily lives, while 18% need them but do not use them.

In response to this reality and inspired by the French Rehab-Lab community, we launched the Rehab-Lab.Cat Project in 2023—an innovative social and technological project led by the iSocial Foundation, in collaboration with the CIM-UPC Foundation, the Ampans Foundation, the Guttmann Institute, and the company Avinent. This February, the project evolves into the Rehab-Lab network with the inclusion of 10 new social and healthcare organizations.

The Catalan Minister of Social Rights visits Rehab-Lab training sessions

As part of the launch of the Rehab-Lab network, a group of 28 occupational therapists and other professionals from the newly joined entities received training in the design and production of functional aids using 3D printing at UPC’s facilities. This training covered both technical aspects and the Rehab-Lab methodology, which promotes co-creation between the user, occupational therapists, and engineers.

On Thursday, February 6, the Catalan Minister of Social Rights, Mónica Martínez Bravo, visited the training sessions to gain firsthand insight into the project and its impact on enhancing independence for people with disabilities. Her visit underscored the importance of fostering dialogue and collaboration between the government, the social sector, universities, and private industry to develop real solutions that address citizens’ needs. Rehab-Lab is supported by the Government of Catalonia through the European Next Generation funds.

A growing collaborative project

The Rehab-Lab network is the result of collaboration between third-sector organizations, the academic community, and the technology sector. Alongside its five founding members, the network now includes:

• ASPACE Catalunya (Barcelona)
• Grup Alba (Tàrrega)
• Grup MIFAS (Girona)
• ASPID (Lleida)
• Grup Esclat (Barcelona)
• Fundació El Maresme (Mataró)
• Fundació Onada (Tarragona)
• Fundació Althaia (Manresa)
• Fundació Ramón Noguera (Girona)

By expanding, Rehab-Lab strengthens its connection with the European Rehab-Lab network, which now includes over 60 organizations across Europe. This international collaboration fosters knowledge-sharing and expertise in the production of customized functional aids.

The expansion of Rehab-Lab marks a major milestone in innovation for inclusion and autonomy among people with motor disabilities, solidifying the project as a reference point in Catalonia and Europe in this field.