Kuvu, intergenerational rent to fight the loneliness and precariousness of elderly people and youngsters

admin on 6 April 2021

Intergenerational cohabitation thanks to Kuvu

Platform that brings into contact people older than 55 who have a free room, with young people seeking rent at affordable prices. In this way, these elderly people earn an income and stop living alone; while young people who want to become independent and do not have the means to do so, or prefer to do so in a calm and familiar environment, can achieve it for an affordable price.

Unlike other European models, where accommodation is free for the young in exchange for care activities, the Kuvu model involves an economic transaction and places those involved in a relationship of equal conditions and responsibilities, since these are two self-employed people who simply seek company and share day-to-day. Kuvu seeks to generate cohabitation and accompanying relationships, as would two roommates. Both people may have an independent life, but share some moments of the day with the other person. There is no set number of hours for participants to spend together, because the relationship is hoped to occur naturally.

In order to ensure that coexistence will be viable, at the time of registering on the platform, a form must be filled with information about living habits, so that Kuvu can pair the people who are most compatible for living together. In addition, Kuvu makes a personal follow-up to the experiences it generates to try to make them as successful as possible.

Characteristics of innovation

Adolescence and youth, Aging, Bank of innovations, Fully inclusive cities, Independent living, Lab, Link with the community, New service, Proximity care

Location

Euskadi

Partners/Funders

Universidad del País Vasco, Mondragon Unibertsitatea, Universidad de Deusto, Mondragon Team Academy, home share International, bbk, Ship2B, Open Value.

Genesis

The Kuvu model emerged in 2017 inspired in solidarity housing programs that have existed for years in different cities, involving older and university students. The creators of Kuvu, Eduardo Fierro, Jon Ander and Haize Trueba, wanted to change the model to make it scalable, introducing the variant of an affordable rent (about EUR 350 per month) that is a viable way of becoming independent for young people and putting them on an equal footing with the elderly person who rents them the room.

Level of implementation

At the beginning of 2020, there were 15 young people sharing housing with an elderly person thanks to the Kuvu platform: 13 in Bilbao and 2 in Madrid.

Further information

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Raaji, chatbot to inform and empower girls and women

admin on 21 March 2021

Girls using the chat-bot Raaji. Retrieved from Aurat Raaj’s website.

Chat-bot that informs girls and women about gender issues and helps them empower and defend their rights. It uses a virtual character, Raaji, which is able to answer questions and have a conversation through artificial intelligence algorithms. It provides information on issues considered taboo which are of great importance to female empowerment, such as issues of reproductive health, security or economic autonomy. In addition, a team of professionals detects if there are cases that require professional intervention and are derived from them to the most appropriate services.

The Pakistani organization that has developed it, Aurat Raaj, also collaborates with schools and social organizations to make workshops and activities to empower women and girls, and to try to break some stigma surrounding topics such as menstrual hygiene. To further expand this task, they have created an animated series where the main character, Raaji, passes through different situations considered taboo but which are part of the day-to-day life of many girls. In this way, girls see themselves in a character that they identify with, who normalizes and overcomes these situations, encouraging them to take the initiative through activities such as training courses, personal defence, etc.

Chat-bot is a versatile tool available in English and Urdu, and has also been adapted to Covid-19 to provide reliable information about the disease for girls and boys, in an easy way. Raaji is a sample of how technology can help expand and take the work of social organisations further, creating a tool that is easy to access and which allows the easy and private reporting of issues of great importance and on which there are taboos or misinformation.