HOPLR (Belgium) and A-Porta (Catalonia).

Held on November 29th, 2022, from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.

There was translation from English to Catalan and Spanish.

The growing individualism and fragmentation of social relations, as well as the speed of daily life, lead to a lack of knowledge of one’s own environment and of the people who live in it. The social isolation typical of advanced societies of the 21st century aggravates situations of exclusion, loneliness and discomfort, and represents a social challenge of the first magnitude for social services.

The community work of social services, mutual support and social participation make it possible to pool resources, tools and needs, improving the quality of life of neighborhoods and the people who live in them.

There are innovative platforms and programs that are demonstrating a great capacity to activate cooperative social relations among community members, with the aim of improving daily well-being, generating neighbourhood empowerment and fostering social inclusion.

In this Innobreak we present 2 innovative experiences that stand out in this field, from Belgium and Catalonia.

• HOPLR, it is a social network focused on social interaction between neighbours in the same area. The digital platform works in such a way that people using the application can share their needs or carry out tasks requested by other neighbours. It is a free tool, based on each person’s address, that promotes care, participation and direct neighbourhood communication, thanks to which collective activities or events can be created. It has been in operation since 2014, it works in more than 100 cities, and more than half a million people interact with their environment thanks to the application.
• A-Porta, it is a neighbourhood empowerment program of CONFAVC based on which neighbours called “Pica-Puertas” make visits to other people in the neighbourhoods to support, offer accompaniment and resources according to the needs. The Pica-Puertas are trained in topics such as access to social rights, job search, energy vulnerability or accompaniment of elderly people in order to respond to these needs thanks to the community and neighbourhood fabric. The project has been implemented in several disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the cities of Barcelona and Tarragona, and it works thanks to the personalized knowledge of the needs of the neighbourhood and the proximity to the citizens.

Speakers:

• Jennick  Scheerlinck, Hoplr (Belgium).
• Alba Gómez, A-Porta (Catalonia)