The award-winning proposal is the creation of a health and water area for turpentineers
L’Associació Catalana de Municipis (ACM) (ACM), through the Fundació Transparència i Bon Govern Local (FTBG), announced this Tuesday morning, through an event broadcast by social networks, the four pilot initiatives to be carried out with the aim of combating depopulation in much of Catalonia. It is the second edition of the ‘Arrelament al territori’ project, which promotes and supports initiatives and good practices that provide services or cover needs that help to enhance the territory. These projects had to be linked and related to the actions of the Catalan Rural Agenda.
The four winning proposals that will be implemented are from the municipalities of Josa and Tuixén (Alt Urgell), the Garidells (Alt Camp), Caseres (Terra Alta) and the Regional Council of the Garrigues. They have been selected through a jury consisting of ACM and FTBG technicians, and representatives of Consell Assessor per al Desenvolupament Sostenible de Catalunya i l’Associació d’Iniciatives Rurals de Catalunya (ARCA). The FTBG funds each project with 14,000 euros, contributing a total of 48000 euros to the four initiatives.
The Josa i Tuixén city council will execute a proposal entitled ‘Espai de salut i aigua de les trementinaires de la Vall de Tuixent-La Vansa’. In this municipality of 100 inhabitants, it is intended to create a new space with a recreational and sports area of waters with aromatherapy services linked to the Tuixent Trementinaires space. It complements the current offer, providing new sporting and leisure tourist experiences to boost the roots in the Tuixent Valley. She has collected a diploma accrediting her mayor Marta Poch, who has stressed that “innovation is important for not falling into decline and innovative and global projects are needed. It is clear that the combination of snow in winter with summer equipment is essential in our municipality, to have a leisure space and not to have to move. In addition, it could be moved to many small villages like ours.”
Arrelament al Territori is an initiative of the ACM, through the FTBG, which aims to give value, enhance and help the smaller and rural municipalities of Catalonia. From the main municipal entity, the aim is to help people to carry out initiatives, whether at tourism, urban planning, environmental, sustainable or any sectoral level, which will allow them to offer new services, projects and meet the needs of their neighbours. In Catalonia there are 488 municipalities with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, which represent 51.5% of municipalities. Many of them lose their population, and encouraging and promoting root-rooting projects can be key to their future and to having a decentralised, more lively Catalonia capable of managing the territory and with a rural area with a future.
