The "la Caixa" Foundation Awards for Social Innovation recognise 12 projects with a transformational vision for tackling the challenges facing society

The 8th "la Caixa" Foundation Awards for Social Innovation have honoured 12 projects promoted by social organisations that tackle current challenges, such as social cohesion, the fight against poverty and the inclusion of people at risk or in a situation of vulnerability. With these awards, the "la Caixa" Foundation recognises the commitment to change and social action of initiatives that provide new perspectives and solutions to promote social justice and equal opportunities. The jury has distinguished with 10 prizes and 2 runners-up prizes the transforming and innovative vision of the winning initiatives, selected from over 3,000 projects from the "la Caixa" Foundation's Social Projects calls for proposals in areas such as the employability of people with disabilities, the empowerment of the rural world, homelessness, intercultural coexistence and socio-educational care for children and young people. Each of the 10 winning initiatives will receive 15,000 euros, and the two runners-up will receive 5,000 euros. These sums are in addition to the amount they had already received through the call for grants to develop their respective initiatives. 

1. A programme with more than twenty years of history 
   • Description of the winning projects:  
     • Project "Aljadid", Nuevos caminos Asociación Ítaca para el Desarrollo e Inclusión de la Infancia y Juventud (Almería). 
     • Emplearmet Association of People with Disabilities of the Ribera de Navarra AMIMET (Tudela, Navarra) 
     • Museum of paths: paths that connect people Associació Terra Roia (Siarb Valley, Lleida) 
     • Second Chance School Fundación Marcelino Champagnat - Sanlúcar de Barrameda Delegation (Cádiz) 
     • Anti-rumour strategy in the educational sphere for the promotion of intercultural coexistence Asociación Matiz (Bilbao) 
2. Description of the awards: 

The awards ceremony was held this Thursday at CaixaForum Madrid and was presided over by the Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sport and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, and the Director General of the "la Caixa" Foundation, Antonio Vila Bertrán. "We want to recognise and promote social innovation, above all the capacity to respond to and transform society's changing problems and needs. We know that it is not easy to get out of the comfort zone, and that is why with these awards we value the capacity shown by the winning organisations in exploring different perspectives and taking a step forward to carry out their projects", said Antonio Vila Bertrán. 

The event also featured a round table on social innovation, moderated by the journalist Cristina Ochoa, with the participation of the Deputy Director General of the "la Caixa" Foundation, Marc Simón, and the heads of three of the award-winning projects: Sara Maza, director of the Matiz Association (Bilbao), awarded for her project "Anti-rumour strategy in the educational sphere for the promotion of intercultural coexistence", which proposes solutions to the challenges of a cultural nature that arise in the processes of coexistence in the educational environment; Iván Ramos, director of the Marcelino Champagnat Foundation (Sanlúcar de Barrameda), awarded for his project "Second Chance School", which promotes the social and occupational integration of young people at risk of social exclusion; and Gemma Cots, president of the Associació País de Terra Roia (Valle de Siarb, Lleida), awarded for the project "Museum of paths: paths that connect people", which promotes social cohesion in rural areas through the conservation of the network of paths in the area. 

Another of the award-winning projects, the "#MuchoMásQueMúsica" initiative of the Acción Social por la Música foundation (Madrid), closed the ceremony with a concert performed by 15 of the children and young people participating in this programme, in which collective musical practice is used as a tool to promote coexistence and individual development of groups at risk of poverty and social exclusion. 

The other award-winning initiatives were as follows: "Project "Aljadid", New Paths", by the Ítaca Association for the Development and Inclusion of Children and Youth (Almería), awarded for its community action to promote child and youth participation in the neighbourhood of El Puche and to promote its social transformation; "Emplearmet", from the Association of People with Disabilities of the Ribera de Navarra, AMIMET (Tudela, Navarra), which offers an employment guidance service for people with disabilities; "Personalising employment as a solution to homelessness", from Hogar Sí (A Coruña), which offers a personalised process of integration and social and employment consolidation to homeless people; "Avanti Mamis. Towards employment", by the Avanti Andalucía Siglo XXI Association (Seville), which offers a socio-educational space for children from 0 to 3 years old and socio-occupational insertion itineraries for their mothers; "Las Poderosas: from personal process to social transformation", promoted by Acción Contra la Trata (Pamplona), which proposes mutual support among equals within groups of women victims of trafficking; and "Solienergia: la energía social", by Fundació Solidança (Sant Joan Despí, Barcelona), which proposes training in the maintenance and installation of solar panels accessible to people with a low level of education and to young people who have dropped out of school.  

The two runners-up prizes went to the project "Football and sport as a tool for social action", by the CEPAIM Foundation, Acción Integral con Migrantes Navalmoral de la Mata (Cáceres), and "Acompaña2: comprehensive care service", by the Asociación de Familias de la Armuña "La Besana" (Salamanca) in partnership with Servicios e Iniciativas Laborales.  

A programme with more than twenty years of history 

The award-winning projects are initiatives previously selected by the "la Caixa" Foundation's calls for Social Projects, which are held annually and are territorial in nature, aimed at social organisations that promote initiatives that foster equal opportunities and encourage social inclusion.  

Between 1999 and 2023, the calls for proposals have promoted 21,649 projects in Spain as a whole, through which 9.3 million people have been helped, with a global budget of 449 million euros. 

Description of the winning projects:  

Project "Aljadid", Nuevos caminos Asociación Ítaca para el Desarrollo e Inclusión de la Infancia y Juventud (Almería). 

The aim of the project is to involve young people in the social transformation of the Puche neighbourhood (Almeria), an area with strong segregation and great educational and social deficiencies. Through the project, the young people work together with the Administration to provide the neighbourhood with tangible, measurable and evaluable solutions, through successful experiences that empower and improve the self-esteem of the young people in the neighbourhood, and that project a positive image of their environment. More than 15 training workshops have been held on mediation, conflict resolution and frustration management. Two common spaces in the area have been rehabilitated and a neighbourhood association has been created. Thirty young people have been involved, and their participation in the participation groups is 100%.  

Emplearmet Association of People with Disabilities of the Ribera de Navarra AMIMET (Tudela, Navarra) 

The aim of the project is to qualify people with disabilities so that they can obtain stable employment, through a new application for employment guidance that allows people with disabilities to have equal access to interviews, workshops and training without the need to travel. The project offers employment training and skills workshops that participants can register for via the app. A transport service is provided and networking with disability organisations ensures quality care.  

Museum of paths: paths that connect people Associació Terra Roia (Siarb Valley, Lleida) 

The project aims to provide a backbone to the territory through the recovery of paths, thus improving resources for livestock farming and ecotourism. Through work camps and activities aimed at young people, social cohesion is promoted and links are created between the people of the territory. The project also works to dignify and care for the elderly, who take on a leading role as guides and mentors for newcomers and young people, which has an impact on their collective empowerment and psychosocial well-being. In 2022, 22 work camps were organised with 330 participants and roads were recovered in 4 municipalities.  

Second Chance School Fundación Marcelino Champagnat - Sanlúcar de Barrameda Delegation (Cádiz) 

The project sets up the Second Chance School in Sanlúcar de Barrameda to offer young people a new educational opportunity based on accompaniment, intervention and training with the aim of achieving socio-occupational insertion and preventing them from entering the spiral of drug trafficking and consumption. To this end, an intervention committee has been set up with the social services and the Training and Employment Unit of the Sanlúcar de Barrameda Town Council, Caritas Diocesana, Afanas (a benchmark organisation in diversity) and reception centres in the area, as well as educational centres and representatives of the fourth fishing sector, which is responsible for studying and creating personalised training and integration itineraries for the young people according to their needs and abilities. 66 people have been assisted through personal accompaniment; 55 people have taken part in training in personal skills, digital skills, a la carte training and training in companies; and 99 people have prepared for the ESO exams. In total, 221 young people have been assisted in the different activities.  

Personalising employment as a solution to homelessness 

Hogar Sí (A Coruña) 

The aim is for homeless people to have sufficient economic income to be able to decide freely on their life project through employment, the ultimate aim being to accompany them in a personalised process of integration and social and labour consolidation. The project carries out an evaluation based on the theory of change. Information is collected on the evolution of people in key areas such as insertion and maintenance in the ordinary labour market, socio-economic situation, residential situation, employability and quality of life.  

Anti-rumour strategy in the educational sphere for the promotion of intercultural coexistence Asociación Matiz (Bilbao) 

The project involves processes of training, reflection, awareness-raising and action on the part of the participating educational agents in coordination with other local actors (institutions and social entities) as a solution to the obstacles of a cultural nature that occur in the processes of coexistence in the educational environment of the Otxarkoaga neighbourhood. The proposed strategy is a medium and long-term process based on changing the frameworks of vision and interpretation, for which it is essential to create networks in which the different educational agents feed back their points of view from the point of view of belonging to a community. The project has involved 394 direct participants.  

#MuchMoreThanMusic 

Fundación Acción por la Música (Madrid) 

The project aims to break the hereditary circle of poverty and social exclusion, which affects 28.3% of minors in Spain, by designing a methodology that uses collective musical practice as a tool to promote coexistence and the individual and social development of people. It generates spaces for the development of personal skills and competences of the participants where the reality of minors, young people and families is made visible, as well as the different violations of rights that converge in the group. Family and community involvement is sought (educational centres, social entities, etc.), knowledge is transferred to society related to the conditions necessary to generate opportunities for social development and social cohesion is promoted by seeking the involvement of all the agents in the system and fostering collaboration with other institutions. The project has offered 220 hours per year of instrumental training per beneficiary and 60% of family members attend and participate in workshops. 

Avanti Mamis. Towards employment 

Avanti Andalucía Siglo XXI Association (Seville) 

It offers a socio-educational space for children from 0 to 3 years of age and provides support to families (especially mothers) who are in a situation of vulnerability, thus facilitating the conciliation of the parents so that they can start a process of inclusion. The project is divided into two main areas of intervention. With regard to the children, an educational and assistance service is offered, which consists of a quality educational resource that is pedagogically avant-garde. With regard to the families, a comprehensive and individualised approach is carried out, respecting personal and family characteristics, socio-occupational guidance services are offered, positive parenting skills are worked on and support networks are created among the families themselves. 117 beneficiaries have participated in the project, of which 72 have actively participated throughout the programme (35 adults and 37 minors).  

Las Poderosas: from personal process to social transformation 

Action Against Trafficking (Pamplona) 

The latest report of the Inter-institutional Agreement of Navarre for 2021 states that 148 women victims of trafficking from 18 different countries were assisted. The initiative proposes mutual peer support within groups of trafficked women. Art for transformation, training in rights, healing stories and artistic expression have allowed Las Poderosas to promote a sense of belonging and the recovery of these women. These dimensions have been developed from the multilevel theory of empowerment, working on individual self-determination, the capacity to make decisions and solve day-to-day problems, and democratic participation in community life, which translates into participation in community groups and activities, which generates a sense of belonging and favours interaction and coexistence. The Las Poderosas group started in 2017 with 10 women; today there are more than 50 of 9 different nationalities. They have trained and hired 2 mediators, 4 women have created Costura Poderosa S.L.U, a company for socio-labour insertion, and the album-book Libres para soñar has been published, where 13 women share their stories of survival.  

Solienergia: social energy 

Fundació Solidança (Sant Joan Despí, Barcelona) 

This project, designed in conjunction with the different agents in the area - the business sector, public services, other organisations and the general public - provides training in the maintenance and installation of photovoltaic solar panels, a sector that has a strong demand for workers whose profile does not require a very high level of training and is therefore accessible to people with a low level of education and to young people who have dropped out of school. The project has facilitated the training of 29 people and the insertion in the labour market of 6 people, 3 women and 3 men.  

Description of the awards: 

Football and sport as a tool for social action. 

CEPAIM Foundation Comprehensive Action with Migrants Navalmoral de la Mata (Cáceres) 

Through the regular practice of sport, the aim is to respond to the needs of different groups in vulnerable situations in the territory. The project has the collaboration of entities that allow the cession of the use of spaces for the development of the different actions. The activities cover different contexts and groups: people in humanitarian shelters, the elderly. The organisation organises a solidarity sporting event, holds workshops and awareness-raising days in schools, and organises Spanish and Spanish culture workshops for the humanitarian host group.  

Acompaña2: comprehensive care service 

Asociación de Familias de la Armuña "La Besana" (Salamanca) and Labour Services and Initiatives 

The project implements a comprehensive accompaniment transport service in a rural area. On the one hand, it responds to the mobility needs of people with reduced mobility and the elderly, and on the other hand, it offers an opportunity for people with disabilities to find employment in rural areas. The service improves the quality of life of the beneficiaries, keeps them in their homes for as long as possible, improves their autonomy in the basic tasks of daily life, stops situations of isolation or loneliness and favours healthy ageing. It promotes a green and sustainable rural economy, as the service is provided with a 100% electric vehicle, and generates an employment opportunity for people with disabilities in rural areas, thus reducing the existing employment gap in this group.