The call ‘Social Action in the Rural Sphere’ will promote initiatives to tackle the demographic challenge
- Purpose, priorities and areas of action
- Territorial articulation
- The 67 action areas
- Timetable of the new call for proposals
Spain is the country with the most depopulated areas in Europe, according to the European Statistical Office (Eurostat). Paradoxically, it is also one of the five most populated countries in the European Union, along with Germany, France, Italy and Poland.
Two opposing processes are currently coexisting: on the one hand, the high concentration of inhabitants and activity in certain urban areas, and on the other hand, the depopulation of territories, mainly in rural areas, which represents an unprecedented demographic challenge. In this context, the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation presents the new call for proposals ‘Social Action in the Rural Environment’, whose main objective is to tackle the demographic challenge by promoting initiatives against rural depopulation.
The population gap between urban areas and rural territories is today a nationwide challenge. The phenomenon of depopulation is eminently rural and is aggravated when it affects the functionality of these areas. Now, the loss not only affects small municipalities, but also their reference municipalities, such as small towns or county seats. These larger municipalities, located in rural areas and which have historically concentrated services, facilities and economic activity, have also seen their activity, potential and service provision reduced.
Thus, depopulation and the ageing of the rural environment have not only a demographic impact, but also a social, economic and functional one, and have a particular impact on the groups most vulnerable to the vulnerabilities of the rural environment. In recent years, especially as a result of the pandemic, there has been a return of population to many small municipalities, but the movement is still incipient and occasional, and in many cases does not compensate for the dispersion and ageing of their inhabitants.
In this context, the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation presented the new ‘la Caixa’ Foundation call for ‘Social Action in the Rural Sphere: Tackling the demographic challenge to halt rural depopulation’ at an event held at CaixaForum Zaragoza aimed at social organisations.
The aim is to promote social action initiatives in rural areas to tackle the depopulation of rural areas and its effects, the so-called demographic challenge. Promoting equal opportunities, improving the quality of life and social inclusion of people in rural areas is one of the main objectives and for this reason priority will be given to strategies developed in the medium and long term, as well as cooperation dynamics and the creation of synergies in rural areas that put people at the centre.
Purpose, priorities and areas of action
The call aims to contribute to curb depopulation and promote the maintenance and revitalisation of institutional and social ecosystems in rural areas by supporting local initiatives that address the complexity and multidimensionality of these areas. Priority will be given to:
- Actions that consider the empowerment of young people and women who play a fundamental role in the face of this demographic challenge.
- Transformative projects aimed at enhancing the social, economic and cultural value of the territory's resources.
- Initiatives that have digital inclusion as a cross-cutting element.
This call includes, among other initiatives, projects that fall within the following areas: socio-occupational integration and support for entrepreneurship, poverty and social inclusion, support for health and well-being, and community participation and social cohesion.
‘Through the new ‘Social Action in the Rural Environment’ call we want to promote initiatives that advance towards the construction of a fairer, more inclusive, equitable and supportive society in rural areas, understanding the complexity and multidimensionality of these territories’, said the Deputy Director General of the “la Caixa” Foundation, Marc Simón. He added: ‘The current context requires measures that promote social cohesion and collaboration between agents in rural areas, and at the “la Caixa” Foundation we want to support those organisations that contribute to halting depopulation and improving the quality of life and socio-economic conditions of their inhabitants, putting people at the centre, especially women and young people, who play a key role in achieving these objectives’.
The call has an allocation of up to 100,000 euros for each location, reaching a total of up to 6.7 million euros for the country as a whole. This allocation will allow for the development of one project per location over a period of three years (2025-2027).
Territorial articulation
In order to address the complex and varied dimensions of vulnerability in rural areas, it is essential to work in a joint, coordinated and networked way with all the actors in the territory, to complement each other and to build meaningful partnerships that promote a transformative impact and community empowerment.
Finally, the new ‘la Caixa’ Foundation call for proposals establishes as a requirement the participation of a social entity that presents the project with the explicit support of the main municipality. In addition, the support of other municipalities in the area of action to be established or of other local administrations, such as associations of municipalities, county councils, provincial councils, town councils or island councils, will also be valued.
The 67 action areas
The call is aimed at 67 action areas distributed throughout the 17 autonomous communities and organised around a functional municipality where services and economic activities are concentrated. The selection of these action areas, in line with the objectives of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, has been made through a set of quantitative criteria in those areas that suffer depopulation (i.e. have lost population in the last ten years) and have a population density of less than 100 inhabitants/km2. The selected areas are listed below:
Timetable of the new call for proposals
Organisations interested in the new call may present their projects until 15 November at 5 p.m. via the call application: convocatorias.fundacionlacaixa.org. Once the registration period has ended and after an evaluation process, the resolution of the call for Social Action in the Rural Sphere of the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation will be announced in January 2025.
The initiative, which is aligned with the actions promoted by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, and is framed within the Sustainable Development Goals and the United Nations Agenda 2030, mainly supports the promotion of the following objectives: end poverty (1); zero hunger (2); health and well-being (3); quality education (4); gender equality (5); decent work and economic growth (8); reducing inequalities (10); peace, justice and strong institutions (16); and partnership to achieve the goals (17). It also reinforces and complements the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation's own lines of action in the social sphere through the CaixaProinfancia programme, the Incorpora programme, the programme for the Elderly and the programme for the Comprehensive Care of People with Advanced Illnesses.