»Representatives from more than 40 city entities participated in the Annual Meeting of the Time Agreement.
»The central activity of the day was a round table of experts on chronology, health, and the configuration of cities, as well as the presentation of good practices in time synchronisation by two Time Agreement member entities.
»The day included the participation of the Councilor for Economic Promotion, Work, Feminisms and Democratic Memory, Raquel Gil Eiroá, and Maria Rengel, Director of Feminisms and LGTBI of the Barcelona City Council.
The journalist Clara Sánchez Castro was the master of ceremonies and facilitator of the third Annual Meeting of the Time Agreement of Barcelona, held on Tuesday, December 3 at 4:30 p.m., in the Plenary Hall of the Sants-Montjuïc District Headquarters.
During the event, more than 40 entities were able to reflect on the concept of chronobiology or how the use of time impacts our individual and collective health with a round table of experts on Chronobiology: how the use of time impacts health and the presentation of good practices in time synchronisation by two member entities of the Time Agreement and the Nust Network – Network of companies for a new working time.
Institutional commitment
The meeting began with a welcome by the Councilor for Economic Promotion, Work, Feminisms and Democratic Memory, Raquel Gil Eiroá, thanking the representatives of the entities for their presence, showing once again the firm commitment of the entities of this city to improving the use of time, as well as the interest that this issue continues to arouse.
“At the City Council, we continue to make a clear commitment to time policies, making an effort to improve and expand the actions already carried out, as well as to detect new opportunities to ensure that the right to time is a tangible reality for all citizens”, said the Councillor.
She also explained how during this mandate the Barcelona City Council aims to strengthen existing initiatives, such as the Time Agreement and the NUST Business Network – Business Network for a New Working Time – and to promote new services. She highlighted, on the one hand, the enlargement of the Equality and Time Organisation Advisory Service, promoted jointly with Barcelona Activa, which is intended to provide companies with the tools and personalised expert support to facilitate the effective application of the measures.
On the other hand, Raquel Gil highlighted that work is being done to ensure that the time dimension is incorporated transversally in all municipal policies, making the council continue to be a pioneering reference in time policies.
According to the councillor, “for us, this annual meeting is especially important because it allows us to meet again and build together a new model of time use in the city.”
Chronobiology, health and city
Next, the round table was held with three experts from various health fields reflecting on the effects of the misalignment of circadian cycles or biological clocks on people and what organizations and public entities can do to mitigate the negative effects.
Thus, Sandra Giménez, a sleep doctor at the Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona, explained that in our country “we do not sleep enough, we tend to go to sleep late and wake up early; we sleep an average of two hours less than in the Nordic countries.” This lack of sleep has negative effects on our health since sleep is essential for tissue regeneration and also for our mental health; “sleeping regulates emotions and helps us reduce the worry and anxiety of the day,” shared the doctor. Thus, according to the doctor, it is necessary that we adapt our schedules in a way that is more aligned with our internal functioning, and we sleep more at night.
Dr. Camille Lassale, ISGlobal researcher and coordinator of the circadian health group, spoke about the relationship between nutrition and circadian rhythms: “Our insulin metabolism is affected by the time we eat; depending on the time, food can have a different impact on our biology.” Dr Lassale gave one of the results of her research as an example: “Eating dinner early, two or three hours before going to bed, and having a good breakfast, maintaining a long night-long fast, helps regulate insulin metabolism, prevent diseases such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease, and maintain an adequate weight.”
Next, Imma Cortés, Head of the Health and Work Service of the Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB), spoke about time and work. On the one hand, the public health expert addressed how excessive working hours and the variability and unpredictability of the workday can have a very negative impact on health. On the other hand, she stressed the impact on health when there is a lack of co-responsibility in domestic and care work: “Women spend between 3 and 5 hours more on care and domestic tasks than men and that is why they have more mental health problems, physical ailments such as back pain and lack of sleep,” explained Cortés. She also gave data on how gender and motherhood affect time poverty: “Women with children are the ones who have the most time poverty. While only 10% of women without children have time poverty, in mothers with more than two children, time poverty is around 70%.”
The round table ended with some proposals for improving the use of time and its impact on health in organisations. Flexible working hours, stable work shifts and healthier eating habits, especially for people who work at night, were some of the proposals put forward and which, according to the experts, should be implemented alongside a policy of education from school on healthy meal times and joint responsibility for household chores and care between men and women, among other.
Synchronising lifetimes
In the second part of the meeting, the results of the Workshop “Synchronizing Time: Equity and Well-being in Time Management” were presented, held on November 13, where the participating entities and companies shared their difficulties related to the synchronisation of personal and collective time, as well as proposed solutions in this regard. The conclusions of the workshop pointed to the need to reconcile specific times for transportation, services and work obligations and to promote public policies that address these problems from a holistic and inclusive approach, guaranteeing more equitable conditions in the distribution and management of time.
At the workshop, good practices in the organisation of work time implemented by member entities of the Time Agreement and the Nust Network were shared: Carles Ger from the company Global Planning Solutions and a member of the Nust Network explained his measures to make the entry and exit times of the staff more flexible, as well as his mixed model of 3 days of teleworking and 2 in person. Carlos Ger recommended, “thinking about people and listening to them; if people feel good, the company will be more productive.”
The other good practice presented was by Andrea Aznar, from the third sector entity Espacio de Inclusión y Formación Casc Antic (Eicascantic), an entity that recently joined the Pact of Time. Andrea Aznar explained some of the time management measures available in her organisation, which include a 30-hour work week, the use of a bank of hours that are accumulated and compensated by free hours, as well as the organisation of internal care sessions to deal with possible discomforts of workers.
Following that, Maria Rengel, director of Feminisms and LGTBI of the Barcelona City Council, said a few words to close the event, thanking the attendees for their active participation in the construction of a city model that is more respectful of time needs. Regarding the theme of the meeting, Rengel said that “as a public institution and as entities committed to the objectives of the Time Agreement, we have an essential role to play in ensuring that our daily lives provide us with the necessary basis for a restful rest and a healthy and balanced life.” As head of the Department of Feminism and LGTBI, she stressed that “the examples shared have highlighted the fact that negative impacts on health disproportionately affect women.”
Finally, the presenter gave the floor to an artistic intervention, which brought the meeting to a close in a playful and at the same time reflective way, by the company Amelie Produccions, and which made the audience reflect through theatre and music on time as the most precious thing we have.
If you were unable to attend the meeting, you can watch the summary video here.