Barcelona Societat 24

Children are the future of the city, but also the present as they are full citizens. They must be protected from situations of vulnerability and exclusion, but they must also be empowered, their capacities must be developed, they must be given a voice, and they must be listened to. In Barcelona, we must continue to develop policies for and with children, ensuring equal opportunities and promoting their physical and emotional well-being.

Barcelona has been a Child-friendly City since 2007, a recognition granted by Unicef for the city’s commitment to childhood policies, and which encourages it to continue working on long-distance programmes that have already demonstrated their favourable impact on the lives of the city’s children, and also to promote innovative projects designed to respond to the new needs that arise in an evolving city like Barcelona, such as the arrival of unaccompanied minor immigrants, for example.

This issue of the journal Barcelona Societat provides an initial diagnosis that focuses on the effects of economic, educational and health inequalities on children. Children who grow up in poor families are much more likely to “inherit” that poverty in adulthood. The poverty and exclusion suffered by today’s children affect the progress of our future society.

In the field of education, Barcelona is working to develop educational planning strategies that prevent school segregation in the city and ensure equal opportunities. The School of Second Opportunities, aimed at young people who are excluded or on the path to exclusion from the educational system, has also recently been started. In addition, there is a commitment to children's free educational time as a positive element in the levelling of social and educational opportunities. Barcelona aims to continuing expanding the educational leisure offer throughout the city, with special attention paid to those neighbourhoods where it is very restricted.

In the field of health, two very relevant experiences in early detection and intervention arise. The first is aimed at early attention to children up to 6 years of age, considering it is a universal right for all of them. The second is aimed at the early detection and intervention of mental health problems among adolescents and young people between the ages of 12 and 22.

This monographic provides elements for debate through theoretical reflection on childhood policies in general and the presentation of some specific policies promoted by the municipal government. Investing in children’s policies contributes to redressing inequalities, improving the well-being of children and, ultimately, society as a whole.

Marga Marí-Klose

Councillor for Children, Youth, Senior Citizens and Functional Diversity

Barcelona City Council

Foreword

Foreword

Authors

Bru Laín and Albert Sales

Summary

Until not long ago, we tended to think older people were the group with the highest rates of poverty and social exclusion and that, by extension, they were the worst affected by the 2008 financial crisis. But the reality is that, for years now, we have seen instead how poverty and social exclusion have become more prevalent and serious among children. This is a trend we share with most of our neighbouring countries, but with some significant differences. On the one hand, this phenomenon could be due to various demographic, work-related and economic changes on a European and global level. But, on the other hand, it also seems to be caused by political changes that are linked to how our social protection models work.

Take stand

Investing in children to prevent inequalities

Author

Olga Cantó

Summary

In recent decades, rich countries have experienced major demographic, employment and socio-economic changes which have led to a persistent increase in child poverty. These high levels of poverty and social exclusion in wealthy, developed societies illustrate deficiencies in the welfare of a large proportion of the population and, in the case of children, offer an early measurement of the scale of what, in thirty years' time, we will call inequality of opportunities.

In depth

Education planning and school segregation in Barcelona

Author

Xavier Bonal

Summary

Residential segregation, a school-access system with considerable freedom to choose an educational centre and a real lack of free programmes have all increased school segregation in Barcelona. Education policies still have the means to reduce it.

In depth

Educational opportunities for children and adolescents: reports for informed debates and public policies based on evidence

Author

Maria Truñó

Summary

The paper evidences existing deficiencies in the information and data available on the reality of educational opportunities in Barcelona city, first in the non-universal, non-compulsory infant stage, second in the range from P3 (pre-school) to 4th of ESO (final year of compulsory secondary education - age 16), third in the post-compulsory stage, and last in education beyond school hours developed doing after school activities, be they sporting, artistic, in scout groups or youth clubs, in socio-educational environments or during the summer holidays. The paper shows how the two reports on educational opportunities compiled by Barcelona City Council at the request of the Barcelona Institute of Childhood and Adolescence (IERMB) have helped to fill this public information gap, thus placing the city in a better position to open debate, share challenges, and deploy more robust and well-informed educational policies.

In depth

Childhoods of inequality and poverty in Barcelona

Author

Xavier Martínez-Celorrio

Summary

The post-crisis in the City of Barcelona is consolidating a high rate of child poverty and has rapidly increased the social polarisation between childhoods, in plural. It is a stratification pattern that is contrary to that of the city as a whole, which saw income inequality fall between 2011 and 2017. Barcelona has a child poverty rate comparable with Madrid and Berlin, with a poverty gap or intensity of poverty similar to the average for Catalonia. This article focuses on severe material deprivation in households with children attended by social services. The capacity for reducing child poverty through social transfers is lower than the figure recorded for 2011. Despite not having the regulatory responsibility for housing prices and the job market, the local authority reduces the extreme poverty rate by 17% through its social emergency subsidies. Applying an active policy to combat child poverty in a pre-distributive way requires a multi-level governance that focuses on children's rights, as well as a range of policies to reactivate the social ladder.

In depth

The health of Barcelona's children and adolescents

Authors

Carles Ariza, Gemma Serral, Esther Sánchez, Katherine Pérez, Olga Juarez and Helena Santamariña

Summary

Most children and adolescents claim they are in good health. But when this is studied using the main inequality axes, differences are observed by both gender and the socio-economic level of the neighbourhood they live in. Monitoring both their lifestyles and the information arising from determining social-health factors provides an opportunity for starting to promote health from the first phases of schooling. Barcelona has a long tradition of health promotion interventions at these stages of life.

Experiences

‘The children have their say’. A city-wide tool to assess and improve the well-being of children, from their perspective and with them taking centre stage

Authors

Mari Corominas, Marta Curran and Laia Pineda

Summary

‘The children have their say: The Subjective Well-Being of Children in Barcelona (2016 - ongoing) is a city wide tool that focuses on the rights of children to be listened to in order to assess and improve the well-being of children, from their perspective and with them taking centre stage. Following ethical research guidelines for working with children, they are treated as key informants or experts on their lives (stage 1: survey of 4,000 boys and girls), researchers that learn (stage 2: joint workshops to analyse the results to prepare improvement proposals) and active city residents (stage 3: creation of dialogue with adults, representatives of the Administration, political parties and social organisations). ‘Speak up’ generates evidence about the room for improvement in the subjective well-being of children, the negative impact of certain living conditions and the significant experiences that generate well-being, in addition to other findings. The knowledge generated, which is unparalleled and both of a quantitative and qualitative nature, is collected in research reports and the ‘Children’s agenda’ (a document containing 11 demands made by children and 115 proposed improvements), is linked to the public agenda and seeks to contribute to improving local policies and enriching the social debate.

Experiences

The Baobab programme: promoting community recreation

Authors

Núria Comas and Marçal Farré

Summary

In 2016, the Barcelona Municipal Institute of Education (IMEB) launched the Baobab programme, an initiative to promote the growth and consolidation of grassroot educational recreation experiences in neighbourhoods where children and youth have few opportunities to take part in this type of recreation. In this paper, we examine the purpose of the programme and its characteristics, in addition to the results of the evaluation of its implementation drafted by the Catalan Institute of Public Policy Evaluation (Ivàlua) in 2017 and 2018 at the request of Foment de Ciutat, and in conjunction with the IMEB. The aim of this report was to describe the task carried out within the framework of the Baobab programme in nine neighbourhoods of the city belonging to the districts of Sant Andreu, Nou Barris, Sant Martí and Sants-Montjuïc between 2016 and 2018.

Experiences

Municipal Second Chance School: a new socio-educational service to combat early school leaving

Authors

Jordi Grau and Laia Herrera

Summary

L’Escola Municipal de Segones Oportunitats (EM20) neix com un nou servei socioeducatiu per combatre l’abandonament escolar prematur i l’atur juvenil d’adolescents i joves que es troben en situació de vulnerabilitat i d’exclusió educativa. El servei té com a objectius capacitar i integrar aquests joves per tal que puguin traçar un projecte de vida propi i retornin al sistema educatiu o tinguin un projecte professional. Aquest nou servei s’emmarca en les polítiques d’equitat educativa promogudes durant el mandat 2015-2019 que tenen per finalitat oferir oportunitats educatives a adolescents i joves de la ciutat. Aquest servei ha estat promogut per l’Institut Municipal d’Educació de Barcelona amb la col·laboració de l’Àrea de Drets Socials. El servei es planteja en fase de prova pilot i es caracteritza per l’abordatge integral i l’atenció individualitzada, i hi destaca l’acció tutorial i la coordinació amb altres dispositius de la ciutat que actuen sobre el conjunt d’adolescents i joves més desafavorits.

Experiences

The city's care of unaccompanied child, adolescent and youth migrants

Authors

Marina Mañas and Núria Menta

Summary

This paper explains the current situation of the unaccompanied minors, adolescents and youth migrants living in Barcelona city, and it describes the main actions and programmes that Barcelona City Council has developed and is still promoting to respond to their basic educational, residential and employment needs. The paper evidences the lack of municipal power in this matter and the serious organisational and multi-level governance problems (state, region, city) that affect the social protection network.

Experiences

“Acollim.coop”: the social and solidary economy in the reception of unaccompanied young migrants

Authors

LabCoop, sccl. and Federació de Cooperatives de Treball de Catalunya

Summary

Cooperativism and SSE can play an important role in the reception of unaccompanied young migrants. The ‘Acollim.coop’ is a cooperativism integral strategy that assumes a set of differential contributions such as to prioritize the needs of young in contrast of the profit, to enable a structuring structure of integral answers from cooperativism and intercooperation, to activate networks of cooperation where they play a leading role by themselves or to put into practice a community-rooted reception.

Experiences

The Barcelona Network for Childhood Development and Early Intervention. Strategic alliance

Authors

Assumpta Soler, Ana Rosa Vidal, Laura Garcia, Laura Trujillo and Sergi Morera

Summary

This paper describes young child care in Barcelona in terms of gender, age, reasons for requesting care and diagnosis, and it introduces the strategic network proposal for quality young child care, a collaborative alliance that provides municipal resources and fosters collaboration, research, training, methodological quality and the exchange of best practices among all the Child Development and Early Intervention Centres (CDIAP) in Barcelona.

Experiences

Mental Health in Adolescents and Young People: the Konsulta’m Project

Authors

Pilar Solanes and Lídia Ametller

Summary

Mental health is a priority by the Barcelona City Council, especially among the young and adolescent population, due to the collected data about the mental well-being of these groups. As a result of the Barcelona’s first Mental Health Plan, the City Council has launched the Konsulta’m programme, aiming for the detection and early intervention in mental health problems in adolescents and young people aged between 12 and 22. Therefore, the programme is there to guide the communities’ professionals of mental health who work with young and adolescent population, and to listen to adolescents and young people who need a specialised, dynamic and immediate response to their suffering by clinic professionals of the mental health public network. This article describes the data in relation with mental health of the city’s young people and shows how this municipal programme has become an appropriate and necessary resource to deal with this social reality.

Experiences

Incorporation of the presumption of inequalities in the promotion of health at school

Authors

Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona (ASPB) - CIBERESP

Summary

CHANGES is a programme for promoting healthy eating and physical activity, personal evaluation and the influence of social media at school. It is targeted at teenage students in their second year of compulsory secondary education (13-14 years old). The Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) provides free materials, as well as training and ongoing advice to teachers who run the programme.
CHANGES was updated and piloted in the 2017-18 school year. The update incorporated an intersectional perspective. Online materials and alternative activities have also been provided to help adapt the programme to Barcelona’s diverse social contexts. During the 2019-20 school year, special education teachers will work with staff from the ASPB and the Municipal Institute for Persons with Disabilities (IMPD) to identify aspects that will enable the programme to be used with teenagers with functional diversity.

Topicality

Aquí t'escoltem (ATE - We listen to you here)

Authors

Pilar Pascual, Alícia Aguilera and Mariona Moratona

Summary

An “Aqui t’escoltem” (ATE - We listen to you here) point is an opportunity to provide adolescents with a space and with the resources to develop their personal and social skills, training and teamwork, making them the protagonists of the processes and activities proposed there. The work undertaken at ATE points is based on recognising that adolescents have their own resources for responding to their concerns or needs. Likewise, it is geared towards helping them improve their self-knowledge and making them aware of their strengths, opportunities and resources. It facilitates a process of support for their personal growth and the development of their own individual and social skills.The ATE points, launched by the Youth Department in 2013, are a municipal service for adolescents aged 12 to 20 located in adolescent or youth centres outside school hours. Together with the Centre for Families with Adolescents, the ATEs make up the Service for Adolescents and Families (SAIF).

Ayuntamiento de BarcelonaÁrea de Derechos SocialesContactaAviso legal Accessibilidad