Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing

First plenary meeting of the Council

On May 6, 2015, the first plenary meeting of the Citizen Council for Sustainability was held in the auditorium of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA) since the adoption of the new regulations and the election process of members. The event was chaired by Antoni Vives, Deputy Mayor for Hàbitat Urbà. Representatives of 50 organizations and institutions out of the 62 current members of the Council attended the meeting.

After the welcome message by the President, the Secretary Miquel Reñé announced the organizations and individuals which are part of the Council by designation of political groups from different sectors and districts. He then proceeded to appoint the 10 members of the plenary, representatives of significant institutions of the city, on behalf of the president, as laid down in the current regulations. Composition of hte Board.

Following the agenda, the president, Antoni Vives, appointed the vice-presidency. He announced the decision that, among the people who had been proposed, the elected personal was Lluís Sala, representative of Escuela San Ramón Nonato. Among the reasons, he noted the weight of the schools in the network signing the Public Commitment for Sustainability. He pointed that the vice-president acts as a link between the political world and the world represented by all the members of the Council. He will also be part of the Standing Committee, which has yet to be appointed. The new vice-president, Lluís Sala, addressed a few words of gratitude and expressed his will to bring to the Council all the spontaneity and creativity of young citizens.

Then, the item on the agenda to which they devoted more time was reached. It engaged a dynamic discussion group with input from areas of work and contents that the Council should address. Organization forms, systems and tools to be addressed in the feature were also discussed. The issues prioritized by each group were exposed to the plenary and were collected as a source material to start the activities of the Council.

The secretary Miquel Reñé explained the last formal step that must be taken to establish the Council, which is the creation of a Standing Committee. It is a collegial executive body charged with ensuring the promotion and proper functioning of the Council. As stated in the regulations, the Standing Committee shall be composed by the president or a delegate, the vice-president, the secretariat, nine representatives of the signatories of the Public Commitment for Sustainability, and a representative from each municipal groups in the council. It was reported that from the day of the plenary meeting a consultation process is open to all Council members who wish to join this Standing Committee.

The event ended with the words of the president, Antoni Vives, and the Councillor for Environment and Urban Services, Joan Puigdollers, expressing gratitude and conviction that the Council gets off to a good start.