A federation of associations that works to promote climate resilience, biodiversity, and nature access through the collective management of the Valley of CanMasdeu and its resources.
La Casa dels Futurs is a founding member of “La Assemblea de la Vall” (The Assembly of the Valley) a federation of associations that collectively manage – along with park services – the Valley of CanMasdeu on the outskirts of Barcelona.
The Assembly of the Valley is comprised of self-organized community gardens (Huertos CanMasdeu), a regenerative agriculture collective (Regenerades), a self-organized social center (PIC) and Can Masdeu: a squatted collective living project founded in 2001. The Assembly of the Valley is a space of collective organizing and mutual aid that manages the natural resources (water, space, work, etc.) of the valley. Together, the Assembly organizes projects of regenerative agriculture, water conservation, community health, fire prevention, environmental education, nature-access, soil improvements and promotion of bio-diversity. The federation participates in the assembly of the nearby Nou Barris working-class neighborhood.
Popular Cartography of Past, Present and Future
In May 2022, la Casa dels Futurs organized 4 “Popular Cartography Workshops” with participation of more than 150 people to map localized knowledges of the Valley of Can Masdeu from past, present and future. The results of these sessions has been the development of a collective vision of the future, plan of action and “Map of the Valley” (drawn by local artist Sergio Espin). Hundreds of copies of this map have been shared with local residents to build a shared vision of our vision for the collective future for the valley as part of an ongoing advocacy campaign for self-organization and self-determination of the valley.
DEMANDS OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE VALLEY:
The Assembly of the Valley – along with dozens of other entities:
- Recover the abandoned “Big Pond” (“La Balsa Grande”) as a tool to use ancestral architecture to build climate resilience, biodiversity and prevent water shortages, and implement the proposed restoration project co-designe with the Parc de Collserola and Naturalea.
- Convert the abandoned Hospital de Sant Llatzer into La Casa dels Futurs: An International Climate Justice Center and Movement School.
- Improve access to nature for people with functional diversity, and to protect the existing bioconstruccion projects including the accessibility Ramp, permaculture-garden, rehabilitated terraces and recovered paths from legal threats.
- Custody of the Valley: Improve capacity for self-organization to care for agricultural land, promote biodiversity, reintroduce pastoral land-management practices, and prevent forest fires.
- Protect the Road of Sant Llatzer: Maintain the Cami de Sant Llatzer as a forest road without asfalt or artificial illumination (or the minimum necessary for reasons of security).
- Defend the Collserola Park: Protect the agrological integrity of Collserola and promote agroecological projects and encourage agroforestry in the Font Baliarda
The Valley of Can Masdeu
The Valley of Can Masdeu in the Collserola Park is located on the edge of Barcelona. Its accessible location allows it a unique ability to build nature-culture relationships between residents and the ecosystems that sustain them. In the summer of 2021, forest fires burnt sections of the valley – initiating community practices of fire prevention and reforestationn.
Sant Llatzer: The abandoned Hospital of Sant Llatzer, inactive since 1960, is located on a forest road inside the natural park in the Valley of Can Masdeu. Since 2018, there has been a local campaign to turn it over to community management. It is owned by the Molt Il·lustre Administració (MIA), a consortium of the Barcelona City Government, the Catalan State Government, and the Church (Hospital de Sant Pau). The hospital has been identified as an ideal location for La Casa dels Futurs.
We intend for the work of La Assemblea de La Vall to support – and provide leadership in – existing public policy, including the Pla de Clima de la ciutat de Barcelona, el Pla de Clima de la Generalitat de Catalunya, el Pla de Barris (Barcelona), del Pla del Verd i la Biodiversitat, del Pla Especial d’Ordenació i Protecció del Medi Natural del Parc de Collserola (PEPCo), del Pla d’Espais d’ Interes Natural (PEIN), i del Pla Especial de Protecció del Medi Natural i del Paisatge del Parc Natural de la Serra de Collerserola (PEPNat).
