Barcelona Partner Meeting Brings BeCom’s Circular Economy Learning Portfolio into Practice
From 20 to 24 April 2026, BeCom partners gathered in Barcelona and la Vall de la Riera del Carme for the project’s second workshop dedicated to co-designing a creative initiative on circular economy. The meeting was rooted in the wider BeCom mission: to help communities assess, renovate, and reactivate heritage buildings as sustainable, inclusive, and energy-efficient community spaces through participatory methods and adult learning.
This focus fits naturally with BeCom’s core framework, which combines the New European Bauhaus values of sustainability, aesthetics, and inclusion with the Quintuple Helix Model and an action-centred learning approach. In that sense, the Barcelona programme was not just a series of meetings, but a structured learning journey linking portfolio development with real urban spaces, local innovation actors, and collaborative reflection.
The agenda opened on 20 April with arrivals and an optional visit to Casa Bloc, the iconic 1931 housing complex in Sant Andreu, setting an architectural and social context for the days ahead. On 21 April, partners moved into the core workshop programme with participant introductions, organisational alignment, and a presentation of materials prepared for the circular economy co-design workshop.
One of the highlights of the Barcelona sessions was the visit to Barcelona Circular BAC, presented in the agenda as a laboratory for entrepreneurship and innovation in the circular economy, and described publicly as a hub housed in a former industrial building refurbished according to circular construction principles. The same day also included a visit to BIT Habitat, which promotes urban innovation in response to social, economic, technological, and environmental challenges in Barcelona, followed by a validation session for the final Green Building Portfolio.
On 22 April, the programme expanded beyond the city centre with a visit and workshop in la Vall del Carme, combining a field-based experience with collaborative work in a different territorial setting. This kind of place-based exchange reflects BeCom’s broader commitment to creating learning tools that are practical, transferable, and grounded in local realities rather than abstract theory alone.
The meeting continued on 23 April with a visit to an Ateneu de Fabricació, a public service that promotes digital manufacturing technology and science.
On the final day at Bloc4 in Sants, partners worked on a shared vision responding to a problem identified in Barcelona, drafted conclusions and task assignments for the local case, and closed the meeting with evaluation.
Seen against BeCom’s Circular Economy roadmap, the Barcelona workshops closely matched the project’s larger goals: developing circular skills, supporting co-creation across governance, education, business, civil society, and the natural environment, and producing learning materials that communities can adapt and reuse. The Barcelona partner meeting therefore stands as an important working moment in shaping a Circular Economy Learning Portfolio that is collaborative, grounded, and aligned with the values BeCom is designed to promote.
Inspired to join the movement? Explore the BeCom project and its green building learning portfolio to see how communities are transforming spaces and shaping brighter futures!.
Special thanks to partners FA-Magdeburg, SBH Nordost GmbH, el Risell sccl, Mathemagenesis, and individual collaborators Ralf Sachsenmaier, Liviana Marinescu, Laura Camprubí Georgina Folguera, Vasilis Kratidis, Aleksandar Radulovic Milos Aleksic Gojko Vucinic Ebru B. Andrija Perović for their invaluable contributions. The spirit of collaboration truly embodied our mission of connecting diverse perspectives across Europe.
Stay tuned as we transform the Bauhaus vision into actionable solutions for today’s challenges!
BeComProject NewEuropeanBauhaus ErasmusPlus Sustainability CommunityEducation RegenerativeCommunities Entrepreneurship
