24 Barcelona Societat Journal on social knowledge and analysis Take stand Investing in children to prevent inequalities In depth Education planning and school segregation in Barcelona Educational opportunities for children and adolescents: reports for informed debates and public policies based on evidence Childhoods of inequality and poverty in Barcelona The health of Barcelona's children and adolescents 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 The Baobab programme: promoting community recreation Municipal Second Chance School: a new socio-educational service to combat early school leaving The city's care of unaccompanied child, adolescent and youth migrants “Acollim.coop”: the social and solidary economy in the reception of unaccompanied young migrants The Barcelona Network for Childhood Development and Early Intervention. Strategic Alliance Mental Health in Adolescents and Young People: the Konsulta’m Project Incorporation of the presumption of inequalities in the promotion of health at school 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Journal on social knowledge and analysis Presentation Foreword Bru Laín and Albert Sales Take stand Investing in children to prevent inequalities. Olga Cantó In depth Education planning and school segregation in Barcelona. Xavier Bonal Educational opportunities for children and adolescents: reports for informed debates and public policies based on evidence. Maria Truñó Childhoods of inequality and poverty in Barcelona. Xavier Martínez-Celorrio The health of Barcelona's children and adolescents. Carles Ariza, Gemma Serral, Esther Sánchez, Katherine Pérez, Olga Juárez and Helena Santamariña 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. Mari Corominas, Marta Curran and Laia Pineda The Baobab programme: promoting community recreation. Núria Comas and Marçal Farré Municipal Second Chance School: a new socio-educational service to combat early school leaving. Jordi Grau and Laia Herrera The city's care of unaccompanied child, adolescent and youth migrants. Marina Mañas and Núria Menta “Acollim.coop”: the social and solidary economy in the reception of unaccompanied young migrants. LabCoop, sccl, and Catalan Federation of Work Cooperatives The Barcelona Network for Childhood Development and Early Intervention. Strategic Alliance. Assumpta Soler, Ana Rosa Vidal and Laura Garcia. Laura Trujillo and Sergi Morera Mental Health in Adolescents and Young People: the Konsulta’m Project. Pilar Solanes and Lídia Ametller Incorporation of the presumption of inequalities in the promotion of health at school. Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) and CIBERESP 2 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Journal on soci al knowledge and analysis Barcelona Societat Journal on social knowledge and analysis Issue 24 - November 2019 Editorial Advisory Board Laura Pérez, Fourth Deputy Mayor for the Area of Social Rights, Global Justice, Feminism and LGBTI Marga Marí-Klose, Councillor for Childhood, Youth and the Elderly Lucía Martín, Councillor for Housing and Renovation Marc Serra, Councillor for Citizen Rights and Immigration Gemma Tarafa, Councillor for Health, Ageing and Care Sonia Fuertes, Commissioner for Social Action María Truñó, Commissioner for Education Research advisor Bru Laín and Albert Sales Drafting and coordination Pep Gómez, Txus Molar, Ramón Pablo and Paola Rodríguez Knowledge and Research Department Editorial Board Eva Alfama, Department of Feminism and LGBTI Affairs Jaume Blasco, Municipal Institute of Education Dolors Cortina, Municipal Data Office Marta Cruells, Six Deputy Mayor Marta Fabà, Municipal Institute of Social Services Pep Gómez, Knowledge and Research Department Bru Laín, University of Barcelona Davide Malmusi, Directorate for Health Services Sergi Morera, Municipal Institute of People with Disabilities Laia Pineda, Institute of Children and Teenagers Maika Rodríguez, Public Health Agency Albert Sales, Barcelona Institute of Regional and Metropolitan Studies Vanessa Valiño, Councillor for Housing Language consulting Linguaserve IS, SA 3 Original design Croma Studio Design Jordi Salvany Photography Istockphoto Some images have been ceded by the authors of the articles Print Vanguard Gràfic, SA Edition Social Observatory of Barcelona Research and knowledge Department Area of Social Rights, Global Justice, Feminism and LGBTI Barcelona City Council Diagonal, 233 - 08013 Barcelona Telephone: 934132669 ISSN: 1133-635 Legal license: B-21.686-1993 © Ayuntamiento de Barcelona Barcelona Societat is issued biannually Data and information are allowed to be reproduced if sources are mentioned. The articles included in this publication are of exclusive responsibility of their authors. 4 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Journal on social knowledge and analysis Presentation Marga Marí-Klose Councillor for Children, Youth, Senior Citizens and Functional Diversity 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 5 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. 6 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Journal on social knowledge and analysis Foreword Bru Laín and Albert Sales 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. The Spanish case has certain unique features, not just because it is one of the countries with the highest child poverty rates in the region (24% compared to an OECD average of 13%), but also due to the underlying causes. In that respect, the Spanish welfare state displays a strong trend towards what some have called dualisation, a characteristic of the country’s labour market and its social protection model. On the one hand, we have a labour market that excludes a large number of social groups (young people, women, single mothers, people aged over 45, migrants, etc.) or condemns them to what has been described as the new insecurity. These are the outsiders. On the other hand, we have a social protection system that, paradoxically, is closely linked to participating in the labour force and which, therefore, tends to overprotect the groups most active in the workplace: the insiders. That way, while the latter enjoy policies and benefits with a greater redistributive impact (mainly of a contributory nature, such as unemployment benefits or retirement pensions linked to participation in the job market), the former are subject to non- contributory policies with less redistributive potential (such as minimum wages and emergency social funding provided by regional and municipal bodies). Part of this more excluded group is made up of children, teenagers and young people in general, who benefit from policies for minors and family allowances, the coverage and intensity of which is usually very low in both Catalonia and Spain. The lack of specific grants or allowances for children and families, the non-existence of free public education for 0 to 3 year-olds, increased poverty and greater economic polarisation in general linked to the high rates of job insecurity in Spain are just some of the factors that explain why children are so badly affected by poverty. 7 We can therefore say that children in poor households are doubly punished. First, because there are not enough really effective public policies designed specifically for children, and second, because their parents tend to coincide with the population we have identified above as having less security and at the same time, due to their exclusion from the job market, less access to the contributory benefits that are more effective when it comes to reducing poverty and inequality. Empirical evidence shows that parents’ level of education is closely linked to the future wealth (or poverty) of their children. However, as pointed out in one of the articles in this issue of Barcelona Societat, we also know that parents’ economic status and the frequency with which they have experienced prolonged periods of poverty are another significant variable. That is why our alarming child poverty rates are a reflection of the current shortcomings of the welfare state and in how the labour market works in Spain, as well as being a very illustrative measure for estimating future poverty and inequality rates. Unfortunately, the poor children of today are very likely to become the poor adults of tomorrow. Given the obvious deficiencies in most policies for children in Spain and the complexities and particularities of our urban reality, municipal social policies currently play a vital role in reducing child poverty rates and everything points to their becoming even more important in years to come. From mental and physical health, via primary, secondary and further education, to policies on incomes and family allowances, here in Barcelona, a great deal of effort and lots of resources are being put into fighting child poverty and, in general, to ensuring a decent quality of life for all the city’s children. Let’s remember: wealth is inherited, but so is poverty. 8 Take stand 9 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Journal on soc ial knowledge and analysis Investing in children to prevent inequalities Olga Cantó1 Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Alcalá 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. Economic and sociological literature is very clear about this and we know perfectly well that minors who grow up in poor families are much more likely than the rest of the population to have a disadvantaged social position when they are adults. Recently, various European studies have concluded that the variables that contribute most to poverty being inherited are the educational level of the parents and the frequency with which they suffered economic problems during adolescence. In the end, growing up in a poor household increases your chances of also being poor as an adult. Furthermore, if this poverty is intense and long-lasting, the family environment deteriorates and the adults dedicate less time and resources to the children, which will inevitably reduce their future social capital. Consequently, the persistent poverty and social exclusion being suffered by the children of today (and the adults of tomorrow) will be one of the key factors determining the progress of our society in coming decades. Of course, the rate of child poverty in a territory and its changes over time are the result of a complex interaction between various economic and demographic factors, together with various elements relating to the characteristics of public intervention. In terms of these characteristics, a key role is played by the policies relating to public education and the design and protective intensity of monetary-transfer policies, both those centred on 1. University of Alcalá (olga.canto@uah.es) a member of the Equalitas network(www.equalitas.es) and coordinator of the WEIPO research group (Well-being, Inequality, Poverty and Public Policy). This text reproduces parts of other texts on the same subject published by the author. The author wishes to gratefully acknowledge the funding received from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Project ECO2016-76506-C4-2-R) for her research activities 10 families and those of a general nature. Without a doubt, the extraordinary increase in unemployment, especially among young people of an age to have children, and the growth of income inequality are the main social consequences of the change of economic cycle we have experienced since the Great Recession. If we add to this the high prevalence of low-paid jobs among younger families and the scale of their mortgage debts due to the increased cost of housing, it isn't difficult to understand why many families, especially those with children, encounter serious difficulties in maintaining a decent standard of living. The main studies on the social consequences of the persistence of unemployment and poverty conclude that the longer they last, the more difficult it is to get out of these situations and that, essentially, this lack of employment, income and economic security is much more harmful when it becomes chronic, i.e. when the people who experience this cannot see light at the end of the tunnel or when relapsing is more the norm than the exception. Where these deficiencies persist from generation to generation, social dynamics show a high correlation between the incomes of the fathers, mothers and children, and a lower degree of social mobility in lower socio-economic levels. In other words, if the lack of economic resources goes from being an unfortunate isolated incident to something that persists over time, it then becomes a manifestation of profound inequality and social injustice. Both the OECD and the European Commission have published reports that analyse the persistence of poverty in rich countries. Although the preliminary results of these studies were moderately optimistic, because they found that in many countries most of the episodes of poverty were short-lived and only a small part of the population was trapped in chronic poverty, it was much less reassuring to know that for most of the people who experienced these short episodes of poverty, there was a high probability of recurrence a short time afterwards. In other words, they managed to get out of trouble, but they soon fell back into it. In these studies, Spain stood out as the country with the highest proportion of the population which had, at some point, experienced a situation of economic need, and also for registering the highest recurrence rate in terms of poverty episodes. In a four-year period, more than four out of ten Spanish people lived on an income below the poverty threshold for at least a year. This is double the European average. Nearly half of them managed to get out of this situation, but it reoccurred a short time later, However, in Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Portugal, this only happened to a third of those affected. Before the crisis, the risk of chronic poverty in Spain was at the European average, above that of Germany and Denmark, but lower than that of Portugal. However, the most recent data shows that the crisis put paid to any chance of people getting out of a poverty situation, while the possibilities of entering one kept on growing. Consequently, from 2008 to 2016, the risk of chronic poverty doubled for Spanish families, as shown by the figures in the latest report on economic and material well-being from the La Caixa Social Observatory2. And what is even more worrying, this increase affects young families much more than the rest, especially if they have dependent children. Regarding social mobility, since the arrival of democracy, Spain has managed to improve its population's average level of education in record time. For decades there was a well- oiled “social ladder”. Recently, this social ladder has also shown signs of wear and tear. In 2. You can download the report at: https://observatoriosociallacaixa.org/documents/22890/135153/iBEM_digital_OCT2018.pdf/74d95da8-4b96- 2450-2f66-fbe4dd25fea7 11 recent years, young people born into families with a low level of education have found it increasingly difficult to pass that threshold, while those that are born into families with a high level of education seem to find it increasingly easy to maintain it. In 2016, Spain was bottom in the European ranking because fewer than six out of ten young people improved on the educational level of their parents, where this was low. In countries like the United Kingdom, Sweden and France, over eight out of ten of them managed to achieve this. However, the inter-generational persistence of high levels of education in Spain continues to increase, and it was already above the European average some years ago. As highlighted by various specialised analyses, the increase in poverty in Spain is linked to the repeated negative rates in income growth that has been borne by the poorer half of our population since the beginning of the recession. The main reason for this drop in income in the most vulnerable households is linked to the profound changes in the structure of salary distribution, as a consequence of the dramatic increase in unemployment and job insecurity. The secondary reason, however, is clearly the result of a lack of public income- protection policies that maintain a minimum level of income when unemployment becomes particularly virulent. The two main characteristics of our system of benefits and taxation are the considerable redistributive weight of contributory pensions and the profound weakness of family benefits. Clearly, the weight of family policies within Spanish social policies as a whole has traditionally been very low and, at the beginning of this century, the resources allocated to them were less than half of what other Eurozone countries were allocating. In any event, it isn't just the amount of expenditure on family policies that is relevant, but also how the system of benefits and tax deductions is organised. Family policies in Spain essentially consist of state and regional tax deductions, minimum incomes in autonomous communities and some per-child monetary benefits with income thresholds. In general, studies that have analysed the economic relevance of the various monetary family policies in our country indicate that the policy with the greatest economic weight is that of income tax deductions for children, and not, as one might think, that of monetary benefits. Given that a large proportion of the households that are below the poverty threshold are exempt from income tax payments, it is consequently no surprise that these deductions are of no help in reducing child poverty. Regarding monetary benefits, our state system is dominated by contributive benefits linked to pregnancy and maternity or paternity and to the care of children between the ages of 0 and 3, together with a non-contributive benefit per dependent minor which, rather than being aimed at reducing child poverty rates, is used to cover the needs of families that have children with disabilities. In general, and in comparison with other European countries, the differential characteristic of the Spanish system of benefits and taxes is the limited scope of the redistributive effects of each and every policy it contains (with the exception of contributive pensions) and, in particular, family policies. Why do family policies have such a limited redistributive effect in our country? Fundamentally, because of the little economic weight that they have on a family's gross income, and not so much because they are not well-directed. In the end, it is not that the benefit per dependent child is insufficiently progressive and therefore often fails to reach those that most need it, but rather that the amount is so small that receiving it does not significantly change the family's purchasing power. In contrast to what happens in Spain, one of the most widespread family policies in most European countries is a universal per-child benefit, funded by general taxes or social contributions. This policy, with a lesser or greater degree of economic generosity, is 12 currently in force in 19 of the 28 EU countries and, as you would expect, it is precisely the countries where it is not in force that register the highest levels of child poverty in the continent. In this context, it would not be surprising if many young families started to lose hope that the welfare state was of any use at all. The Spanish population's pessimism about the future of coming generations, revealed in some surveys, could be a reflection of the fact that the entrenchment of poverty in young families and the demise of the social ladder are perceived as factors that will contribute to increasing these risks in the future. If we want the younger generations to believe that the welfare state is of some use, we must break this inertia. The most urgent thing is to begin moving towards a type of welfare state that has strong social-protection networks for younger families, which should be more focused on their income needs rather than the employment history of their members. These reforms must be tackled sensibly, without fracturing the system's contributive elements, such as pensions and unemployment benefits, which are still vital for reducing the risk of poverty. Furthermore, we need to include wide-ranging equality criteria in the education system, which, in the mid-term, can achieve a greater degree of equal opportunities from the bottom up, investing more and better in public education and promoting inclusion as opposed to educational segregation based on social origins. 13 En pIrno dfuenpdthid ad 14 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Keywords: school segregation, schooling, inequalities Journal on social knowledge and analysis Education planning and school segregation in Barcelona Xavier Bonal Globalisation, Education and Social Policies (GESP), Autonomous University of Barcelona. 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. Public policy and school segregation School segregation is a problem found in many large and medium-sized cities around the world. Separation between various social groups in vulnerable situations during their schooling (owing to their low-income, immigrant or special-needs status, and so on) occurs in several forms and degrees. Such segregation is largely the result of a growing urban fragmentation (Musterd et al., 2017; Tammaru et al., 2015). The distribution of economic growth associated with the process of economic and technological globalisation has been visibly unequal in cities, while lower-income social groups have been hit significantly harder during periods of crisis. The difficulties governments face or their inability to correct these trends have been evident even in the most developed welfare states (Atkinson, 2015). Barcelona is no exception here. The urban polarisation and fragmentation process has led to increased urban segregation according to income level in the city (Nel·lo and Blanco, 2015; Bonal et al., 2019). At the same time, the arrival of over 300,000 immigrants within a decade (Galeano and Bayona, 2015: 119) changed the social and ethnic composition of the city’s ten districts and its metropolitan area. Between 2000 and 2016 the foreign- national population rose from 46,0913 to 284,907 residents4, a 518% increase taking it to 16.6% of the total. This population is mainly from Asia (25.2%), South America (21.7%), southern Europe (12.6%) and North Africa (5.6%) (Barcelona City Council, 2016). 3. Data from the Catalan Institute of Statistics (IDESCAT).http://www.idescat.cat/poblacioestrangera/?b=0&geo=mun:080193&nac=d208 4. Statistical reports. Barcelona, City Council. Municipal Population Register on 1 January 2017. https://www.bcn.cat/estadistica/catala/dades/anuari/cap02/C020107.htm 15 Immigrant groups in particular have been hit by the crisis, with rising unemployment, material deprivation and reduced housing access (Alonso et al., 2015). But school-segregation processes are affected by other phenomena as well. In recent years, Barcelona’s education system has been affected by such issues as rising demand for state schooling at the expense of state-assisted schooling, changes in school-choice strategies in a context of economic crisis, the transfer of demographic pressure from pre- school and primary-school to secondary-school levels, changes in the structure and composition of education provision, changes in school zoning and new educational expectations resulting from important regulatory changes such as the Catalan Education Act (LEC) and, above all, the Framework Act for Improving Education Quality (LOMCE). Such processes are inevitably altering the social and geographic opportunities available to all the city’s children. The distribution of education provision, the balances between state and state-assisted schools and the social composition of schools and their education projects cannot be understood merely in statistical terms. They change in line with changes in the geographic mobility of the population, social composition of the neighbourhoods, dynamics of the education market and family priorities in choosing a school. Education planning in this changing context is key to ensuring effectiveness, efficiency and fairness in access to and throughout schooling. Decisions relating to the make-up of education provision (number of schools, number of lines), its nature (state or state- assisted) and on a series of mechanisms in the hands of the public authorities for correcting and consolidating education planning strategies, are key to ensuring equal educational opportunities in the city and regularly supervising compliance. Education policy measures here face a series of external determining factors as well as the specific and sometimes conflicting expectations, goals and interests of the various groups that make up the education community. Opening or closing schools or groups, taking decisions on reserving places or changing enrolment between primary and secondary school are examples of invariably controversial decisions that often lead to conflicting responses depending on the interests of the groups concerned. In this context the education authority faces the difficult task of finding a balance between educational fairness (and meeting the schooling needs of the most vulnerable groups) and the system's governance (Bonal, 2012). School segregation of foreign-national students in Barcelona did not increase noticeably between 2006 and 2016, although it has remained at significantly high levels throughout the city, with dissimilarity indexes of nearly 50% in some districts5 (Ombudsman, 2016). Meeting the challenge of reducing it requires, first of all, having as accurate a diagnosis as possible of the situation that the various groups in different parts of the city face with regard to school segregation. The diversity of the neighbourhoods, the differing distribution of education provision and other causes may explain the special features of segregation in the city’s various education areas and the various reasons for it. Such knowledge is crucial if we wish to apply effective policy strategies to the various areas. A report entitled "Territorial Equivalence in Education Planning in Barcelona: diagnosis and proposals", commissioned by the Barcelona Education Consortium (CEB) and co-authored with Adrián Zancajo, provides a detailed analysis of several aspects of territorial educational inequality in the city. It identifies the most important aspects which show there is an unequal 5. A dissimilarity index of 0.5 or 50% of foreign-national students means that 50% of such students would have to change school for a perfectly balanced distribution to be achieved. 16 structure of educational opportunities in the different parts of the city and which are intended to serve as a basis for coordinating specific policies for reducing that inequality. A snapshot of territorial educational inequalities in Barcelona We can get an initial idea of the territorial imbalance of education provision by observing the distribution of school places. As Figure 1 confirms, the provision of P3 places for resident children is far from balanced. This imbalance manifests itself as surplus provision in the city’s higher-income areas, which are also notable for offering an extensive range of state-assisted school places. In Area 14 alone (Font d’en Fargues), the surplus is due to a surplus of public sector places. It is also necessary to highlight the insufficient number of places in some of the city’s education areas, such as EA15: El Carmel - La Teixonera, with only 32% of state-school places covered, or EA17: Porta - El Turó de la Peira - Vilapicina i la Torre Llobeta - Can Peguera, with only 25%. The "negative side" of the place provision map can be seen by observing the education level distribution in the city Low education levels are concentrated on the city's outskirts, especially in La Marina del Prat Vermell - Marina de Port (EA5), Ciutat Vella (EA1), Torre Baró - Vallbona - Ciutat Meridiana (EA20), Trinitat Vella (EA21) and El Besòs i el Maresme (EA27). Except for Ciutat Vella, they are all areas with a lack of places. By contrast, the surplus is concentrated in the most well-to-do part of the city, in particular in the districts of Les Corts and Sarrià - Sant Gervasi. 17 This imbalance in places partially explains the significant level of educational mobility in the city. Journeys between areas for schooling are high compared to other cities. The percentage of students going to school in the area where they live is often below 70%. In fact, there are only three education areas where it is above 80%. Retention is high in EA20 (Torre Baró - Vallbona - Ciutat Meridiana), owing to its geographic isolation, as well as in EA23 (Sant Andreu) and EA26 (El Parc i la Llacuna, La Vila Olímpica and Diagonal Mar i el Front Marítim del Poblenou) areas, noted for their attractive state-school provision. At the other extreme, there are some areas that have particularly high exclusion levels. Such is the case with EA15 (El Carmel), which only retains 36% of its resident students and EA28 (Provençals-Poblenou), which retains 41%. The insufficient number of places is made worse in these cases by a demand that tends to avoid schooling in the area given its access to attractive provision in neighbouring education areas. A clear example of this is in the El Carmel - La Teixonera area, close to EA14 (Font d’en Fargues), which has a big surplus of state-school places. Education area retentions also according to the type of the students and ownership of the destination school. Graph 1 and 2 reflect these differences. It can be seen that, with few exceptions, local schooling is considerably higher among foreign-national students than it is among autochthonous students. Local schooling is likewise more frequent where the destination school is a state one rather than a state- assisted one. With some exceptions, state-assisted schools attract more students from outside the area and are therefore a factor that accentuates mobility. 18 These differences in schooling guidelines caused by an unequal distribution of school provision and by school-choice strategies distinguished according to territory are consolidating levels of school segregation in the city that are appreciably above what would have been expected had we only taken residential segregation into account. Graph 3 shows the relationship between the school segregation of foreign-national students in the second cycle (3-6) of infant education and primary-school education and the segregation associated with a hypothetical schooling of students at the closest school to their home. It can be seen that school segregation is noticeably higher than residential segregation in 28 of the 29 education areas. Only the above-mentioned EA14 presents a lower level of school segregation than residential, largely due to the surplus of school places and the attraction capacity of nearby areas with higher concentrations of foreign- national students. It should be noted that, with the exception of EA22 (Baró de Viver - El Bon Pastor), the residential segregation of foreign-national students is very low (with indexes of less than 0.3). In general terms, therefore, local schooling would notably reduce the school segregation of foreign-national students. These simulations present the same behaviour when the variable observed are students receiving school meals subsidies or emergency social funds. 19 Differences in schooling costs Notable social inequalities in the city are not just mirrored in the schooling process but also often accentuated owing to the structure of school place provision and the behaviour patterns of educational demand. One of the features that certainly tends to aggravate the differences are schooling costs. Despite the existence of a regulatory framework that ensures free education supported by public funds it is well known that schools are not free. In fact, Spain is one of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries with the highest private expenditure on education. This is an aspect that not only affects state-assisted schools, which traditionally ask families to pay for certain activities, but increasingly diverse state schools too. The study on educational inequalities in Barcelona included a comparison of schooling costs between several areas, based on data obtained from the CEB through a survey sent to all of Barcelona’s schools. Although the questionnaire was not answered by all the schools (there was less representation from state-assisted schools), the data enable us to observe several very pronounced territorial differences, both in average costs and especially in the dispersion of costs within the same areas. The information on costs was gathered under four distinct categories: annual fees, summer camps, school meals and AMPA (parent-teacher associations). In the case of state-assisted schools, contributions to foundations were added, a key funding mechanism, especially for the private religious sector. The dispersion in school accounting practices probably explains, in some cases, the differences of some entries between schools, though from an aggregate point of view, significant differences can be observed in average cost levels. Table 1 presents the data of private schooling costs by district for each of these entries, including the state and private sectors. It presents the average costs of each entry among the district’s schools, as well as typical deviation (t.d.) as an expression of internal inequality within each district. Territorial differences are very pronounced and closely 20 associated with the income level of each city district which, moreover, are the districts with a higher presence of state-assisted schools. They can be seen in particular in the annual fees and the contributions to the foundations (but note the lack of information available on the state-assisted sector). It is likewise clear that there are also internal differences in the districts with the highest schooling costs. The dispersion of costs in all the entries is especially high in the districts of Les Corts and Sarrià - Sant Gervasi and is much lower in Nou Barris and Sant Martí. On the other hand, it is interesting and surprising that despite presenting very high average school costs, the Eixample district shows low dispersion levels. Aggregately observed differences are also shown when we only analyse the differences within the state schools by area. Figure 3 displays the territorial dispersion of annual fees in state-run infant and primary schools. Although the differences are less pronounced than those aggregately observed for both sectors, the hierarchy per district can be confirmed in the differences per area where only the public sector’s costs are analysed. The EAs of districts 4 and 5 have high costs, appreciably higher than the average of all EAs (€190). EA14 (Font d’en Fargues), with a high density of schools, also has a high average of schooling costs, as well as a very high internal dispersion. At the other extreme, the annual fees in the more socially underprivileged EAs are below the city average. Such is the case with Ciutat Vella, the EAs of Nou Barris and the EAs of Sants-Montjuïc. The map also reflects the contrasts in costs between the same district's areas. So, EA26 (El Parc i la Llacuna, La Vila Olímpica, Diagonal Mar i el Front Marítim del Poblenou) presents appreciably higher costs than the other areas in Sant Martí and Baró de Viver - el Bon Pastor has much lower costs compared to the other areas in Sant Andreu. Spatial inequalities in the city can also be seen in AMPA fees (not reflected in the map). This an especially interesting indicator as it acts as a proxy for the volume of complementary activities that the AMPAs mobilise (educational excursions, extra school hours funded by AMPA, hiring of specialists for pre-school levels). Given a context where acquiring personal and professional skills goes well beyond school curricula, it is clear that this constitutes one of the main sources of educational inequality. 21 The fight against school segregation in Barcelona: priorities and proposals The results of the Territorial Equivalence and Educational Inequalities in Barcelona study provide a complete diagnosis of territorial inequalities in the city. These inequalities are caused by different factors in the various areas. Reducing them requires general measures for improving a balanced schooling in all schools and specific measures aimed at specific areas for the purposes of redressing the various factors of inequality. The CEB has recently launched its Shock Plan against Segregation and for Equal Opportunities in Education in the city. This involves, for the first time, launching an ambitious programme with the aim of achieving balanced schooling in the city, detecting the learning needs of vulnerable children, prioritising and focusing resources for equal opportunities, advancing towards education-quality equivalence in all schools by promoting innovation and improving family-information and assistance policies. It is worth highlighting what better coordination with the city’s social services means for detecting children with educational-support needs, the reservation of places in proportion to each area’s needs (that is, advance application of Article 48 of the LEC) at primary P3 and first-year compulsory secondary education (ESO) levels, the distribution of dynamic enrolment irrespective of existing school vacancies, the possible closing of lines or groups owing to surplus provision or to reverse existing school segregation or the increase or decrease of ratios according to schooling needs and regardless of the vacancies that are available at each school. The Plan also guarantees free school meals and exemption from voluntary fee payments for the most vulnerable school children, as well as extracurricular sports activities and summer activities (summer-holiday camps, day centres, etc.) The Consortium likewise provides for the Team Advice and Counseling Psychology (EAP) advice and guidance teams to implement plans for individual monitoring of the most vulnerable 22 students, as well as promoting school social committees, area reference units and focusing curricular diversification programmes on the most vulnerable students. It also provides for the extension of information meetings to families in the various areas, the support in particular for the most vulnerable families during the schooling process and the consolidation of schooling offices in the city districts with a higher vulnerability index. The Shock Plan’s measures are certainly ambitious and can have a positive impact in terms of reversing school segregation in the city over the coming years. Assessing its impact will enable its effectiveness in that time to be determined. The Shock Plan therefore corresponds to the measures that can generally reduce territorial inequalities in the city. At the same time account will have to be taken of some specific territorial inequalities in the city requiring focused responses in certain areas or city districts. To sum up, we shall identify several complementary measures that would help to redress the current territorial inequalities in certain areas6.  Situations of insufficient numbers of state-school places are evident in certain areas in the city, especially in El Carmel and Nou Barris. We need to expand the number of places available in some areas by opening up new groups or creating new schools.  By contrast, there are parts of the city with a large surplus of places, especially in the education areas of Sarrià - Sant Gervasi and Font d’en Fargues. The surplus provision in these areas ought to be corrected by paying special attention to the situation in schools with a long-term surplus of places. Likewise, a review of groups agreed prior to the pre- enrolment process at schools with low structural demand would need to be carried out.  Many of the city’s state-assisted school places do little to redress the inequalities. This ought to become a decisive criterion both for the opening of new groups and for granting or renewing state assistance.  In general, the low retention capacity of education areas reduces local schooling (which, as we have already seen, considerably reduces school segregation). We should revise the current zoning model which enables a large capacity for school choice and likewise allows consideration as local schools those that are a considerable distance from the place of residence and even outside the school area.  The measures included in the current shock plan for ensuring balanced schooling have considerable potential. We should also consider the possibility of redistributing NESE (specific educational support needs) students between state and state-assisted schools even after the enrolment process has been completed, along the line followed by other Catalan municipalities.  Finally, we need to consider specific intervention plans in especially vulnerable areas from an educational point of view. Redressing inequalities also requires adopting priority- action measures in areas in a worse situation (especially in the Nou Barris district) and planning initiatives not just aimed at correcting inequalities in access but also in schooling conditions and in education results. 6. A summary of the measures proposed for the various education areas can be consulted in the report Territorial Equivalence in Education Planning in Barcelona. 23 Bibliography STATISTICAL REPORTS: THE FOREIGN PEOPLE IN BARCELONA". Barcelona City Council, 2016.http://www.bcn.cat/estadistica/catala/dades/inf/pobest/pobest16/pobest16.pdf. ALONSO, X.; PAJARES M. AND RECOLONS, L. Inmigración y crisis en España. Barcelona: MigracStudium Foundation, 2015. ATKINSON, A. Inequality. What Can Be Done? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015. BONAL, X. "Education policy and school segregation in Catalonia: the politics of non- decision making". Journal of Education Policy, nº. 27(3) (2012), pp. 401-421. BONAL, X.; ZANCAJO, A. AND SCANDURRA, R. Residential segregation and school segregation of foreign students in Barcelona. Urban Studies, doi: 10.1177/0042098019863662. 2019. BONAL, X. I ZANCAJO, A. Equivalència territorial en la planificació educativa a Barcelona. Diagnòstic i propostes. Barcelona Education Consortium, 2019. https://www.edubcn.cat/rcs_gene/extra/01_documents_de_referencia/Equivalencia_BCN_ final_v2_20190320.pdf. GALEANO, J. AND BAYONA, J. "Segregación territorial y transformación del espacio residencial al inicio del siglo XXI: el caso del Área Metropolitana de Barcelona". A: de la Riva, J., Ibarra, P., Montorio, R. and Rodrigues, M. (eds.) Análisis espacial y representación geográfica: innovación y aplicación (pp. 119-128). Zaragoza: University of Zaragoza-AGE, 2015. MUSTERD, S.; MARCIŃCZAK, S.; VAN HAM, M. AND TAMMARU, T. "Socioeconomic segregation in European capital cities. Increasing separation between poor and rich". Urban Geography, nº. 38(7) (2017), pp. 1062-1083. NEL·LO, O. AND BLANCO, I. La segregació urbana a la regió metropolitana de Barcelona. Pla estratègic metropolità de Barcelona. https://pemb.cat/public/docs/41lc12.pdf. OMBUDSMAN. La segregació escolar a Catalunya (I): la gestió del procés d’admissió d’alumnat. Barcelona: The Ombudsman of Catalonia, 2016. TAMMARU, T.; MARCINCZAK, S.; VAN HAM, M. AND MUSTERD, S. Socio-Economic Segregation in European Capital Cities: East meets West. London: Routledge, 2015. 24 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Keywords: equity, educational opportunities, educational challenges, Journal on soc ial knowledge and analysis inequalities Educational opportunities for children and adolescents: reports for informed debates and public policies based on evidence Maria Truñó7 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. Until recently, Barcelona had no tools at its disposal to provide periodic overviews of the educational situation in the city that were useful to systematise and rigorously analyse available data, monitor it, and identify challenges and important experiences. The health service, however, has a long and robust tradition of producing reports about the health situation in the city. Every year since 1983, the Barcelona Public Health Agency drafts and publishes the report ’Health in Barcelona’, which describes the state of affairs and monitors the main health indicators in the city within the framework of socio-economic and physical determinants. Faced with this gap, in 2016 Barcelona City Council's Area of Social Rights appointed the Barcelona Institute of Childhood and Adolescence (IIAB- IERMB), a public body committed to knowledge to improve policies that affect childhood, as responsible for this area. As director of the ILAB, I oversaw the first ‘Educational Opportunities in Barcelona’ report in 2016, compiled by a research team made up of Elena Sintes, Sheila Gonzàlez and Albert Sánchez-Gelabert, and the second report ‘Educational opportunities for children and 7. Barcelona City Council’s Commissioner for Education(since August 2019) and director of the Barcelona Institute of Childhood and Adolescence (from October 2015 to July 2019) 25 adolescents in Barcelona 2018-2019’ with Alba Castejón and Adrián Zancajo8. An advisory committee made up of experts in the area of research that ensures quality in its approach and analyses also took part. We are, therefore, in the initial phase of producing a series of reports that we hope will have a long-term trajectory and become consolidated like the ones in the area of health. The data and analyses contained in the two reports on educational opportunities in Barcelona must serve to provide an overview of education for children and adolescents (0- 17 years) based on indicators, and to identify and outline the main challenges for educational policies in Barcelona city. Moreover, beyond generating information, these reports must be useful to make changes and improvements and, therefore, they should enrich informed debate and enable public policy decisions directed at the main objective of educational equity to be made based on evidence. Education is not just another public policy issue. It is a fundamental policy area in a society that needs capacities of all types to solve problems and improve people's lives. Its potential to pre-distribute and improve equity and social cohesion is unquestionable, which is why this is the focal point of interest. At the same time, education has a huge effect on the well-being and lives of children and adolescents, since they all spend a lot of time in nursery school, primary school and secondary school at a key life stage, and it is where they have some very important life experiences that also condition their life paths. To this effect, education should not only be of interest to those who have children and grandchildren, but it should be a central political theme for all city residents, given its innate capacity to emancipate and transform society. Beyond the purpose of analysing the state of affairs regarding educational opportunities for children and adolescents in Barcelona city with a special focus on educational equity, four other important features of these reports must be highlighted: first, they cover educational opportunities in a broad sense, from young infancy through the universal, compulsory stage from P3 (pre-school) to 4th ESO (final year of compulsory secondary education - age 16), and on to post-compulsory secondary education and educational opportunities out of school hours. Second, they analyse the situation both on a city level and broken down into the ten districts to capture territorial disparities and similarities. Third, they provide both a static picture of the main indicators and their evolution over time. And last, these reports combine the analysis of the latest consolidated statistical data (with limitations linked to scarcity and the desire to work together to improve knowledge management) with a qualitative analysis of important experiences that focus on meeting the identified challenges. 1. Main challenges for the city’s educational policies 1.1 Early infancy: to reinforce and diversify the offer of state schooling and young infant care, and to mobilise the least represented social profiles We have enough evidence to know that the first cycle of infant education should be recognised as a strategic educational stage, and as such the state must increase its offer to achieve the objective of universal and diverse schooling for this age group, taking into account the different levels of public administration. However, the reality in Barcelona is far off this target: 44.3% of infants between aged from 0 and 2 years are schooled in municipal 8. The 2016-2017 report can be downloaded using the following link: http://institutinfancia.cat/mediateca/informe-oportunitats-educatives-barcelona-2016/. and the 2018-2019 report can be downloaded at this link: http://institutinfancia.cat/mediateca/informe-oportunitats-educatives- de-la-infancia-i-ladolescencia-a-barcelona-2018-2019/. 26 nursery schools (EBM) or private kindergartens, and this index evidences a growing trend in Barcelona, which is higher than the average for Catalonia (38.2%). Moreover, large territorial disparities persist and in the lowest income districts, this age group is schooled significantly less than the percentage given above: in Les Corts and Sarrià - Sant Gervasi the schooling index for 0-2-year-olds is double that of Ciutat Vella. Regarding this inequality, if we look specifically at the public offer in the EBM network, we see that this caters for just 20% of infants under 3 years old in the city (while private kindergartens cater for 24%). In this scenario, as a scarce (it only absorbs 54% of demand), costly (and pending co-funding from the Government of Catalonia) and very socially valuable public service, its key role in reducing educational inequalities (beyond being conceived as a tool for achieving a work-life balance) must be reinforced. To this effect, it is important to take into account the increasing public offer within the EBM network in districts where socio-economic needs are greatest and schooling indexes lowest, and to effectively manage the mix of social profiles in the centres. One of the main challenges, then, is to reach out to the social groups that are traditionally absent in the first cycle of infant education, because it is precisely in these social sectors where its positive impacts on children’s educational pathways and, therefore, on social cohesion is most evident. Hence, the introduction of social fees in EBMs (since the 2017- 2018 school year), as an economic accessibility measure, aimed to reduce the financial obstacles to accessing this educational service posed by fixed public prices as a way to 27 increase the schooling indexes of infants from the most disadvantaged and least present families. To this effect, an illustrative piece of data is that infants of foreign origin in the city are schooled 3.5 times less in the 0-2 stage than native infants. 1.2 From P3 to 4th ESO: increased offer and demand in state schools and school segregation Almost 180,000 children and adolescents aged between 3 and 16 years in the city are schooled in these universal, compulsory educational stages. The latest data confirm the change in trend in the last years, with a sustained increase in both the demand for public places for year P3 and in enrolments at all levels of the state school system. A surplus in the offer of publicly funded private places for year P3 is also identified, since for every five places one is not filled. Nonetheless, the structural weight of the publicly funded private sector is still much greater in the city compared with Catalonia as a whole: the number of pupils enrolled in state schools in the three educational stages is below the 47% for Barcelona and above the 63% for Catalonia. One of the main educational challenges for the city is to at least equalise the situations in Barcelona and Catalonia, reversing the historical deficit of state schools in the universal, compulsory stages. The data analysed also confirm the unequal distribution of more socially complex and, therefore, more educationally complex pupils: Barcelona’s state schools cater for twice as many children with special education needs (NESE), three times more children of foreign 28 origin and four times more pupils with food subsidies than the publicly funded private schools. Since the school year 2019-2020, we have had a tool to reverse this extremely unequal situation among publicly funded schools in the city: the Plan against segregation, and in favour of equal opportunities and educational success. This pioneering plan, promoted by Barcelona City Council within the framework of the Barcelona Education Consortium, is an attempt to start to address this structural problem in the education system in Barcelona in line with the Pact against School Segregation promoted by the Ombudsman’s Office. The plan must be fully developed and evaluated to ensure that it is advancing towards achieving the objective of a more balanced and local neighbourhood schooling based on shared responsibility among publicly funded schools to cater for pupils with specific educational needs. Regarding the graduation index in 4th ESO, there has been an upward trend in Barcelona to the current 91%, four points above the average for Catalonia (86.7%). Regarding basic skill acquisition, disparity between districts has reduced by 25% based on improved results in Ciutat Vella (in two school years, the percentage dropped from 35.5% to 29%), while in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi the percentage remains the same at 5%. While the consolidation and scope of these indicators must be corroborated in the coming years, they look hopeful in terms of one of the city's key challenges as stated in the Strategy for Social Inclusion and Reducing Inequalities in Barcelona 2017-2027: closing the territorial disparity gap in pupils’ educational success. Despite the positive trend in these data, excessive contrasts remain: the percentage of pupils who do not acquire the required level of basic skills when they finish ESO in Ciutat Vella is still six times higher than in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi. A huge effort is therefore required on a territorial scale, among others, to reduce these inequalities in school results based on prioritising resources according to the profile of the pupils that attend each school, in addition to addressing the previously mentioned school segregation. 1.3 Post-compulsory secondary education: drop-out and educational pathways In the post-compulsory stage in Barcelona, baccalaureate is still the option chosen by six out of every 10 pupils, while only four out of every 10 choose intermediate level vocational training (CFGM). However, the sustained growth in the number of pupils enrolled on CFGM is notable, with the current percentage 43% higher than in 2006-2007. The increased offer of state schools must also be highlighted: in the 2019-2020 school year, there is just one district without a vocational training school (Sarrià-Sant Gervasi). Despite these improvements, the number of state schools and places for the post-compulsory stage needs to increase, especially in CFGM. Again, a differential feature of post-compulsory secondary education in Barcelona compared with Catalonia is the enormous weight of the private sector: enrolment in state schools in Barcelona is 30 points below that of Catalonia. Regarding baccalaureate, state school enrolment is higher than private school enrolment in just three districts: Sant Martí, Nou Barris and Sants-Montjuïc. 29 Preventing drop-out using education-oriented tools and a more accessible offer is a challenge not only in Barcelona but in all of Europe, since this is line with European Strategy challenge 2020 Resources for new opportunities for those (especially boys) who drop out of the education system must continue to be provided to bring these pupils back into education, such as the municipal socio-educational service being piloted in the city, known as the Second Opportunities School and opened in 2019. Inequalities and exclusions persist in the education system, which is why the organisational structure, tools and supports to lengthen educational pathways must be improved, promoting more participation among girls in CFGM and achieving a greater presence of pupils of foreign origin in post-compulsory education in general. 2. Educational opportunities beyond school hours: diversity of stakeholders, disparity and the lack of a structured offer, and inequalities in access depending on social profiles This is undoubtedly the area where it is most difficult to make an accurate diagnosis, evidenced by the long way still to go in recognising educational opportunities and learning environments beyond school as a fundamental aspect of educational and recreational rights. The data available up to now clearly indicate that the offer of educational activities outside school is very disperse depending on the area: less than 10% of school children take part in recreational education during the school year, 54% in summer activities and 70% in weekly recreational sporting activities. Regarding grants to access these activities, we know that 8.4% of children and adolescents receive grants to do sport outside school hours and that the number of these grants multiplied by four between 2014 and 2017. The number of children taking part in summer campaign recreational activities has doubled, and municipal grants to access them has tripled since 2013. Furthermore, 30% of participants in a third of the 131 scout groups and youth clubs in the city receive grants. 30 Despite all the resources invested in recent years, improving equality of access to the diverse range of activities and learning environments outside school time continues to be one of the most important challenges, involving not only economic factors, but also territorial deficits in the offer available and the socio-cultural barriers that keep these highly valuable educational opportunities out of the reach of certain profiles of children and young people. Two important initiatives analysed in the last report are rising to these challenges: the Baobab recreational education programme, aimed at activating scout groups and youth clubs in neighbourhoods where previously there were none (around twenty in the city), and the Full Time Institutes, which facilitate access to lunchtime and after-school activities for ESO pupils in more socially complex contexts. Last, there is still much room for improvement to consolidate the essential task of collecting and analysing enough quantitative, qualitative and territorial data to be useful for better understanding the specific problems inherent in the diverse and unequal educational realities in the city to be able to direct public policies so that they have positive impacts. And what is as important, if not more, is collectively recognising and placing at the centre of city policies what research has already evidenced: that improving quality in education systems can only be achieved through reducing levels of inequality. Educational opportunities: more, better and better distributed. 31 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Keywords: child poverty, material deprivation, urban inequality, social Journal on soci al knowledge and analysis policy Childhoods of inequality and poverty in Barcelona Xavier Martínez-Celorrio Member of Creativity, Innovation and Urban Transformation (CRIT) research group, University of Barcelona 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. Introduction Children's living conditions are a direct indicator of how a society is, or is not, achieving equal opportunities and social justice. In other words, it shows us to what degree a good start for all children and adolescents is guaranteed, to what degree it stimulates their potential while also neutralising the inequality-generating effects of their social origins and their income. Child poverty is the main obstacle to this objective and it is the result of how socio-economic inequality affects the most sensitive stage of people's lives. In childhood there are more social risks, which have subsequent after-effects and consequences in youth transitions and in adult life, in terms of health, level of education, employment and income. Big cities suffer even more from the consequences of child poverty, given that their own income stratification is being polarised by the flows of neo-liberal globalisation. The arrival of high-income professionals as well as poor immigrants and refugees adds to an ever more complex and segregated social inequality, while cities do not have the competencies and social-policy resources that are of vital importance for reinforcing social cohesion. 32 In this article, we first present the social polarisation of childhoods (in plural) in the City of Barcelona. Despite sharing an age group, childhoods are spent in families that belong to social classes with very unequal socialisations and opportunities, which get worse in a situation of poverty and deprivation. Secondly, we describe the scale and the evolution of child poverty in the City of Barcelona, compared to other cities and territories. Thirdly, we present the intensity of child poverty in the city, focusing on the extreme poverty attended by social services. Finally, we analyse to what extent social transfers and the redistributive policy of the state, the autonomous community and the city are able or unable to reduce child poverty, especially extreme poverty, at a local level. 1. The social polarisation of childhoods in Barcelona. The population of children and adolescents in the City of Barcelona represents just 15.1% of all city residents (one percent more than in 2007), while the segment of people over the age of 65 is already 21.5% of the population as a whole. Although the city is ageing, one out of four households includes children and adolescents aged 17 or under. In 2018, 245,573 children and adolescents between the ages of 0 and 17 lived in the city, 67% of whom were children aged 0 to 11, while the remaining 33% were adolescents aged 12 to 17 (IIAB, 2019). The average income per consumer unit for the 0-17 population in Barcelona is €21,026 a year, which is 6% lower than the average disposable income level for residents between the ages of 18 and 64. Having dependent children is an extra cost that takes away disposable income and may lead to poverty in households that experience unexpected situations or massive shocks, like the Great Recession. However, we cannot speak of a single, homogeneous and uniform childhood, but rather of different childhoods where growth and development are highly conditioned by the inequality of resources, incomes and cultural and social capitals of their families. In fact, the decile of the highest-income households with children (decile 10) has 10.3 times as much disposable income as the poorest households with children (decile 1), according to Metropolitan Statistics data on living conditions (EMCV 2016-2017). The most worrying aspect is that there is more socio-economic polarisation among children in the city due to the disproportional increase in the income of the upper decile compared to the others, without the income of the lower deciles having decreased, which 33 is what happened during the Great Recession (IERMB, 2018). The children and adolescents of the 10% with the highest income have improved their privileged position with 60% more disposable income that the average income for households with children. This is a worrying tendency —if it is confirmed in subsequent surveys on living conditions— for three reasons: a) it is contrary to the stratification pattern for the city as a whole, where income inequality fell between 2011 and 2017; b) the inequality among the city's children is greater in 2017 than the inequality among the rest of the resident population aged 18 and above, and c) the inequality among Barcelona's children and adolescents is higher than for Catalonia as a whole, which was not the case in 2011. Firstly, in 2011, the Gini Inequality Coefficient9 among Barcelona's children was 32.9, but by 2017 it had reached 35.6. While inequality for the city's population as a whole decreased by 3.4%, during the same period, inequality among Barcelona's children increased by 8.2%. As we shall see, this rise does not result in a higher child-poverty rate in the city, which fell by 4% between 2011 and 2017. It is good news halfway, given that the city does not increase poverty below but increases inequality above with a higher decile that takes a sidereal advantage over the previous decile and the average. Secondly, in 2011, inequality among children in the city was lower (32.9) than for other households with residents over the age of 18 (34.6). But by 2017, the situation had become inverted. Child inequality (35.6) was greater than the inequality among all other residents (33.4). While the rest of the city's population benefited to a greater degree from a more fairly distributed economic recovery, in the post-crisis period, households with children and adolescents became even more unequal and polarised. Thirdly, in 2011, child inequality was higher for Catalonia as a whole than in the City of Barcelona, but by 2017, the reverse was true, and Barcelona was a little above the average for Catalonia. The apparent paradox is that the City of Barcelona proved to be more resilient during the recession than Catalonia as a whole, and acted as an economic 9. The Gini Coefficient is a measure of inequality expressed as a coefficient between 0 and 1, where 0 corresponds to absolute equality (all individuals have the same income) and 1 corresponds to absolute inequality (one individual accumulates all of the income and all of the other people have no income at all). It can also be expressed on a scale of 0-100. 34 driving force (Sarasa et al., 2013). However, the economic recovery recorded in the city since 2013 has lowered the child-poverty rate but increased the inequality among children and adolescents. The polarisation among childhoods in the City of Barcelona is detailed in Graph 3, which shows the change in the social stratification of families with dependent children from 2006 to 2016. This is a good representation of social classes, where children and adolescents grow and socialise, and of how their composition has varied in parallel with the city's socio- demographic change. In 2006, the city's population of children was fairly equally divided into three large social classes, with a small subgroup of families with parents who were long-term unemployed and excluded from the job market (8.2%). Throughout the decade, there was a confirmed polarisation of childhoods due to the weighting of the expert and professional class families (13%) and the parallel reduction in the weighting of families with children in the intermediate classes (-8.9 percent), as well as a decrease in the weighting of working class families (-9.3 percent). Meanwhile, the effects of the crisis meant that the proportion of families in a situation of inactivity, exclusion from the job market or prolonged unemployment rose by 5.4 percent. In short, the city's childhoods have been polarised because of a combination of connected gentrifying factors which have pushed young families and couples with children (or before having them) out towards the Metropolitan Area in search of more affordable housing prices and which, at the same time, caused a fall in the birth rate among some of the middle and working classes from 2006 to 2016. The equitable distribution in childhood before the crisis has been transmuted into a polarisation of childhoods and greater inequality in terms of the opportunity to have children in the City of Barcelona, something which leaves people on average or low incomes at a clear disadvantage. Having children in the city is on the way to becoming a privilege. 35 2. Evolution of child poverty in Barcelona The increased inequality among children contrasts with the slight reduction in the child poverty rate in Barcelona between 2011 and 2017. The latest available data for the moderate poverty rate is 29.5% (nearly 4% less than in 2011). This represents 72,317 children and adolescents who are below the poverty threshold, established at €14,459 a year for a household made up of one adult and one minor, or below the threshold of €20,020 for a two-parent household with a child under the age of 18. Barcelona accounts for 18.7% of the total number of children in Catalonia who are in a situation of moderate poverty. Between 2011 and 2017, the severe poverty rate (40% of the average income for the city’s households) decreased to 8.5%, accounting for 20,837 minors in the city. This includes households with an income of under €9,639 a year for a single-parent family with one child, or under €13,347 for a two-parent family with one minor or adolescent. The average for severe poverty in Spain and Catalonia is higher (15%) than for Barcelona, which indicates the city's expelling effect, pushing severe poverty out towards the surrounding Metropolitan Area, which has more affordable rental prices and costs for families with children. The most adverse situation of extreme poverty (30% of the average income) was lower in 2017 than in 2011, decreasing by 26%, to a figure of 5.4%. This includes 13,237 children who struggle on under €7,230 a year for a single-parent family with one child, or under €10,010 for a two-parent family with one child. We could say that between 2011 and 2017, the moderate-poverty rate in Barcelona became entrenched at around 30%. This is ten highest points than the European average (Graph 5) and is also above the average for Catalonia and Spain (2.7% higher). These rates are extremely high and will not decrease even if there is an intense recovery in employment rates, unless new benefits and social transfers are created to alleviate the cost of raising children in the city. Believing that there will be a significant reduction in child poverty by creating jobs is a compassionate fiction which absolves the state's and the autonomous community's redistributive policies from their responsibility for making childhood starting positions more equal. As we will see, the role of local authorities is complementary but effective in reducing extreme child poverty. 36 The following graph shows how Barcelona has a rate of child poverty comparable to that of Madrid and Berlin, but a long way from the more moderate rate registered in the city of New York (25.2%). However, Barcelona is way below cities such as London (37%) or Manchester (48%), in spite of the range of social benefits permitted by local and national legislation in Britain. 3. Intensity of poverty and deprivation suffered by children The social polarisation among childhoods in Barcelona becomes even clearer if we study poverty as deprivation of well-being and as a disqualifying experience that takes opportunities and rights away from the children and adolescents who experience it. In 37 order to do this, we analyse the gap and intensity of poverty and the material deprivation of the child population, also adding a more specific focus on households with children attended by the city's social services centres.10 As revealed by research in Catalonia, the negative effects of the 2008-2015 crisis have reduced the income of the poorest Catalans (quintile 1) by 31%, making them even poorer (Marcos and Ubrich, 2017). In order to understand the gravity of the poverty experience, we have calculated its intensity, i.e. the degree of poverty of poor people or their relative distance from the poverty threshold, which marks the frontier where they would no longer be classified as poor.11 The greater the distance from the threshold (expressed in a percentage [%]), the greater the intensity of the poverty and the more entrenched the most serious forms of poverty will be. The income of poor Barcelona households with children is 36.2% away from the threshold for no longer being poor. This gap is very similar to the one for children in Catalonia as a whole (36.2%) and Spain as a whole (36.5%). However, if we place the focus on the bottom low-income group, which is not normally captured or interviewed in generic survey samples, we can see how the families with children attended by the City of Barcelona's social services are much more deeply entrenched in poverty than children in a situation of poverty as a whole. Based on data from the 2016 ECVUSS, we know that the poverty gap among two-parent families attended by social services is 66%, for households with more than one family unit it is 62% and for single-parent families assisted by social services it is 60%, We are speaking about extreme situations that leave a total of 4,690 Barcelona children and adolescents in the most intense and extreme poverty trap. We still do not know to what point this constitutes an intense, persistent poverty for the children nor the length of time they experience it, nor 10. Based on the 2016 Survey of Living Conditions given to users of social services (ECVUSS), using a sample made up of 6,623 households, 3,059 of which are households with children under the age of 18. The total number of children in the sample is 5,827 (Martínez-Celorrio and Marín, 2019). 11. Various measurement procedures can be applied to poverty intensity. It shows the distance between average equivalent income (or by consumer unit) of the population at risk of poverty and the poverty threshold. It is expressed as a percentage in relation to the threshold. 38 what avenues for entering and leaving it are produced, nor why. We are therefore speaking of a very intense poverty, far from the threshold for no longer being poor. Regarding the parents of households with children attended by social services (SS), 29% were born in Catalonia, 6% in the rest of Spain, 33% in Latin American countries and 18% in North African countries. Two out of five households go to social services to get information about housing benefits and subsidies. In order to supplement the subsidy requested from social services, 72% of this profile of households with children also go to social organisations. The more intense the poverty, the greater the number of social organisations they go to. 10% of the households in a moderate situation of poverty and attended by social services are regular users of two charitable organisations, but 72% of extreme-poverty households go to three organisations, in search of food, clothing, food coupons or help with paying bills. Among the households attended by social services, there is a 19% difference in the severe material deprivation index, according to whether they have dependent children (80%) or not (61%). Among the average child population of Barcelona, 5.2% live in a situation of severe material deprivation.12 The stress of having to pay off debts, tighten budgets and look for survival resources creates family climates that are negatively affected by anxiety, where parents show less affection towards their children and internal conflicts arise between members of the household (Klose, 2012; Evans and English, 2002; Mistry, 2002). 21% of the city's households with children cannot afford even one week's holiday and almost 32% are unable to meet unexpected expenses of €650. The rate of severe material deprivation is even more pronounced among households with children attended by social services, with 37% unable to ensure regular protein in the diet. High rental prices and the high cost of basic supplies (water, electricity, gas) negatively affect the economy of families with children that are trapped in situations of unemployment, inactivity and salary insecurity. The European Union has defined the indicator of housing cost overburden as being when a family has to spend more than 40% of its income on housing costs. For the 25-39 age group, the average proportion of salary needed to cover housing costs in Barcelona is 50%. Rental prices rose by 28.7% from 2013 to 2017 in the City of Barcelona, according to Idescat data. It should be remembered that the overburden rate for tenants at market prices in the City of Barcelona is 43% (Barcelona Metropolitan Housing Observatory, 2018). In France, the overburden rate for tenants at market prices is 16.5%, in Germany 23% and the European average is 28% (OECD, 2017). Rental price contention and the gradual rise in the minimum wage are two key conditions for undermining and reducing the high rate of child poverty. 12. Severe material deprivation is measured according to the population and the households that tick four of the nine items listed in Table 1. 39 Graph 8 shows the significant correlation between an indicator of severe material deprivation and the excessive cost of housing, according to city district. Housing overburden affects 4 out of 10 children in the district of Ciutat Vella and 30% in the districts of Nou Barris and Sants-Montjuïc. In more specific territorial terms, 72% of the cases attended by social services centres in Franja Besòs and Ciutat Meridiana - Torre Baró correspond to families with children. Apart from Sarrià - Sant Gervasi, there is no district where families with children account for less than 30% of the cases attended to by social services. We are therefore speaking of a phenomenon of “leopardisation” of severe child poverty, which is more disperse and widespread in the city than is popularly thought and perceived. 40 4. Social transfer policies for solving child poverty Catalonia and Spain share a Mediterranean welfare regime, with a universalism that is fragmented and incomplete, characterised by the sizeable weighting of families who are caring for young children, have dependants or who are carrying out care work. This is a family-oriented model that combines the universalist model (education, health and pensions) with contributive benefits of a Bismarckian type (social security), which safeguards stable employment and has long contribution periods (Martínez-Celorrio, 2015; Moreno, 2014). This type of welfare guarantees cover but with modest amounts for both individual benefits arising from contributions (pensions and unemployment benefit) and care benefits that are independent from prior employment contributions (grants, emergency social subsidies, minimum guaranteed income, etc.). Based on their exploitation of the 2016 ECV, Marcos and Ubrich (2017) underline that 14% of Catalan children are beneficiaries of some kind of benefit, subsidy or direct grant. This is in addition to 31% of relatives that live in the same household and receive unemployment benefit, pensions and other social transfers that depend on various administrations (state, regional or local). Due to the Mediterranean welfare model and its shortcomings, the capacity of all social benefits to reduce income inequality in households with children is very small throughout Spain and also Catalonia (Marcos and Ubrich, 2017; Fernández, 2015; Martínez-Celorrio, 2015). The reduction of the Gini Coefficient for child inequality during the crisis was modest and closely linked to unemployment benefits that gradually ran out. The reduction due to welfare transfers, where local authorities can provide emergency subsidies, was minimal, in spite of the fact that municipal social policies act as a link between state welfare benefits and the most vulnerable city residents. However, the capacity for reducing child poverty is greater, but thanks to the weight of unemployment benefits, given the lack of universal benefits and significant deductions that compensate for the cost of bringing up children (Fernández, 2015). 41 The primary distribution of income generated by the job market meant that the child poverty rate reached 41.8% in 2011 and that with all the social transfers, this was reduced to 30.7% in 2016-2017. This is a reduction in the rate of 26%. which in 2016-2017 reduced to a decrease of 18% due to the above-mentioned depletion and decrease of unemployment benefits. By contrast, the capacity for reducing child poverty among families with children attended by social services is minimal, at only 2 points (2.1%). However, it should be noted that welfare and social-emergency subsidies reduce the extreme poverty rate of this group by 17% (Martínez-Celorrio and Marín, 2019). The 42 municipal programme Extraordinary Fund for Social Emergency Subsidies for children aged 0 to 16 played a direct role in this decrease13 (Blasco i Todeschini, 2017). The City Council spends over €50 million a year on combating child poverty, not counting either spending on housing for families or subsidies to organisations for children's programmes (Torrens, 2019). It must be remembered that this is less than half the estimated amount, calculated using Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) data, that would be needed to cover the relatively extreme poverty of families with minors, which would amount to €121 million. Conclusions Growing up in a family in a situation of intense poverty has long-term effects that will determine a child's career and life opportunities, which leads to the reproduction or intergenerational transmission of poverty and exclusion (Flores, 2016; Waldfogel and Washbrook, 2011; Field, 2010). In Barcelona, 72% of the monetary problem involved in poverty is caused by the cost of housing. This is 8 points more than for Catalonia and 18 points more than the Spanish average (Torrens, 2019). Regulating rental prices, regulating the minimum wage and limiting job insecurity are all the responsibility of the state. They have not yet been fully defined and they put stress on the forced resilience of local administrations for reducing child inequality and poverty. A new, multi-level governmental framework is required, in which the state and autonomic redistributive policy facilitates access to public housing and higher amounts of universal benefits per dependent child, along with free education for children and free services for low-income levels, without forgetting the fostering of high-quality, decent women's jobs (Esping‐Andersen and Palier, 2010). The cost of child poverty for Spain is estimated to be around 5% of the GDP,14 in line with what has been calculated for other countries, such as the United States.15 This is an extremely high cost which debilitates not only economic growth and the productivity of talent in the mid-term, but also erodes social cohesion and even the proper functioning of all democracy. Although a children's right approach has been formulated which protects children from all adversities, neglect and abuse, there is still a persistent perception that the welfare of children is exclusively the responsibility of their families, without realising that it is the responsibility of society as a whole and public policies, as established in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Since the mid 1990s, we have known that high rates of child poverty have become entrenched in the countries and cities in our immediate area (Flaquer, 2006; Field, 2010). The Great Recession (2008-2013) has increased them to scandalous rates, as a consequence of impoverishment, wage devaluation, the high cost of housing and other costs of bringing up children. The crisis has revealed not so much the deficiencies of people, but the deficits of policies that have not been able to anticipate the great changes that have occurred or prevent exposure to the social vulnerability already foreseen with the advent of the knowledge society at the end of the 1990s. We know more than ever about child poverty, but now it is time to take big redistributive and pre-distributive decisions that will reactivate the social ladder (Martínez-Celorrio, 2017). Public authorities must assume a more effective preventative (ex ante) role against inequalities, or they must exercise a 13. Programme initiated in 2015 by the government of Mayor Xavier Trias, later maintained and reinforced by Mayor Ada Colau. It consists of a monthly benefit of €100 for every child between the ages of 0 and 16 who is in a social risk situation. 14. SAVE THE CHILDREN, 2019. 15. H. J. HOLZER et al., 2007. 43 redistributive role (ex post) that is highly conditioned by the inequality that they have been unable to reduce in the primary distribution of income. Investment in social and educational policies aimed at children and adolescents is the main instrument for pre-distribution, i.e. for preventing and compensating for original social inequalities. This pre-distribution must be executed from a multi-level, cross-cutting perspective that surpasses the emergency hand-outs that local authorities have had to employ in order to deal with child poverty, which has become a structural problem. Ultimately, it is necessary to apply the European Commission's 2013/112 recommendation entitled “Investing in childhood: breaking the cycle of disadvantage” and focus on the struggle against child poverty and exclusion from the perspective of children's rights established in international agreements. For this reason, it is necessary to undertake the comprehensive implementation of the Childhood Act, approved in 2010, and provide it with a budget, as well as extending the citizens’ guaranteed income without further delay and complying with the recommendations set out in the Children's Rights Report (2014), produced by the Ombudsman’s Office, concerning the shortcomings of public administrations which limit the rights of children. Bibliography BLASCO, J.; TODESCHINI, F. (2017). Avaluació del Fons extraordinari per ajuts d’urgència social de l’Ajuntament de Barcelona. Barcelona: Ivàlua. ESPING‐ANDERSEN, G.; PALIER, B. (2010). Los tres grandes retos del estado del bienestar. Barcelona: Ariel. EVANS, G. W.; ENGLISH, K. (2002). "The Environment of Poverty: multiple stressor exposure, psychophysiological stress, and socioemotional adjustment". Child Development, Nº. 73, 4, pp. 1238-1248. FERNÁNDEZ, G. (COORD. ); AGUILAR, M.; ARRIBA, A.; AYALA, L.; ZALAKAIN, J. (2015). Hacia un sistema más inclusivo de garantía de rentas en España: diferentes alternativas de desarrollo. Madrid: FOESSA Foundation. FIELD, F. (2010). The Foundation Years: preventing poor children becoming poor adults. The report of the independent review on poverty and life chances. London: Cabinet Office. FLAQUER, L.; ALMEDA, E.; NAVARRO-VARAS, L. (2006). Monoparentalitat i infància. Barcelona: La Caixa Foundation (Social Studies; 20) FLORES, R. (coord.) [et al.]. (2016) La transmisión intergeneracional de la pobreza: factores, procesos y propuestas para la intervención. Madrid: FOESSA Foundation. (Collection of studies) HOLZER, H. J. [et al.] (2007) The Economic Costs of Poverty in the United States: Subsequent Effects of Children Growing Up Poor. Washington DC: Center for American Progress. IERMB - Barcelona Institute of Regional and Metropolitan Studies (2018). Pobresa i infàncies desiguals a la ciutat de Barcelona. Barcelona, Observatory 0-17 BCN. 44 IIAB - Barcelona Institute for Children and Adolescents (2019). Dades clau d’infància i adolescència a Barcelona 2018. Barcelona, Observatory 0-17 BCN. KLOSE, P.; KLOSE, M. (2012). Crisi i pobresa infantil a Catalunya. Barcelona: UNICEF Catalunya MARCOS, L.; UBRICH, T. (2017). Desheredados. Desigualdad infantil, igualdad de oportunidades y políticas públicas en España. Madrid: Save the Children. MARTÍNEZ CELORRIO, X.; MARÍN SALDO, A. (2016). Les condicions de vida de les famílies amb infants i adolescents ateses pels serveis socials de Barcelona amb problemàtiques d’extrema complexitat. Barcelona, Observatory 0-17 BCN of the Barcelona Institute for Children and Adolescents. MARTÍNEZ-CELORRIO, X. (2017). “Crisis y movilidad social: cómo reactivar el ascensor social”. A: ZALAKAIN, J.; BARRAGUÉ, B. Repensar las políticas sociales: predistribución e inversión social. Madrid: Grupo 5. MARTÍNEZ-CELORRIO, X. (2015). “Buena predistribución y mejor redistribución contra las desigualdades”. A: ESADE, Social Confidence Index 2014, p. 110-119. Barcelona: ESADE. MISTRY, R.; VANDEWATER, E.; HUSTON, A.; MCLOYD, A. (2002). “Economic Well- Being and Children’s Social Adjustment: The Role of the Family process in an Ethnically Diverse Low-income Sample”. Child Development, vol. 73, Nº, 3, pp. 935-951. MORENO, L. (2014). La Europa asocial. Barcelona: Península. OECD (2017). Affordable Housing Database [Consulted: 6 March 2018] SARASA, S.; PORCEL, S.; NAVARRO-VARAS, L. (2013). “L'impacte social de la crisi a l'Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona i a Catalunya”. Papers. Regió Metropolitana de Barcelona, Nº. 56, pp. 10-88. SAVE THE CHILDREN, (2019). El futuro donde queremos crecer. Las políticas públicas esenciales para el bienestar de la infancia. Madrid: Save the Children España. THE OMBUDSMAN OF CATALONIA (2014). Informe sobre els drets dels infants. Barcelona: Síndic de Greuges de Catalunya. TORRENS, L. (2019). “El duro combate contra la pobreza y la exclusión social en Barcelona”. Barcelona Societat [Barcelona, Barcelona Social Observatory], Nº. 23, pp. 10- 35. WALDFOGEL, J.; WASHBROOK, E. (2011). “Early Years Policy”. Child Development Research. London: LSE Research Online, pp. 1-12. 45 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Keywords: health, childhood, Journal on soc ial knowledge and analysis adolescence, health promotion The health of Barcelona's children and adolescents Carles Ariza, Gemma Serral, Esther Sánchez, Katherine Pérez, Olga Juárez, Helena Santamariña Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) 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. Introduction Most of people's health development is completed during childhood and adolescence and their main lifestyle behaviour patterns relating to health are also established. When considering health throughout childhood and adolescence, it is important to include the perspective of health determinants factors, which also include determining social factors and their influence throughout people's lifetimes. For these future adults, living conditions during childhood and their physical, cognitive, emotional and social development are determining factors in academic performance and health, as well as social and employment participation. For this reason, the appearance of possible inequalities during these stages has a differential impact on aspects such as the growth and development experienced by these minors, and in their family and school environments (Cohen, 2010; Rajmil, 2010). All of this is developed in the following text, which has been divided into three parts. The first part, using indicators compiled by the 0-17 Observatory, which was recently created by the Institute of Childhood and Adolescence, includes the most significant results that it is possible to describe in their development by age, and make it possible to show the unequal distribution of health according to age. The second part describes health inequalities in the adolescent population, which exist in a person's perception of their own health and some of their lifestyle behaviour patterns, as well as the appearance of the first risk factors that may condition people's health at this stage in life and also as adults. The 46 0-17 Observatory uses three main sources for the data presented in these first two sections: 1) The Subjective Well-Being Survey for Children in Barcelona (EBSIB) 2017, from the Institute of Childhood and Adolescence. Approximately 4,000 city children between the ages of 10 to 12 took part in the EBSIB. This is a representative sample for all city districts, in which 52 schools were involved. The Subjective Well-Being Survey allows us to learn how children feel at home, among their families, with friends and at school. 2) The Barcelona Health Survey (ESB) 2016, from the Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) (Bartoll et al., 2018). The ESB compiles information on the population’s health, health-related habits, the use of health services and preventative practices, as well as on health determinants factors, in both physical and social contexts, taken from 4,000 interviews with people who live in the city. 3) The Survey on Risk Factors for Secondary-School Students (FRESC) 2016, from the Barcelona Public Health Agency (Santamariña-Rubio et al., 2017). 3,888 secondary- school pupils from the City of Barcelona, aged from 13 to 18, were involved in the FRESC survey. It is administered every four years to 2nd year (13-14) and 4th year (15-16) students in the Secondary school, as well as 2nd year of High school and intermediate vocational training (CFGM) students (17-19). This provides information about the health- related behaviour and habits of adolescents. The third section of this article presents the main interventions undertaken by the Barcelona Public Health Agency over the last twenty years, in reference to much of the above-mentioned health data and risk factors. These are interventions that promote health among schoolchildren, implemented by teaching staff in the classroom, and often accompanied by small complementary components carried out with their families. As a whole, these three sections enable us to reflect on the health situation of the city's children and adolescents and the main interventions which are offered to that population in a systematic, controlled way, in the area of public health. 1. The most recent results for children and adolescents concerning health-related behaviour Information is compiled from surveys carried out in 2016 and 2017, which allows us to describe the health of Barcelona’s children and adolescents. Data has been selected that refers to the perception of health in general and some specific areas, such as activity and rest, weight and body image, mental health and some behaviour patterns related to sexual and reproductive health and the consumption of addictive substances. 85.3% of the children in the survey aged between 10 and 12 stated that they perceived their health as being excellent or very good. For adolescents aged between 13 and 18, this figure decreases to 62.6%. Regarding rest, a high proportion of children and adolescents do not sleep the recommended sufficient number of hours a day (43.0% of children and 70.0% of adolescents). This figure is higher for boys, especially in the case of adolescent boys (73.8%). In physical activity, over 30% of girls (children and teenagers) do an insufficient amount of physical activity outside school hours (38.2% and 30.7%, respectively). Regarding weight, compiled in accordance with the body mass index, it is observed that boys (children and teenagers) have the highest levels of obesity, especially in children under the age of 13, with a 14.8% obesity rate. By contrast, the girls show greater dissatisfaction with their bodies; 28.3% of girls under the age of 13 and 52% of teenage girls between the ages of 13 and 18. In terms of the risk assessment for suffering 47 some kind of mental-health problem, a high or intermediate risk of 31.3% is observed for teenage girls compared to 23.3% for teenage boys (see table 1). Table 1 also shows the indicators referring to sexual health and the consumption of tobacco and alcohol, focusing on adolescents. 85.5% of adolescents use an effective contraceptive method, such as condoms, contraceptive pills or vaginal rings. Regarding the consumption of tobacco, we can say that there is a high percentage of young people who do not smoke, or say they have tried it occasionally (>80%). Lastly, over 70% state that they have tried alcohol at some time, with girls showing a higher percentage than boys (73.2% for girls compared to 69.0% for boys). 2. Health inequalities in Barcelona's adolescent population As previously mentioned, the FRESC survey, carried out by the Barcelona Public Health Agency since 1987, provides health information about health and its determinant factors among adolescent students in the City of Barcelona. The results of its last edition (2016) reveal the existence of major inequalities by gender and socio-economic level, and in 48 general, girls in disadvantaged neighbourhoods continue to be the group with the worst indicators. The most relevant results are described below and can be consulted in Table 2. In general, adolescent students in Barcelona presented good health in 2016. However, 6.5% of the boys and 10.9% of the girls have a bad perceived state of health (average or bad), and these percentages increase with age, especially among girls. Furthermore, a greater number of girls than boys in disadvantaged neighbourhoods schools perceive their health as average or bad (boys, 6.3% in wealthier neighbourhoods and 6.7% in disadvantaged ones; girls 8.1 and 14% respectively). There is a similar pattern for mental health. Girls show a higher probability of suffering from a mental-health problem than boys (10.4% for girls and 7.4% for boys), and this probability is greater in educational centres located in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, for both sexes. Inequalities between boys and girls are also observed in the relationships they establish. In this sense, girls state that they have suffered more situations of discrimination than boys (30.7% for girls, and 21.7% for boys), and the most frequent reasons are discrimination about their country of origin or their ethnicity, for both sexes, while the girls also suffer gender discrimination. Furthermore, the girls suffer more mistreatment in the school environment than boys (5.4% for girls, 3.8% for boys), while the percentage of aggressors is higher in boys (7.8% for boys, 4.0% for girls). The survey also reveals that sexual harassment is much higher among girls. In 2016, 17% of the girls surveyed stated that they had suffered sexual harassment at some time, compared to 3.8% for boys. The percentage of sexual-harassment victims, especially among girls, increases with age, reaching 26.4% by the 2nd year of High school or vocational training, and it is higher in schools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. In 2016, among 2nd year secondary-school students, 23% of boys and 20.2% of girls were overweight, while 10.1% of boys and 6.4% of girls were obese. These percentages were higher for both sexes in schools in socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Even so, girls show greater dissatisfaction with their body image (52% for girls, 36.3% for boys). Similarly, it is observed that a greater number of students attending centers in socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods show food insecurity (2.9% for boys, 1.7% for girls). Insufficient physical activity or sedentarism is more frequent in girls (16.7%) than in boys (8.4%) for all age groups. However, the percentages are higher in schools located in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, for both boys and girls. Regarding hours of sleep, more 49 girls state that they sleep fewer hours than the recommended number (less than 8 hours) than boys (60.2% of girls, 56.7% of boys). These percentages increase with age and among students from neighbourhoods with the worst socio-economic levels. Regarding to mobile phones, 4.1% of boys and 4.5% of girls state that they have frequent problems relating to their use and these percentages increase with age. Similarly, 7% of boys and 5% of girls state that they have a frequent problem regarding the use of internet, and these percentages are higher among students from disadvantaged neighbourhoods. In terms of addictive substances consumption (tobacco, cannabis, alcohol), it should be noted that there is a downward trend in the consumption of tobacco for both sexes, but more noticeably among girls, so that the difference between the sexes has been reduced. However, girls show a higher regular, daily consumption of tobacco in educational centres in wealthier neighbourhoods. Regarding alcohol, consumption is higher among girls than boys, except in 2nd year secondary-school students, and this increases with age (for boys: 43.8% in 2nd year, 70.6% in 4th year and 87.8% in 2th year of High school and vocational training; for girls: 41.8%, 79.8% and 92.6%, respectively). At schools in wealthier neighbourhoods, there are more students who have got drunk at some time in the last 6 months, but there is a downward trend, especially among girls. The intensive consumption of alcohol (binge drinking) is also frequent among boys in schools in wealthier neighbourhoods. Regarding to cannabis, more boys than girls state that they have tried it at some time, and this percentage increases with age (for boys: 8% at 2nd year, 32.2% at 4th year and 56.8% at 2n year of High school and vocational training; for girls: 6.1%, 28.8% and 52.9%, respectively). Consumption of cannabis, of moderate or high risk, is higher for girls in socio-economically wealthier neighbourhoods. Regarding sexual health, 25.1% of boys and 22.7% of girls in 4th year of secondary school have had a sexual relationship with penetration, a proportion that increases sharply in 2nd year of High school and CFGM vocational training (53.7% for boys, 52.8% for girls) especially among pupils, of both sexes, in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Furthermore, among these students, and especially among the boys, there is also a more frequent use of non-effective contraceptive methods or even no method at all. By contrast, girls show a greater use of the day-after pill and this proportion increases with age. Lastly, active transport (walking or cycling) is less common in socio-economically wealthier neighbourhoods, where public transport and private motorised transport are used more often. In general, girls show a greater awareness of road safety and use seat belts in cars and crash helmets on motorcycles more often. For both sexes, traffic accidents concerning bicycle collisions or being run over are more common among students from disadvantaged neighbourhoods, while in wealthier neighbourhoods, more students are in traffic accidents involving motorbikes. In the light of this data, we should remember the importance of prevention, in order to provide adolescents with the tools they need to deal with risks to their health. In this sense, the Barcelona Public Health Agency undertakes various programmes in city schools which focus on various health needs, such as eating habits, consumption of drugs and peer pressure or sexual health, among others. 3. Main health promotion interventions among children and adolescents Over the last twenty years, the Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) has undertaken a series of interventions to promote health among the city's children and adolescents. As can be seen in the forthcoming description of the current catalogue offered to schools, these usually consist of 5 to 10-session modules that are usually offered to class groups and are 50 given by teaching staff, with advice from ASPB health staff. In most cases, this consists of previously-evaluated interventions where their expected effectiveness in preventing unhealthy lifestyles or the problems they aim to prevent have also been established. In the list below, there are six programmes that correspond to three basic themes relating to the promotion of health (see Diagram 1): 1. Healthy eating and physical activity, important for avoiding one of the emerging risk factors: obesity. This includes the first two programmes that are worked on in Primary school “Growing up healthy” and “Growing up healthier”, and the 2nd-year secondary- school programme called “Changes”. 2. The universal prevention of drug addiction, focused on preventing tobacco and alcohol consumption through the “PASE.bcn” programme, as well as alcohol and cannabis consumption in the “About beer and joints” programme. 3. The promotion of healthy and responsible sexuality through the programme “Speak about it, don’t be shy!” given from 3rd-year secondary school onwards. Here is a brief, but more detailed, description of all six interventions in the Diagram 1. "Growing up healthy" Obesity-prevention programme, promoting healthy eating and physical activity, as well as balancing the use of screens and resting. For 4th-year primary-school pupils (9-10). 9 classroom sessions of approximately one hour. With a complementary family workshop. "Growing up healthier" Reinforcement intervention to provide continuity to the “Growing up healthy” programme on obesity-prevention, promoting healthy eating and physical activity, as well as balancing the use of screens and resting. For 6th year primary-school pupils (11-12). 3 classroom sessions of approximately one hour. With a complementary family workshop. 51 "PASE.bcn" Addiction-prevention programme, focusing especially on prevention of the consumption of tobacco and alcohol. For 1st-year secondary-school pupils (12-13). Minimum intervention: 6 sessions of approximately one hour. Recommended intervention: 9 sessions of approximately one hour. "Changes" Programme working on changes during adolescence, personal evaluation, healthy eating, physical activity, rest, screens and social media. For 2nd-year secondary-school pupils (13-14). Minimum intervention: 4 sessions of approximately one hour. Recommended intervention: 8 sessions of approximately one hour. "About beer and joints!" Addiction-prevention programme, focusing specifically on the consumption of alcohol and cannabis. For 3rd-year secondary-school pupils (14-15). Minimum intervention: 6 sessions of approximately one hour. Recommended intervention: 11 sessions of approximately one hour. "Speak about it, don’t be shy!" Sexual-health programme, preventing teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. One of two itineraries can be chosen according to the characteristics of the students and education centre, as well as teaching-staff preferences. Indicated for 3rd- year secondary-school to 2nd year High-school students and vocational training students. Itinerary 1 consists of six sessions lasting approximately one hour. Itinerary 2 consists of four sessions lasting approximately one hour. Two are given by teaching staff in the classroom and two by two students. Both itineraries include a visit to a sexual and reproductive healthcare centre. 4. Conclusions and future perspectives The results presented in the first two sections indicate that children and teenagers show good physical and mental health, healthy behaviour and positive experiences in their relations with their various environments. However, there are also significant social inequalities in terms of health, especially by age, gender and socio-economic level, as the main factors of inequality. Perceived health and satisfaction with life decrease with age and are weaker among girls and young people pertaining to disadvantaged socio-economic status (SES). In some cases, a notable proportion of young people and teenagers initiate some behaviour patterns that compromise their health, such as consuming tobacco or alcohol, as well as some risky behaviour relating to sexuality. The prevalence of these problems increase with age and also in young people from disadvantaged SES neighbourhoods, and in terms of intensity, they are more common among boys. By contrast, the complaints most related to subjective health and sexual discrimination are much more common among girls. These inequalities, which appear with much greater intensity in the most recent surveys, confront us with the need to design new interventions that try to prevent these inequalities extending into adult life, with negative consequences for their lives and their social development. Specifically, in recent years, we have started to work on matters relating to basic three themes:  Bullying, the various types of discrimination and sexual harassment. 52  The use of technological devices and especially people's relationship with mobile phones and internet access, which introduce new relational problems linked to social addictions, currently being studied to establish their scale and characteristics.  Gender violence and its first manifestations in teenage relationships, but also including precedents that date back to the assignment of roles in childhood. For all of these problems, the Public Health Agency of Barcelona, together with the Education Consortium (CEB), other social organisations and the Administration, are working on intervention responses that are currently being designed and evaluated, and which will be available in coming years. But furthermore, promoting health has to be sensitive to the above-mentioned differences according to age, gender and SES, which means it is advisable to revise the gender perspective and intersectionality of all of these interventions. In recent years, the Public Health Agency has been making a specific effort in this sense, both in terms of observing this in the design of new interventions and in a thorough revision of older interventions. In relation to the presented lines of action, from the 2019-2020 school year onwards, the prevention of childhood obesity will include two new programmes aimed at children's preschool education and first year primary-school pupils; a line of emotional education will be initiated from preschool education, and a selective prevention programme on alcohol and cannabis consumption will be offered. Unlike those which have already been presented, this programme is for young people who already show risky consumption behaviour or who are in environments that expose them to that behaviour. Bibliography COHEN, S.; JANICKI-DEVERTS, D., CHEN, E. et al. "Childhood socio-economic status and adult health". Ann NY Acad Sci, 1186 (2010), p. 37-55. RAJMIL, L.; DÍEZ, E.; PEIRÓ, R. "Social inequalities in children's health. SESPAS Report 2010". Gaceta Sanitaria, 24 (2010), p. 42-48. SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING SURVEY ON BARCELONA CHILDREN (EBSIB, 2017). Report on the first data from the Subjective Well-Being Survey on Barcelona Children 2017, by the Barcelona Institute for Childhood and Adolescence and Barcelona City Council. Available at: http://institutinfancia.cat/projectes/benestar/ [Consult: 18 June 2019]. BARTOLL, X.; PÉREZ, K.; PASARÍN, M.; RODRÍGUEZ-SANZ, M.; BORRELL, C. Results of the Barcelona Health Survey 2016/17. Barcelona: Barcelona Public Health Agency, 2018. Available at: https://www.aspb.cat/arees/la-salut-en-xifres/enquestes-de-salut/ [Consult: 18 June 2019]. SANTAMARIÑA-RUBIO, E.; SERRAL CANO, G.; PÉREZ, C.; ARIZA, C. and FRESC Survey 2016 collaborating group. Health and its determining factors in Barcelona adolescents. FRESC Survey 2016. Barcelona Public Health Agency, 2017. Available at: https://www.aspb.cat/arees/la-salut-en-xifres/enquesta-fresc [Consult: 18 June 2019]. 53 Experiences 54 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Keywords: children’s rights, subjective well-being, mixed method, participation, Journal on social knowledge and analysis public agenda ‘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 Mari Corominas16, Marta Curran17 and Laia Pineda18 Barcelona Institute of Childhood and Adolescence (IIAB) ‘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. 1. Why is a municipal programme like ‘The children have their say ’ needed? Unfortunately, it is still all too common to talk about childhood and the needs of children based on adult visions and opinions. We talk about them to their parents, from the perspective of teachers or other professionals that care for them, and we forget that they 16. Research Team on Childhood, Adolescence, Children’s Rights and their Quality of Life (ERIDIQV) at the University of Girona, in collaboration with the Barcelona Institute of Childhood and Adolescence (IIAB). @maricorominas 17. Research Group on Globalisation, Education and Social Policies (GESP) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. @marta_curran 18. Head of the Barcelona Institute of Childhood and Adolescence (IIAB) at the Barcelona Metropolitan and Regional Research Institute (IERMB). @laiapineda 55 are the ones who are most aware of what is and is not right for them, about what they like and what concerns them. Why is it so difficult for us to listen to them and take what they say into account? Why is it so difficult for us to view reality from a child's point of view? When excluding children from the debate on childhood, even inadvertently, we contribute to making them invisible. In addition to recognising children as key informants and experts on their lives, strictly from the perspective of their rights, when including them in the process of assessing their needs, design, implementation or impact of childhood plans and services, we guarantee their right to be heard (Article 12) and to be considered a key part of society, acting in their main interests (Article 3), as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child19. Listening to children and taking what they say seriously contributes to the obligation of public administration to guarantee the rights of children and adolescents20. The interest in gathering data on the living conditions and rights of children and adolescents has been and remains a concern for Barcelona City Council. Since the creation of the Barcelona Institute of Childhood and Adolescence21 in 1999, Barcelona City Council has promoted initiatives to obtain information and generate knowledge on childhood in the city. Noteworthy examples of this include the Family and Childhood Panel (2007-2011)22 or the Barcelona Childhood and Family Barometer (2014)23. Since 2015, efforts have continued as part of the new municipal programme ‘The children have their say: The Subjective Well-Being of Children in Barcelona’ (2016 - ongoing).24 The goal of ‘Speak up’ is to resume an epistemologically significant commitment: generating knowledge on the subjective well-being of children, from their perspective and with them taking centre stage25. Based on the concept of the child as the active subject of rights and active citizenship, children are asked questions, help to interpret the response and propose suggestions for improvement. Dialogues are also opened up with adults to inform them, first hand, of the demands of children and suggested lines of action. Thus, ‘Speak up’ serves twin purposes. On the one hand, to genuinely set up a programme to generate knowledge linked to the public agenda, both in order to contribute to improving local policies, taking children’s rights forwards to enrich the social debate by sharing the knowledge generated. On the other hand, using the comprehensive and representative surveying of 4,000 infants, ‘Speak up’ has also been conceived as an inclusive, cross-cutting experience oriented towards transformation. 2. ‘The children have their say’: 3 stages to achieve 3 major goals ‘Speak up’ was designed to offer the city a new permanent tool for obtaining knowledge, without losing sight of the fact that a strong diagnosis is merely the first step in defining improvement actions. As part of ‘Speak up’, pursuant to ethical and responsible research 19. https://treballiaferssocials.gencat.cat/web/.content/03ambits_tematics/07infanciaiadolescencia/observatori_dr ets_infancia/destacats_columna_dreta/Convencio_drets_infancia.pdf 20. The right to be heard is also provided for in the Law on the rights and opportunities of children and adolescents (Article 34, and the Barcelona Citizenship Charter . 21. Between 1999 and 2015, it was known as the Institute of Childhood and the Urban World Consortium (CIIMU). 22. http://institutinfancia.cat/mediateca/panel-families-infancia-intrument-laplanificacio-avaluacio-politiques- publiques/ 23. http://institutinfancia.cat/mediateca/barometre-dinfancia-i-families-a-barcelona-bifab-2014/ 24. http://institutinfancia.cat/mediateca/resum-parlen-els-nens-i-nenes-el-benestar-subjectiu-de-la-infancia-a- barcelona/ 25. At the Family and Childhood Panel, children were also directly asked questions. 56 guidelines for working with children26, they are considered key informants as experts on their lives through a survey (stage 1), while also serving as researchers who learn as part of a joint analysis to prepare improvement proposals (stage 2), in addition to active city residents in the dialogue to ensure these proposals reach political and social representatives as part of the ‘Children’s agenda’ (stage 3). Generating shared spaces for adults and children, which recognise the active citizenship of children, ‘Speak up’ strives to include the visions of children in the city’s public agenda. 2.1 Stage 1: Understanding the well-being of children (2016-2017) ‘It has been an interesting experience, as being part of a survey is not something that happens every day and the people involved are working on an important project and they ask you things about yourself: it has made me feel important’ (Alba, 11) The starting point of the programme is asking the city’s children ‘How are you?’ in a wide range of aspects of their lives: their health and how they feel about themselves, their family, their home, their friends, school and the activities they participate in during their free time or their neighbourhood. To understand the well-being of children, a survey was performed based on the questionnaire used in the Children’s World project27, which has been rolled out on a large scale in more than forty countries around the world. Between December 2016 and April 2017, surveys were carried out on 4,000 children aged between 10 and 12, from years 5 and 6 at 52 schools across the city, chosen at random to guarantee representation of each school district, ownership type and size. Furthermore, the resulting sample of children (15% of the total benchmark population) was representative of gender and family income in the corresponding districts, thus enhancing the analysis potential and usefulness of the data. The 2017 Subjective well-being survey on children in Barcelona (EBSIB-2017)28 is therefore a useful tool in establishing, with a high degree of representativeness, the level of satisfaction of children in different aspects of their life29 and the most important elements in terms of the subjective well-being of children30. 2.2 Stage 2: Jointly analysing the results to prepare proposed improvements (2017- 2018) ‘I’m really happy that they asked us, because we are children and adults don’t normally ask us our opinion. I hope that the outcome of this project is good and children feel better’ (Pablo, 12) The question ‘How are you?’ is not exclusive to the first stage of the programme, rather it is asked again when going back to the schools. The surveys provide answers to many questions, but also generate new ones. The dialogue with children continued with a new question: ‘And what do we need to do to make you feel better?’. Children helped to respond to this question by co-interpreting the results, which was essential in obtaining a more in-depth understanding of the children’s realities, from a qualitative perspective31. Furthermore, the question was asked from the point of view of the shared responsibility of 26. http://institutinfancia.cat/blog/que-implica-recerca-social-infants-adolescents/ 27. http://www.isciweb.org/ 28. https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ca/informacio-administrativa/registre-enquestes-i-estudis-opinio 29. https://bcnroc.ajuntament.barcelona.cat/jspui/handle/11703/108123 30. http://institutinfancia.cat/mediateca/analisi-en-profunditat-de-lenquesta-de-benestar-subjectiu-de-la- infancia-a-barcelona/ 31. http://institutinfancia.cat/mediateca/analisi-en-profunditat-de-les-aportacions-fetes-pels-infants-als-tallers- del-parlen-els-nenes-i-nenes/ 57 the main environments: the children themselves, families, school and the City Council with other public administrations. Between November 2017 and February 2018, 87 workshops were held in which 48 of the 52 schools participating in the survey took part, with 2,000 children from 9 of the city’s 10 districts participating. The first part of the workshop involved providing feedback on the main results and their interpretation. The second part was dedicated to asking for proposed improvements in eight major areas assessed in the first stage: the family, material conditions, school, relationships with classmates and friendships, their neighbourhood, use of time, satisfaction with their health and body in addition to personal perceptions of autonomy and security. These workshops generated 5,000 action proposals concerning the aspects of greatest concern to children, a huge number that required refining. Three criteria were employed to this end: the frequency of the proposal, geographical spread (mentioned in a high number of districts) and particular relevance to subjective well-being (based on the outcome of the survey). The overview was defined in the ‘Children’s agenda: proposals for improving our well-being’32, with 11 key demands that children seek from society and 115 action proposals divided between the four agents with the greatest ability to improve their well- being: the City Council and other public administrations, schools, families and children themselves33. 2.3 Stage 3: Opening dialogue with the city’s social and political representatives (2018-2019) ‘I feel like I've been listened to and that makes me happy’ (Andrea, 12) ‘ [The proposals] will generate a reaction and I think there will be changes in the city’ (Iker, 12) During the final stages of the programme, they were asked the following question: ‘Would you like to be a spokesperson for the knowledge generated and the proposals for improving your well-being?’. The children from one of the schools involved in the programme were responsible for presenting their Agenda to the mayoress34 and, subsequently, around thirty children who together comprise the spokeskids group’35 did so in other areas and to other individuals. In both instances, the children demonstrated their capacity to exercise their citizenship, establish dialogue with adults, and present and defend their Agenda as representatives of all the city’s children. Between June 2018 and December 2018, around thirty children from nine of the city’s ten districts participated in the survey and the workshops saw volunteers step up to participate in the spokeskids group. Once the ‘Children’s agenda’ was presented to the highest echelons of the city’s government (the mayoress’ office and the second deputy mayor and councillor for social rights), the spokeskids group embarked upon four further dialogues in different political spaces and social platforms: the Municipal Council for Social Welfare and the Citizen Agreement for an Inclusive Barcelona, the six municipal political groups and the Municipal Council Assembly. The Group also began a dialogue at the ‘Childhood and 32. https://bcnroc.ajuntament.barcelona.cat/jspui/handle/11703/109826 33. The Agenda can be consulted in video format at the following link: http://institutinfancia.cat/mediateca/video-11-demandes-lagenda-dels-infants/ 34. The video of the presentation can be watched at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gCnJfxIU5M 35. http://institutinfancia.cat/noticies/arrenca-el-grup-altaveu-de-nens-i-nenes-per-obrir-dialegs-al-voltant-de- lagenda-dels-infants/ 58 adolescence in Barcelona: present and future’ workshop36, at which it received responses to its demands from the city government37. Approximately three hundred representatives from social institutions and networks, municipal political groups, municipal and citizen’s services with the ability to reflect these demands in their workplaces or social activism institutions have received the ‘Children’s agenda’ from the spokeskids group38. Furthermore, the Area of Social Rights at Barcelona City Council has sent the ‘Children’s agenda’ and a poster with the eleven demands39 to all primary schools across the city. 3. How are Barcelona’s children? Two premises and ten major findings in terms of children’s well-being Above, we have explained how ‘Speak up’ has been implemented; below, we will describe the main qualitative and quantitative findings of the research40. 3.1 Two premises are essential in understanding the well-being of children First premise: To listen to children, ‘special listening skills’ are needed. Faced with the same question about overall satisfaction in life, children and adults adopt different positions. While on a scale of 0 to 10 children tend to respond with a score of 9 or 10, adults score their satisfaction at around 7 or 8. This is known as the bias of vital optimism, as part of which children tend to respond more positively than adults when asked about their well-being. This bias means that we need to use ‘special listening skills’ when listening to and interpreting what children say. The bias of vital optimism explains the average overall satisfaction of children aged between 10 and 12 in Barcelona being 9 out of 10 (which is consistent with the results in other countries where this survey has been employed). This bias serves as a warning in terms of incorrectly interpreting the data, based on which, during childhood, ‘everything is fine’. In this connection, we have performed a special analysis on children that were not as satisfied: children who indicate that they are not as satisfied are identified (divided into ‘not at all’, ‘somewhat’ and ‘quite’ satisfied) and, then, from the group of children identified as ‘not as satisfied’, those who are not at all or only somewhat satisfied are determined. As this is an uncommon response from children, it may be indicative of significant upset or the need to deploy priority actions. Second premise: All aspects of well-being are interrelated and changes in one aspect have an effect on others. Although the results on the subjective well-being of children are presented on a segmented basis (on the one hand, overall satisfaction with life, and on the other, satisfaction in five aspects of life), we are aware that well-being cannot be divided into separate compartments or measured using unique indicators. We understand well-being from the comprehensive perspective in which the different parts of a child’s life are interrelated and their experiences in certain contexts have an effect on others. 36. http://institutinfancia.cat/noticies/jornada-de-debat-sobre-la-infancia-i-ladolescencia-amb-noves-diagnosis-i- retorn-de-lagenda-dels-infants/ 37. Photographs of the workshop can be consulted at the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/barcelona_cat/sets/72157703823564455 38. http://institutinfancia.cat/noticies/el-grup-altaveu-presenta-i-treballa-lagenda-dels-infants-amb-el-consell- municipal-de-benestar-social-i-lacord-ciutada-per-una-barcelona-inclusiva/ 39. http://institutinfancia.cat/mediateca/poster-les-11-demandes-de-lagenda-dels-infants/ 40. http://institutinfancia.cat/mediateca/informe-parlen-els-nens-i-nenes-el-benestar-subjectiu-de-la-infancia-a- barcelona/ 59 For example, a higher perceived personal autonomy results in the child feeling more satisfied with their security and how adults listen to them. Furthermore, children who perceive that ‘their parents listen to them and consider what they have to say’ are more satisfied with their school life in general, and children who consider that ‘their friends treat them well’, feel more secure at school. It is also worth noting that those who feel that ‘in the neighbourhood they live in, they have enough freedom to do what they want’ are more satisfied with the amount of free time they have and how they use it. 3.2 Ten findings on the well-being of children 1. Despite the satisfactory levels of well-being indicated by children aged between 10 and 12 in Barcelona, there is great room for improvement in terms of their satisfaction in life in general and the different, more specific aspects of their life In Barcelona, 3 out of 10 children aged between 10 and 12 indicate that they are not satisfied with their life in general. Of the 31% of children who said they were not satisfied, 8% stated that they were not at all or somewhat satisfied with life in general and 23% indicated that they were quite satisfied, but not satisfied enough. Of the 15 aspects of life subject to analysis, those scoring the lowest and in which children were not satisfied were the amount of free time available (53% not satisfied), their freedom (47%), student life (42%), the use of time (40%) and adult listening (38%). 60 2. Corroboration of the negative impact of certain living conditions on children's well-being The negative impact of certain aspects of living conditions inherent to the social structure, but not necessarily foreseeable, on the subjective well-being of children has been corroborated. Negative impacts: 1) living in an environment with just one parental figure; 2) living in low-income neighbourhoods or where there are limited resources, and 3) perceived physical or learning difficulties or any form of chronic illness. These results demonstrate the need to make a stronger commitment to equality and inclusion policies to minimise the negative impact of certain circumstances on the lives of children. Contrary to expectations, there was no evidence that the child’s gender had a negative impact on their overall satisfaction with life. However, it does have an impact on certain aspects of their lives: girls are less satisfied than boys with their bodies, their friendships and their perceived personal security, whereas boys are less satisfied than girls in terms of student life and school education. 61 Children whose parents are from a foreign country do tend to have a lower level of satisfaction with life. The negative impacts can be seen in specific aspects of their lives: they are less satisfied with their classmates and friendships, adult listening, the house they live in and, most importantly, the things they have. 3. The importance of certain experiences during childhood and how they have a particular impact on the well-being of children The analysis has shown us that certain experiences in childhood play an important role in many children's perception of overall well-being. Among these experiences, six are particularly important in promoting well-being (or hampering it). Thus, children are much more satisfied with their lives when: 1) they have a good time with their family; 2) they believe they have enough friends; 3) they feel that their parents give them freedom; 4) they feel secure at school; 5) they can relax, talk or have a good time with their family; and 6) they play or spend time outdoors. 62 4. It is not possible to ‘model’ the characteristics of children who are not at all or only somewhat satisfied with life in general, but it is possible to identify the conditions and experiences that promote or hinder well-being Research demonstrates the importance of considering both the impact of living conditions and specific experiences during childhood; however, it is not possible to ‘model’ the characteristics of the 8% of children who are not at all or only somewhat satisfied with life in general, as they span a wide range of profiles and circumstances. Therefore, children who are not at all or only somewhat satisfied with their life are not a specific type of child, rather they are children who are more likely than others to experience conditions that have been demonstrated as being harmful to a child’s well- being, or children who have been deprived of experiences that have been demonstrated as enhancing their well-being. 5. Self-esteem, health and free time are three key elements in children feeling satisfied with the personal aspects of their life Children emphasise the importance of feeling good about themselves in terms of their 63 satisfaction with life and the importance of receiving support from those around them when they feel sad or disheartened. In total, 27% of children are not satisfied with their bodies (negative responses were higher from girls) and they attribute this to the enforcement of beauty standards that girls feel more pressured to fulfil than boys. ‘Part of the survey asked you about your body and there are girls that feel badly about their body and in the magazines we're made to feel like we need to be amazing and we’re not. Some girls get so obsessed with their body that they have bad experiences’, said Georgina, from Sant Andreu. Health was the highest scoring aspect amongst children, and 85% responded that they were very satisfied in this area. The factors that had the biggest impact on satisfaction with health are personal difficulties (physical, learning or illness-related) and growing up in circumstances of limited resources. The main health problems reported related to stress (30% responded that they felt somewhat or very stressed) and difficulty sleeping (31%). They attribute this to pressure with studies and too much homework. Furthermore, to improve their health, they responded that healthy habits (rest, hygienes, etc.), physical activity and a good diet were all important factors. The data backs up the belief that children who participate in sport or physical exercise frequently are more satisfied with their health and body. Their satisfaction with free time is also worth noting, as this was the lowest scoring aspect (53% said they were not satisfied). In addition to dissatisfaction with the amount of free time, 40% were not happy with the way this time was spent. Children believe that they have to dedicate too much time to their studies and they do not have enough time for recreation and friendships. The figures speak for themselves: 71% assert that they have homework at least five days a week and 38% say that they do not play or spend time outdoors. In total, 26% said they do not relax, talk or have fun with their family often enough, despite this being one of the factors that has the biggest impact on children’s well- being. ‘As we have so much homework, we barely have any time to play’ or ‘Extracurricular activities take up a lot of time, I’d like to play outside or spend time with my friends’, said Pau from Nou Barris and Carla from Sarrià - Sant Gervasi, respectively. 6. Support and adults listening to them, family time and freedom: the three key aspects in children feeling satisfied with their family life The overall results for family life are very positive: 87% of children fully agree that people in their family are concerned for them and 82% responded that they feel secure at home. However, considering that a caring environment is essential, it is notable that 18% responded that they are not happy with the people they live with and 22% think that, if they were to have a problem, they would not receive support from their family. Research highlighted that children who live with just one parent (single-parent families or who mainly live with just one parent as a result of a separation or other factors) are generally less satisfied with life. Care must be taken to not misinterpret this aspect, as it does not necessarily mean that growing up in a two-parent family is beneficial. It merely suggests that single-parent families need to be given assistance through appropriate resources or support, as the problem is not the family structure, rather the resources (material and non- material) available to satisfy the children's needs. Therefore, for example, family time is easier to provide when there are two or more adults at home than when only one parent is available to the child. Only 6 out of 10 children talk to and relax with their family often (at least five days a week) and 3 out of 10 children say they never do this or do so just one or two days a week. They mentioned the work-life balance of their parents as the main obstacle in sharing this time with them, particularly in the case of children from low-income neighbourhoods with poorer employment conditions. 64 Furthermore, the way in which adults listen to children has been indicated as being very relevant to their well-being. However, 4 out of 10 children are not satisfied with the way adults listen to them. They do not think that adults take them seriously enough and that their opinions are not taken into account. ‘Adults don’t listen to you and always have to be right’, responded Paula, from Sant Andreu. Finally, they spoke about their degree of freedom. This is the second lowest scoring aspect: 47% of children are not satisfied with the degree of autonomy they have at home, for example, to play outside with their friends, which they attribute to overprotectiveness. It is worth noting that spending time outdoors is one of the factors that has the biggest impact on the well-being of children. ‘Adults being protective is good, but they should also allow us to decide certain things’, responded children from les Corts. 7. The well-being of children at school is not only linked to education, but their relationship with classmates, friendships and their teachers, in addition to feeling secure at school. School is not just an educational space for children, it is also a living space. Time spent at school, diversifying learning methods and participating in decision-making at school are all factors that have been indicated as important in a child feeling happy at school. Relationships and self-assurance are also important, insofar as they are to blame for most upsets. The difference between the figures of 26% that are not satisfied with school education and 42% that are not satisfied with student life indicates that school life is more than just the acquisition of knowledge. In terms of education, children said they feel more satisfied when working with computers and less with books, when involved in outdoor activities and when performing practical activities. Furthermore, 7 out of 10 children do not believe they have enough autonomy or ability to choose activities in the school environment. In terms of the causes of their dissatisfaction, they responded that they would like to have a space in which to express their views on school timetables or the amount of homework. ‘We want teachers to ask us for our opinion, for example, how to distribute the class’, said children from Eixample. In terms of relationships, 3 out of 10 children said they were not at all satisfied with their classmates and 2 out of 10 with their friends. Concerning teachers, 44% of children do not think they listen to them enough or are concerned enough about them, and 37% responded that they do not believe their teacher would support them if they had a problem. Conflictive relationships and, sometimes, bullying at school, has a significant adverse effect on children who are victims of these phenomena. Bullying is a group phenomenon and many children feel that violence tends to be trivialised. In total, 70% said that there were fights at least one day a week and 43% said that they have been left out at least once. At this point, it should be noted that feeling secure at school was one of the six experiences that most contributes to children's well-being. ‘If they don’t treat you well, you get anxious and then you just start feeling worse and worse’, responded Marc, from Sants- Montjuïc. Based on the research, it can also be concluded that children who report having a personal difficulty (physical, learning or illness-related) are less satisfied with all aspects of the school environment (student life, school education, relationships with friends and classmates). This suggests that specific support measures are needed for these children. ‘There are some children who don’t like their school and that might be because they have difficulty learning and this makes them nervous’, responded Gisela, from Sant Martí. 65 8. For children to feel satisfied with their neighbourhood and city, they need spaces where they can meet up with other children, have good relations with neighbours, and clean, safe neighbourhoods where they can move around freely Children aged between 10 and 12 in Barcelona responded that a good neighbourhood must be peaceful (synonymous for secure), fun (synonymous for community life), clean and quiet (synonymous for healthy). Based on this perspective, 3 out of 10 children have said they are not satisfied with their neighbourhood and 5 out of 10 responded that there are no play areas in their neighbourhoods, particularly in low-income areas. Despite being an essential aspect of well-being, 38% reported that they neither play nor spend enough time outdoors. ‘There are playgrounds, but they are for small children and we’re told we cannot go in as we’re too big. There are no play areas for children our age’, said Arnau, from Horta-Guinardó. Concerning neighbourhood relationships, the respondents said they have a good time when there are things to do in the neighbourhood, appreciating when neighbours know one another and when there are other children that they can play with. By contrast, 7 of out 10 children believe that the adults where they live do not listen to them enough and 6 out of 10 do not think they are friendly enough with them. ‘It is important to like your neighbourhood. Your neighbourhood is like your home, it’s important that you feel part of it’, responded Emma, from Gràcia. Finally, around half of children (49%) said they do not feel safe when moving around their neighbourhood, a concern which was raised more frequently by children living in low- income neighbourhoods. Children were unanimous in calling for less cars on the road, which they not only associated with reducing pollution, but also their safety and being able to travel by themselves. ‘I don’t like that they asked me whether I feel safe in my neighbourhood, as sometimes there are fights’, responded Àlex, from Ciutat Vella. 9. Children aged between 10 and 12 in Barcelona are aware of the existence of social inequalities, the different gender roles and the bigger difficulties facing children whose parents were born abroad Children demonstrated that they were aware of the adverse impact of social inequalities that afflict our society and asserted that having a home and having the necessary resources are essential conditions for the well-being of all children. Despite most children being happy with the house they live in (83%) and the things they have (79%), 22% are constantly or often concerned about their family’s finances, particularly children who live in low-income neighbourhoods. Furthermore, children living in low-income neighbourhoods and those with limited resources tend to be less satisfied with their life in general. In terms of gender perspective, children believe that they are educated to fill different roles, which they believe is unfair, insofar as expectations of them are dependent on their gender. As indicated above, despite gender not statistically having an impact on a child’s overall satisfaction, important differences between boys and girls have been found in specific aspects (finding 2). The impact on well-being of a child’s parents having been born abroad cannot be demonstrated sufficiently; however, there is evidence that links this factor to lower satisfaction with life and specific aspects (finding 2). The most significant difference in terms of satisfaction is reflected in the things they have: among the most dissatisfied, 64% have parents from abroad whereas 36% have Spanish parents. Qualitative research showed that children highly agreed with the fact that a child’s parents being from abroad may lead to discrimination in certain aspects of their daily life. 66 10. The more satisfied a child is with their life in general, the more likely they are to be happier, more optimistic and have a better outlook on the future Children who are satisfied with life in general feel happy (86%) and optimistic (87%), and also have a better outlook on their future (75%). By contrast, children who are less satisfied with their life are three times less likely to have a good outlook on the future (only 23% do). Despite the strong association, there is no direct relationship, as 25% of children do not have a good outlook of the future, despite being satisfied with their life in general. Material conditions, security, satisfaction with their body and feeling heard by adults are the aspects that have the biggest impact on children having a better or worse outlook on the future. During participatory workshops, children responded that the fact that 31% of their peers claimed that they were not satisfied with their life is a bad result and unanimously called for 100% of children feeling satisfied with their life. Promoting better conditions so that all the city’s children feel highly satisfied with their life would have an impact on their current well- being. Children would be happier, more optimistic and have a better outlook on the future. In addition, the future would also be better for city residents as a whole. 4. And, finally, what do children aged between 10 and 12 in Barcelona think we can do to improve their well-being? The city’s children have not only told us how they feel, they have also said how they can be made to feel better. In total, 5,000 proposals were made that need to be condensed down to analyse them in depth. As explained previously, the ‘Children’s agenda’ brings together the demands made by children from society and the proposals for converting everything they are unhappy with or concerned about into opportunities for well-being. Below, a number of the main proposals, divided into lines of action, can be consulted: Personal aspects: - Ensuring that adults promote children’s self-esteem and accepting their bodies. - Placing a greater emphasis on teaching them to care for themselves better and having healthier habits. - Dedicating more time to relaxing, talking and having a good time with their family. - Making it possible for them to spend less time on homework and have more time for recreation and spending time with their friends. Family aspects: - Having more time for being, sharing and having fun with the family. - Feeling more secure, considering that they receive support from their family if they have a problem. - Being heard by adults in their family and feeling that what they say is taken seriously. - Expanding their freedom and autonomy and feeling that their parents trust in their abilities. School aspects: - Greater space for participating in decision-making at school and diversifying learning methods. - Feeling more secure at school, considering that they receive support from their teachers if they have a problem. - Measures to prevent bullying and sparing no efforts to combat bullying should it occur. Neighbourhood aspects: - Spending more time outdoors, more outdoors activities with people from the neighbourhood. 67 - Sense that they receive support from their neighbours if they have a problem and promoting kindness between adults. - Having more spaces that are adapted to their needs to meet up with and play with other children. - Feeling safer when they move about and play in their neighbourhood. - Living in a greener, more peaceful, cleaner and pollution-free city. Social and cultural aspects: - Ensuring that all children have what they need to grow up in the city. - Enhancing awareness of what they have and making them value these things more. In short... Although there is no magical or mathematical formula for guaranteeing the well-being of children, ‘The children have their say’ has made it possible to shine a light (in the form of unparalleled quantitative and qualitative information about children’s well-being) on how to make sure Barcelona’s children live and grow up better. ‘Speak up’ has made it possible to identify not just the aspects with which Barcelona’s children are more or less satisfied, but also the areas for improvement in their well-being and the living conditions and childhood experiences that improve, or adversely affect, their well-being. Furthermore, it has also helped us to understand how overall satisfaction with life is related to happiness, optimism and outlook on the future. The diagnosis is merely the first step in defining improvement actions; although all the knowledge generated (how children perceive their health and how they feel about themselves, their family, home, friendships, school, hobbies and neighbourhood) is of great value. However, this is not the full extent of what the programme has to offer. In addition to generating all this knowledge, ‘Speak up’ has demonstrated that it is possible to do so based on children’s right to be heard and, in particular, it has shown that it is possible to do this recognising the ability of children to be key informants (stage 1 of the programme: survey), their ability to be coparticipants in the interpretation of data and the preparation of proposals for improvement (stage 2: analysis workshops and proposals), and, furthermore, their ability to make their proposals reach the city’s social and political agents, and discuss these proposals with them, first hand (stage 3: dialogue based on the ‘Children’s agenda’). The recognition of the twin benefits (participation and source of knowledge) by the different public and private agents, in addition to social initiatives, makes it possible for the programme to consolidate its position as a new permanent tool for obtaining knowledge, as part of the Observatori 0-17 BCN,41 which provides data, diagnostics and evidence to guide public policies affecting children and making Barcelona a progressively better city for children and adolescents. Acknowledgement We would like to thank Maria Truñó, the current Commissioner for Education at Barcelona City Council for the key role she played in ‘The children have their say’ as the head of the Barcelona Institute of Childhood and Adolescence during the first years of the programme (2016-2019). We would also like to thank the members of the core team for their invaluable input: Francesc Íñiguez and Maribel Jiménez, on behalf of the Barcelona Education Consortium; Àngels Cadena and Eugeni Torres, on behalf of the head teachers 41. https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/dretssocials/ca/content/observatori-0-17-bcn 68 of primary schools in Barcelona; Pep Villarreal, Pep Gómez, Sergi Martí, Maribel del Moral, Carles Gil and Clàudia Raya, on behalf of the Area of Social Rights at Barcelona City Council; Manel Punsoda, on behalf of the Area of Citizens’ Rights and Participation, and Joan Coma and Pilar Lleonart, on behalf of the Barcelona Municipal Education Institute. Finally, we would like to express our sincerest thanks to all the children and everybody else that has made the programme possible. Bibliography CASAS, F. (2011). ‘Subjective social indicators and child and adolescent well‐being’. Child Indicators Research, No. 4, p. 555-575. CASAS, F.; BELLO, A.; GONZÁLEZ, M.; ALIGUÉ, M.; BERTRÁN, I.; MONTSERRAT, C.; VON BREDOW, M. [et al.] (2012) Calidad de vida y bienestar infantil subjetivo en España. Madrid: UNICEF Spain. BUREAU INTERNACIONAL CATHOLIQUE DE L'ENFANCE (BICE) AND COMISSIÓ DE LA INFÀNCIA DE JUSTÍCIA I PAU. 20 anys de Convenció: la infància al món: 2009, vintè aniversari de la Convenció sobre els Drets de l'Infant (2009). Barcelona: Barcelona City Council, Civil Rights Department. DINISMAN, T.; REES, G. (2014). Children’s Worlds: Findings from the first wave of data collection. York, UK: Children’s Worlds. GARBARINO, J. (2014). ‘Ecological Perspective on Child Well‐Being’. A: BEN‐ARIEH, A.; CASAS, F.; FRONES, I.; KORBIN, J. E. (Ed.). Handbook Of Child Well‐Being: Theories, Methods and Policies in Global Perspective. Dordrecht: Springer Science + Business Media, p. 1365-1384. GRAHAM, A.; POWELL, M.; TAYLOR, N.; ANDERSON, D.; FITZGERALD, R. (2013). Investigación ética con niños. Florence: UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti. REES, G.; MAIN, G. (2015). Children’s views on their lives and well‐being in 15 countries: A report on the Children’s Worlds survey, 2013‐14. York, UK: Children’s Worlds. The bibliography of the ‘The children have their say: The Subjective Well-Being of Children in Barcelona ’, BARCELONA INSTITUTE OF CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE, IIAB- IERMB and Barcelona City Council, 2019 can be consulted at the following link: http://institutinfancia.cat/mediateca/informe-parlen-els-nens-i-nenes-el-benestar-subjectiu- de-la-infancia-a-barcelona/ 69 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Keywords: community, participation, Journal on soc ial knowledge and analysis Neighbourhoods Plan The Baobab programme: promoting community recreation Núria Comas and Marçal Farré Analysts at the Catalan Institute of Public Policy Evaluation 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. 1. Community-based educational recreation and social inequalities Educational recreation has been identified by organisations such as UNESCO and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as a positive element that equalises social and educational opportunities among children and youth. This definition has been ratified by many evaluations and meta-analyses on the subject. Altogether, they draw the conclusion that educational recreation actions can have positive effects on participants’ academic performance, motivation, expectations, behaviour and socio-emotional skills (improved self-concept, self-esteem, critical capacity, fewer risk- taking practices etc.) Furthermore, research results also show that some benefits are especially marked among the most disadvantaged children and youth (González, 2016). Nonetheless, access to educational recreation has often been shown to be unequally distributed among the different population groups. While the link can vary depending on the type of recreation activity under consideration, a clear association can usually be made between the socio-economic and cultural level of families and participation in educational recreation activities (Catalan Ombudsman’s Office, 2014). The factors that can intervene in these differences in levels of participation in educational recreation activities are various. The Catalan Ombudsman’s Office (Síndic de Greuges) points to differences in how the use of recreation time is evaluated by families depending on their educational capital and 70 the costs (direct and opportunity) of accessing recreation activities as especially influential variables, denouncing existing territorial inequalities in the availability of the offer. Among the different educational recreation opportunities, the one that take place as a community practice (also called educational associationism), developed in the scout and guide movements and voluntary youth clubs, is usually related to beneficial effects not only for the children and youth participants, but also for the community. The link with volunteerism and the promotion of critical spirit, active citizenship and values such as inclusion and respect for the environment make educational recreation activities potential opportunities for transformation and community reinforcement (Educational Alliance 360, 2019). Having said this, these types of educational recreation activities are not devoid of the social inequality we mentioned earlier. Recently available data demonstrates that there is a major territorial inequality in access to these types of recreation activities in Barcelona city. According to a report compiled by the PRISMA - Youth Observatory analysis unit of Barcelona City Council (Estivill and Guasch, 2018), in the 2016-2017 school year there were 131 educational recreation organisations in the city, in which a total of 2,880 young people (supervisors, leaders and federation representatives) and 17,147 children and adolescents were involved. However, their distribution in the territory is quite unequal, as shown in Figure 1. While some neighbourhoods have several organisations, in 23 of them there are none. These neighbourhoods are some of the areas with the lowest disposable family income, although in others disposable income is higher. 2. The theory of the Baobab programme: what does it hope to achieve and how? 2.1 What problem or unsatisfactory situation does the Baobab programme address? In 2016, and as part of the Neighbourhood Plan, the Barcelona Municipal Institute of Education launched the Baobab programme with the aim of addressing the situation of social and territorial inequality in access and participation in community-based recreation organisations. This is, therefore, the programme’s reason for being. To address this 71 situation of inequality, the Baobab programme focuses its action in Barcelona’s priority neighbourhoods, identified in a diagnosis made in 2016. Its target population is specifically the young children and youth living in these neighbourhoods, who lack community educational recreation opportunities. Some of the main causes of this problem are considered to be the weak social fabric of these neighbourhoods, the lack of social recognition of educational recreation and the low number of young children and youth involved in participatory spaces. Hence, the strategy will mainly focus on addressing these matters. 2.2 Which strategic objectives or impacts does this programme hope to achieve? First, the programme aims to intervene in the volume and quality of the educational recreation offer through (1) introducing new community recreation options in neighbourhoods where there are none or where the options are considered as insufficient; and (2) reinforcing and helping existing organisations to grow. A second aim is to intervene in the demand for educational recreation. To this effect, the programme is designed to (3) raise the profile and social recognition of community educational recreation activities, which must not only encourage new links between children and youth and recreation options, but must also guarantee a sustainable future for educational recreation organisations and their associated fabric. In line with the theory of the programme, fulfilling these three objectives must guarantee children and youth access to community recreation, which will ultimately mean improving their educational opportunities. 2.3 What activities are developed in the programme? In order to achieve these objectives, the main strategies of the Baobab programme are to encourage and support youth in the target neighbourhoods in the process of creating and consolidating new recreation options, and to help already existing recreation organisations in the territory to grow and become consolidated. These strategies include activities such as doing public presentations in primary and secondary schools to explain what community recreation is; identifying the young people interested in promoting recreation options or generally getting involved; offering guidance services for creating youth clubs and scout groups; providing and subsidising training in recreation; supporting existing recreation organisations; and activating the socio-educational and recreation fabric. In parallel, the programme aims to raise awareness of recreation through promoting the socio-educational and recreation fabric of the neighbourhood, and offering taster sessions so that children, youth, families and the community can have a first experience of the methodology of community-based educational recreation. The main action of this type are the urban camps, a free recreation experience directed at children aged 4 to 12 years old, which take place in August. This set of activities and strategies is implemented by a technical team made up of four neighbourhood coordinators (each of them covering two or three neighbourhoods), and two professionals whose task is to ensure that the project develops consistently across all the territories. It must be noted that while the objectives are quite clear and common among the different people responsible for the programme, the way they are transformed into activities varies significantly depending on the characteristics of the neighbourhood and the direction the project takes. To this effect, it must be remembered that the Baobab programme is designed to progress through networking with the stakeholders present in each neighbourhood. Hence, in the initial phase of deployment in each neighbourhood, many of the activities included in the programme are directed at making the programme known and creating consensuses from which shared action proposals are formed. The premise is that this work enables the target population to be reached through the stakeholders and resources that are already linked to it. However, it is true that this aspect 72 of the programme makes evaluation based on a single model that has clearly limited activity categories and unambiguous links between these and the objectives difficult and all the more complex. The described proposal emerged from discussion and consensus among those responsible for the programme, and is an approach from which information was obtained and the deployment of the programme evaluated. The main elements are described below in diagram form: Once the theory of the change of the programme was clarified, the objectives of the implementation evaluation carried out by Ivàlua were to provide feedback on the activities developed and the resulting products, and to identify enabling and limiting factors to achieving the programme's intended impact. The results of this analysis are given in the following section: 3 The implementation of the Baobab programme The Baobab programme has been implemented gradually; in 2016, it started its activity in the neighbourhoods of Trinitat Nova, Baró de Viver and Besòs i el Maresme; in 2017, the neighbourhoods of Trinitat Vella, Marina de Port and Marina del Prat Vermell, and Verneda i la Pau were added; and in 2018, Sant Genís dels Agudells, La Teixonera and Bon Pastor. In this section, the general situation of the programme in the set of the nine target neighbourhoods is described, in line with the theory outlined in the previous section. The data provided shows the status of the programme and the state of health of associative recreation as of December 2018, and combines quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Given that a more extensive qualitative analysis was made of three of the neighbourhoods where the Baobab programme has been implemented (La Trinitat Nova, La Verneda i La Pau and Sant Genís dels Agudells), some of the results and conclusions identified will be exemplified with cases relating to this neighbourhood. 3.1 Presence of recreation organisations in the target neighbourhoods The data available on the presence of scout groups and youth clubs in the neighbourhoods where the Baobab programme is implemented only provide us with a static indicator of the characteristics of associative recreation in these neighbourhoods, since we do not have any data on the evolution of the number of entities or the level of participation among children and youth during the period the programme has been in operation. Of note is the fact that figures for the neighbourhoods where the Baobab 73 programme is implemented are far below the average for Barcelona. A total of 11 consolidated recreation organisations and three in the gestation process were identified, which together involve 151 young people and 433 children and adolescents. The total number of participants represents 2.8% of children and adolescents registered as living in these neighbourhoods, and 1.6% of young people. This proportion is far from figures for the city in general. The report entitled Diagnosi de les entitats de lleure educatiu a la ciutat [Diagnosis of the educational recreation organisations of the city] (Estivill and Guasch, 2018) includes the same estimate for the whole city and for its 10 districts based on data for the academic year 2016-2017, establishing that the total number of young people and adolescents taking part in a youth club or scout group in Barcelona represents 9.5% of the youth and adolescent population. The presence of organisations and participation in educational recreation vary significantly among the different neighbourhoods where the programme is implemented. In this sense, while the neighbourhood Besòs i el Maresme has three recreation organisations in which 4.8% of the child and adolescent population registered as living in the neighbourhood take part, Bon Pastor has just one small organisation, which is only loosely linked with the territory, in which 15 children take part, the equivalent to just 0.8% of the child and adolescent population. Below is a graph showing this indicator for each of the target neighbourhoods. 74 Regarding the number of participants per organisation, the lowest is 15 children in the smallest organisation and the highest is 50 in the largest one. According to those responsible for the programme, these figures show that the organisations still have a large margin for growth without compromising either the individualised attention received or educational quality. 3.2 Boosting new community recreation proposals Boosting new community recreation proposals is one of the Baobab programmes’ objectives, both in the neighbourhoods that have no recreation organisations (Sant Genís dels Agudells and Baró de Viver) and the neighbourhoods where it is considered that creating a new organisation would be the most effective way of increasing the educational recreation offer. In 2018, the Baobab programme was involved in implementing three recreation proposals in the neighbourhoods of La Verneda and La Pau, Baró de Viver and Sant Genís dels Agudells, and it has continued to provide support in creating the Trini Nova Scout Group which, at the end of the year, was already registered with the federation.42 As mentioned previously, the specific strategies the programme's technical team have followed to achieve this objective have been different in each of the neighbourhoods. Nonetheless, a series of stages can be identified through which all new initiatives should pass. The process begins with finding the young people who may be interested in promoting recreation activities, followed by their organisation into a driving group that begins to work on formulating a recreation proposal with the support of those responsible for the Baobab programme. The educational recreation activities proposed are piloted in the public space, and they must be a way to raise the profile of the activity and involve children in the neighbourhood. The activities must take place regularly and be integrated into a recreation federation. The projects that are in the phase between constituting the power group and consolidating a regular recreation activity are called projects in gestation. 42. The recreation project that began in Sant Genís dels Agudells also joined the Catalan Scout Federation in 2019. 75 The evaluation of the programme has enabled us to explore the factors that may have contributed to the successful gestation of new recreation initiatives, and in particular those to do with the involvement of young people. In the case of Sant Genís dels Agudells, different professionals in the neighbourhood identify as decisive elements the presence of a person specifically committed to activating the youth population with whom they have contact, and the fact that the young people have premises where they can meet. In the case of La Trinitat Nova, the commitment of a local school, Institut Escola, has facilitated the start of new activities: ‘The school offered me an open playground, the keys, insurance cover for the children. [Name of the community animator of Institut Escola] said to me that if anything happened the school, [insurance] would cover it, which was when I really threw myself into it. After that, I had more contact with Baobab, which is when [name of the Baobab representative] talked to me directly and started to really go all out, talking to me every day saying we're going to do this and that, let's meet up, and so on’. (Supervisor) 3.3 Reinforcing recreation options As we have already seen, participation in recreation organisations in the target neighbourhoods is lower than the city average. In this context, involving new children and youth in already consolidated organisations is the most direct way to reverse this situation. According to the programme’s technical group, the incorporation of new children must be paralleled with the construction of more diverse and inclusive scout groups and youth clubs, given that one of the conclusions of the diagnosis made when the programme first started operating was that the existing scout groups and youth clubs in the target neighbourhoods did not cater for the child population in their territories from a socio- economic perspective or in terms of the schools they attended. A total of 134 young people and 389 children and adolescents took part in the 11 organisations consolidated in the Baobab programme’s target territories in 2018, among which 57 young people and 92 children became members for the first time in the 2018- 2019 school year, representing 42.5% and 23.7% of participants, respectively. No data for the previous years are available and, therefore, the evolution over time of the number of participants is unknown. From now on, however, this evolution will be monitored thanks to data collected in 2018. 76 Regarding children’s involvement, the school emerges as the main route of entry to the programme. To this effect, the coordinators of the Baobab programme have held meetings with educators and social integration technicians (TIS) in schools in most of the target neighbourhoods (Trinitat Vella, Baró de Viver, La Verneda and La Pau, Besòs i el Maresme, La Marina), and in some cases presentations have been made or access to recreation organisations has been granted in order to organise one-off activities. Different collaborations have also been explored involving both social services and schools, such as the ‘vincular per educar’ [‘get involved to educate’] project, This initiative has been implemented in the neighbourhoods of La Marina, and the local school (El Polvorí), social services, the Baobab technical team, and the Young children, Adolescent and Families Table (TIAF) are all involved. The role of the coordinators of the Baobab programme is to bridge the gap between neighbourhood families and recreation organisations with the aim of getting children involved. In parallel, the Baobab programme has also ensured that existing recreation organisations carry out actions that encourage new members to join. To give an example, fun activities in busy public spaces have been promoted, and initiatives such as ‘The friend day’ have been set in motion, where child participants are asked to bring a friend to the youth club or the scout group. Last, the urban camps, which we will talk about later in greater depth, are an activity whose main aim is to raise the profile of recreation in the neighbourhood, but which is hoped will also serve as a way of getting new children and supervisors involved. As part of this strategy, in the 2018 edition of the camps, some new activities were programmed to take place in the local premises of youth clubs and scout groups to give the supervisors of these organisations the chance to raise awareness about their activities and inform families. A list of the families interested in getting involved in a recreation organisation during the year was compiled, which was then made available to the corresponding scout groups in the neighbourhood. While several children have gone on to form part of scout groups and youth clubs thanks to this process, the perception among the programme's technical team is that the urban camp's involvement strategy was unequal among neighbourhoods, and that it was more successful where the supervisors of the youth clubs and scout groups themselves were able to carry out the task of monitoring and providing information to the families. 77 The evaluation has enabled us to identify an element that the stakeholders involved in the programme have linked to the success of scout groups, youth clubs and newly-created projects in attracting new children: visibility and the recognition gained by the young people involved in the educational recreation activities. The paradigmatic case is the Trini Nova Scout Group, some of the supervisors of which are in positions that are visible to the children and families (in schools and other childhood services), and they have a close relationship with neighbourhood's education professionals. ‘If a school knows about us, but considers that the young people are immature and they don't trust them... then this means that they don't refer the children to us, and so we are flogging a dead horse trying to get the school to give us spaces for these young people to go there on Saturdays [...] sometimes it is who we contract to work with us, I mean, contracting young people from the neighbourhood really helps with getting the neighbourhood's young people involved [...]’ (Baobab programme technician) ‘I’ve really noticed too that now that I’m working in the dining room [...], I always have a group of kids asking me things, they are always asking me this, that, and the other about the scout group [...] They tell me things, and they trust me because I’m young, and that’s what’s important, mobilising the young people’ (supervisor) Beyond the involvement of children and young people, the Baobab programme provides recreation organisations with the help and support that must guarantee their reinforcement and contribute to their sustainability. To this effect, the coordinator of the programme is responsible for detecting the needs of each organisation and formulating proposals based on them, providing support and monitoring progress. Among the issues addressed are guidance for managing the resources the organisation has at its disposal (for example, subsidies and the premises), group dynamics, educational strategies, and relations with the territory and the network. What came out in both the discussion groups in which the territorial stakeholders took part and the interviews conducted with the programme coordinators was the feeling that the most visible activities and those most highly rated by the recreation organisation were the ones to do with connecting these organisations with the territorial fabric. To this effect, those responsible for the programme work to put the recreation organisations in touch and involved with the different stakeholders, be they professional or associative, and with networking spaces such as recreation and socio- educational tables. One of the programme's stated objectives is to ensure that it is the young people from the neighbourhood itself that lead the recreation activities. While this objective is shared by the different stakeholders in the territory, it is also understood as one of the main challenges. ‘It would be great if the supervisors were from the neighbourhood [...] I think this is something that has to be achieved gradually [...[ They have to do the training, they have to be old enough, they have to want to do it [...] but what happens is that it is very difficult to start off with a team of people from the neighbourhood [...] maybe the ones who come now are the ones who will form part [of it] later on, because they will have lived the experience themselves [...] I think that will come in later years’ (school head teacher) There is consensus that one of the first prerequisites for this to happen is that the young people in the territory receive adequate training to be able to carry out the recreation activities. To this effect, those responsible for the Baobab programme develop training interventions based on the needs they detect in the organisations, and they periodically subsidise courses. In 2018, Baobab directly provided training for groups of supervisors in 78 the neighbourhoods of Trinitat Nova, La Marina and Sant Genís dels Agudells (44 participants in total), and it subsidised the training of five young people involved in organisations in La Verneda i La Pau, La Teixonera, and in the project in gestation in Sant Genís dels Agudells. While the subsidised training enables them to obtain a qualification as a recreation supervisor or a recreation director, the training provided directly by Baobab’s team of professionals is directed at groups of supervisors to improve group cohesion and operating dynamics. Apart from the subsidised training and the training provided directly by those responsible for the programme, a third activity is identified which can be placed somewhere between training, group cohesion, and attracting and involving young people, these are the young people’s days. They are usually organised in conjunction with the associative and recreation fabric of the territory and they combine training, participation and reflection, and fun activities all in one day. 3.4 Raising the profile of recreation in the neighbourhoods The profile of educational recreation in the target neighbourhoods is considered as a necessary prerequisite to achieving the previously mentioned goals, and also to ensure the sustainability of the recreation offer beyond the boost given by the Baobab programme and other actions within the framework of the Neighbourhoods Plan. The Baobab programme starts from the premise that there is no tradition of community recreation in many of its target neighbourhoods, and that in many cases neither is there the demand for offering recreation activities in the neighbourhood. ‘Baobab is an exercise [...] of social engineering ... Nobody actually asks for the Baobab programme [...] because if there has never been a youth club there, or there hasn’t been one there for twenty years, the people went to the square, or at most played football, and this wasn’t a priority at all. This is a technical approach’ (neighbourhood technician) This is why awareness must be raised about what educational recreation is, and what it can bring to children, families and the neighbourhood in general, so that having a recreation offer becomes a shared goal. The way the profile of recreation is looked to be raised is through offering one-off activities or recreation tasters, on the one hand, and through participation and promotion of the recreation and socio-economic fabric on the other, to secure the commitment of all the stakeholders in fomenting community recreation. The recreation tasters are designed to offer the target population a first experience of the methodology of community-based educational recreation, under the hypothesis that this experience will manage to awaken the children’s, adolescents’ and families’ curiosity to take part in community education actions the rest of the school year. The urban camps are the main action of this type and are also the programme's most iconic one. In the 2018 edition, the urban camps were implemented in the nine target neighbourhoods previously mentioned, in two blocks of a fortnight each in August, and with the timetable Monday to Friday 10 am to 5 pm. A total of 666 children and 60 supervisors took part in them. Regarding the focus on the target population, 81.8% of the children that took part in the camps did not take part in recreation activities during the year, an important piece of data given that the camps are mainly directed at this profile of children. This percentage is higher in the case of Bon Pastor (98.8%), a neighbourhood that has a recreation organisation in which just 15 children take part, and lower in the case of Besòs i el 79 Maresme (56.6%), where there are three consolidated recreation organisations with over 40 children involved in each. Last, with regards to the supervisors, 42 were young people from the territory where the urban camp took place, and 18 were not. This percentage is higher in La Marina and Besòs i el Maresme, where all the supervisors were from the neighbourhood, and lower in the case of Sant Genís dels Agudells, where there was just one supervisor from the neighbourhood. Compared with the previous year, there was an increase in the number of supervisors from the territory, rising from 59.2% to 68.3%. 4. Conclusions and future challenges In the three years the Baobab programme has been in operation, we have seen its evolution towards securing trusting relationships and alliances in the various neighbourhoods, which have enabled ambitious proposals to be launched. In 2018, the first recreation organisation to emerge with the support of the Baobab programme was formed, and three more proposals also arose, two of which started to pilot recreation 80 activities on Saturdays. This year, one of them, in the neighbourhood of Sant Genís dels Agudells, has joined the federation of educational recreation activities. The consolidation of the other projects, which are still in the gestation stage, could mean that the programme's nine target neighbourhoods will have at least one recreation organisation in operation. Nonetheless, as we have seen, participation in these recreation organisations is still way below the average for the city as a whole. Subsequently, the need that initially motivated the programme is still relevant. The evaluation of the programme carried out by Ivàlua in 2017 and 2018 has helped to systematise strategies for formulating new educational recreation proposals and identifying possible success factors: the establishment of collaborative relationships with powerful stakeholders that share the diagnosis and main strategic lines of the programme, the follow-up of the families, and supervisors’ visibility and recognition as a way of attracting new children. To this effect, we recommend strengthening alliances among stakeholders and educational resources that can raise the profile of the supervisors in their territories, conferring them recognition among the neighbourhood’s other professionals and technicians, and seeking incentives that can contribute to motivating young people to commit to and remain involved in educational associationism. Maintaining and reinforcing the actions designed to take advantage of the urban camps as a strategy to get children and young people involved in the educational recreation organisations in each neighbourhood is also recommended, taking into account the fact that this is one of their main objectives, and also as a way of raising the profile and reinforcing the organisations already present in the territory. Furthermore, regarding broadening and guaranteeing the sustainability of the task initiated by the Baobab programme, ways of intervening on a city level need to be found so that recreation federations and the resources designated to associationism incorporate the goal of reinforcing the recreation organisations in the programme's target neighbourhoods, where educational associationism is still weak. Lastly, the importance of effectively monitoring and evaluating the programme must not be forgotten. The Baobab programme has been under constant evaluation since its early stages, providing a rich flow of information that has fed the design of the strategy and the programme's activities. This is one of the valuable elements evaluation has contributed to the ongoing improvement of the programme, especially in terms of the actions which, like the Baobab programme, are in the gestation stage of implementation and are subject to various and uncertain factors. Hence, it is recommended that this work be continued and further data collected to observe the evolution of the main indicators of the programme and be able, in parallel, to make a qualitative reflective evaluation. In short, the aim is to obtain all the data needed to be able to reflect on the programme’s operation and results and implement actions to improve it. Bibliography ALEGRE, MIQUEL ÀNGEL; COMAS, NÚRIA; FARRÉ, MARÇAL. Avaluació de la implementació del programa Baobab (Pla de Barris). Barcelona: Catalan Institute of Public Policy Evaluation (Ivàlua), 2017. ALIANÇA EDUCACIÓ 360. Competències per a la vida en el lleure educatiu. Barcelona: Jaume Bofill Foundation, 2019. 81 ESTIVILL, JORDI; GUASCH, NÚRIA. Diagnosi de les entitats de lleure educatiu a la ciutat. Barcelona: PRISMA - Youth Observatory, Barcelona City Council, 2018. ESTIVILL, JORDI; GUASCH, NÚRIA. [Non-published report] Informe sobre l'estat de l'associacionisme educatiu de base comunitària. 2017-2018. PRISMA - Youth Observatory, Barcelona City Council, 2019. GONZÁLEZ, SHEILA. Quin impacte tenen les activitats extraescolars sobre els aprenentatges dels infants i joves? Barcelona: Jaume Bofill Foundation and the Catalan Institute of Public Policy Evaluation (Ivàlua), 2016. (What works in education;4) MESURA DE GOVERN PER GARANTIR I MILLORAR LA INCIDÈNCIA DE L’ASSOCIACIONISME EDUCATIU DE BASE COMUNITÀRIA A LA CIUTAT. Barcelona: Barcelona City Council, 2018. THE CATALAN OMBUDSMAN’S OFFICE. Informe sobre el dret al lleure educatiu i a les sortides escolars. Barcelona: The Catalan Ombudsman’s Office, 2014. 82 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Keywords: educational exclusion, early school leaving, second chance, support, Journal on so cial knowledge and analysis guidance Municipal Second Chance School: a new socio-educational service on social knowledge and analysis to combat early school leaving Jordi Grau43 and Laia Herrera 44 The Municipal Second Chance School was created as a new socio-educational service to combat school dropout and unemployment among adolescents and young people who are in a situation of vulnerability and educational exclusion. The service aims to train and integrate these young people so that they can create their own life project and return to the education system or undertake a professional project. This new service falls within the framework of the educational equality policies promoted during the 2015-2019 term of office, which offer educational opportunities to adolescents and young people in the city. This service has been promoted by Barcelona's Municipal Institute of Education, in collaboration with the Area of Social Rights. The service is presented in a pilot-test phase and is characterised by its comprehensive approach and individualised attention, especially in its tutorial activities and coordination with other city mechanisms which work with the city's most disadvantaged adolescents and young people. 1. Presentation of the Municipal Second Chance School (EM2O) There are few mechanisms that enable the reintegration of young people45 who dropped out of school early and who have other social variables to take into account in addition to education. The Municipal Second Chance School, promoted by Barcelona’s Municipal Institute of Education in collaboration with the Area of Social Rights, was created as a new socio- educational service for adolescents and young people who are in a situation of 43. Project Manager at the Manager's office of the Municipal Institute of Education (IMEB 44. Project Technical Officer for the BCN Vocational Training Foundation 45. Young people are considered to be members of the population between the ages of 12 and 25. Adolescents are considered to be members of the population between the ages of 12 and 16. 83 vulnerability and educational exclusion.46 The service aims to train and integrate these young people so that they can create their own life project and return to the education system or undertake a professional project that will help them to find a job. The aim of this new service is to help reduce the rate of early school leaving (ESL) and it falls within the framework of the educational equality policies that offer educational opportunities to adolescents and young people in the city. 2. Early school leaving Reducing the early school leaving rate is one of the priorities of the current educational agenda, both for international bodies (the European Union, the Organisation for Cooperation and Economic Development, UNESCO, etc.) and state, regional and local governments. And it is not surprising, given the large quantity of resources dedicated to it, that it is still a major educational and social problem. ESL is a concept that can be defined from various perspectives. In the official environment of the EU, it is defined as: “The percentage of the population between the ages of 18 and 24 that have achieved, at most, the first stage of secondary education, compared to the whole population of the same age group.” 47 In Spain and in Catalonia, ESL affects nearly 17% of young people, a percentage that is much higher than the average for the European Union, which is 10% (according to Eurostat48and Idescat49 sources) and a long way from the targets set by the EU. However, the compulsory secondary education (ESO) graduation rates have significantly improved over the last decade, reaching the current rate of 88.6%.50 3. The profile of young people in an ESL situation Deciding whether or not to continue studying after completing compulsory education (which is until the age of 16 in Spain and Catalonia) depends on many factors, including the characteristics of the young person and their family environment (socio-economic status, gender, origin, etc.), but also the dynamics of the education centres themselves and the type of support provided for the transition to post-compulsory education, etc. These are young people who have experienced a series of failures. Demotivated young people who do not believe in themselves, who have normalised a stereotyped social labelling —the ni-nis— [neither-nors] and who encounter many difficulties in their personal and social development. As Aina Tarabini says, they do not feel they are part of the educational institution; what they are studying doesn't make sense to them and they believe that studying “isn't for them”.51 The factors that characterise young people who leave school early include:  lagging behind in most areas of the curriculum,  problems of self-esteem and confidence in their own abilities, 46. The concept of educational exclusion includes educational phenomena from the perspective of rights and social justice. It highlights the fact that the extent of educational cover is not sufficient to guarantee the right to education for all children and young people. The fact of being excluded or included in the system not only means access, but also the process and the results, of educational experiences and the acquisition of knowledge (Bonal, 2012). 47. http://ensenyament.gencat.cat/ca/departament/estadistiques/indicadors/europeus/abandonament-prematur/ 48. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=t2020_40&plugin=1 49. https://www.idescat.cat/indicadors/?id=ue&n=10101 50. http://ensenyament.gencat.cat/web/.content/home/departament/estadistiques/indicadors/sistema- educatiu/rendiment-escolar/a0711.xlsx 51. https://www.fbofill.cat/sites/default/files/IB_65_abandonamentescolar_WEB.pdf 84  being highly demotivated in terms of education,  an inability to exercise educational, social or employment skills,  rejecting school,  absenteeism,  disruptive behaviour and  the risk of presenting serious addictive behaviour. Various resources have been coordinated to combat ESL for quite some time, with notable success, including the Barcelona Education Consortium's Guidance Service - Youth Plan, which focuses particularly on the transition between the compulsory and post-compulsory stages. However, there continues to be a large number of young people for whom these resources are not sufficient and who end up dropping out of education. For these young people, other, more intensive educational and also cultural resources are required. Resources characterised by a comprehensive approach, assistance that is intensive and sustained over time. The Municipal Second Chance School (EM2O) aims to approach the problem using a holistic strategy in order to fill this gap and provide a solution for these young people. 4. Second Chance Schools The concept of second chance schools (E2O) was spawned by an initiative described in 1995, in the White Paper on Education and Training. Teaching and learning, towards the learning society, which was published by the European Commission. One of the main objectives was “to offer young people who are on the verge of being, or already are, excluded from the education system the best opportunities for training and the best context for acquiring self-confidence, based on three main ideas: innovative training to reinforce basic skills, support in social aspects and practical experience in associated companies”52. The first E2O experience at a European level was initiated in France in 1997, with the school in Marseilles. It now has a network of 130 centres identified as “écoles de la 2e Chance”, many of which have been up and running for over ten years53. These centres offer personalised solutions to young people who have dropped out of the school system without having any academic qualifications in order to get them into employment. They have major support from local and regional administrations and close ties with business sectors. These business sectors provide the young people with the opportunity of work placements and pave the way for entering the job market. Other countries that have also developed Second Chance Schools include Germany, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Sweden54. In the United States there are a variety of initiatives that are similar to the second chance concept, including iPASS55 (focused on continuing studies after the High School stage) or some Charter Schools56, such as the John V. Lindsay Wildcat Academy Charter School.57 The first initiatives in Spain date back to the 1980s and include a strong social component to help combat the exclusion of young people in risk situations, against a background of 52. https://publications.europa.eu/es/publication-detail/-/publication/d0a8aa7a-5311-4eee-904c- 98fa541108d8/language-es 53. https://reseau-e2c.fr/ 54. http://www.e2c-europe.org/images/e2c/documents/List_of_members.pdf 55. https://strongstart.org/why-a-strong-start/about 56. https://charterschoolcenter.ed.gov/charter-schools-usa 57. https://www.jvlwildcat.org/ 85 extreme economic crisis. They include Peñascal Kooperatiba,58 in the Basque Country, and the Fundación Ilundain59 in the Autonomous Community of Navarre. They all began as non-profit private initiatives. Later on, in 2004 in Catalonia, the Fundació El Llindar began its work in Cornellà de Llobregat. El Llindar is an organisation that promotes alternative and innovative educational and professional training activities for young people between the ages of 12 and 25 who, due to their personal fragility and a history of failure and dropping out, are unsuited to the various regulated education offers60. In 2016, the Spanish Association of Second Chance Schools was constituted, with the aim of providing solutions for all young people without jobs or qualifications in Spain, by means of developing a national model of second chance schools (E2O). It was promoted by the Fundación Federico Ozanam, the Fundación Tomillo, the Peñascal Kooperatiba, the Fundació Adsis, the Fundació El Llindar and the Fundación Proyecto Don Bosco. It currently has over thirty associated organisations. This association has defined protocols that make it possible to identify and recognise second chance schools, through their own accreditation process.61 There are five accredited schools in Catalonia. 5. Barcelona’s Municipal Second Chance School Project The design of this new service was based on the following aspects:  The conclusions of the working group on the Second Chance Model for Barcelona, organised by the BCN Vocational Training Foundation (2017-2018).  The study “Young people who need work or educational placement. A socio- demographic analysis for the City of Barcelona”, a report produced by the Vocational Training Observatory, belonging to the BCN Vocational Training Foundation (May 2017)62.  The report on the definition of an E2O model that the City Council commissioned the Spanish Association of Second Chance Schools to produce (AEE2O) (2018).  The new opportunity centres project (CNO), from the Catalan Employment Service (SOC) (2015-2017)63.  Knowledge gained from the projects developed by the Escola Pia de Catalunya64, the Fundació Adsis65, the Fundació El Llindar, the Fundación Ilundain Haritz Berri, the Fundació Intermèdia66, the Peñascal Kooperatiba and Salesians Sant Jordi67. 6. Why the name school and chances? The name school may cause some controversy, given that it is not a regulated centre. The decision to call it a school arises from the wish to include this new service in the education 58. http://www.fundacion-ilundain.com/breve-historia/ 59. http://www.elllindar.org/que-som/ 60. https://www.e2oespana.org/ 61. https://www.slideshare.net/Barcelona_cat/joves-amb-necessitat-dinsercieducativa- o-laboral-77750043 62. http://calassanci.escolapia.cat/ 63. https://www.fundacionadsis.org/cat 64. http://calassanci.escolapia.cat/ 65. https://www.fundacionadsis.org/ca 66. https://www.fundaciointermedia.org/ 67. https://www.salesianssantjordi.org 86 system, as one more educational alternative. The school is within a facility conceived as a place for reconnecting young people with the education system, with learning. We call it a school, but it is obviously not a regulated centre. Although there is extensive literature on second chances in the area of compensatory education policies, which even mentions Decree 150/2017 on educational assistance for students as part of an inclusive education system68, no administration has formulated a regulatory framework in which they can be developed. Chances in plural [in Catalan], because educational life is very long and has infinite opportunities. The school makes it possible to offer flexible training itineraries that are personalised and have continuity. This helps adolescents and young people who are in a situation of fragility, vulnerability and with special difficulties to reconnect with society. 7. Description of the new service The EM2O began life as a municipal service. The management of the centre was allocated through a services contract that was put out to tender in December 2018, and was awarded in mid May 2019 to the TBA (temporary business association) formed by Fundació El Llindar and Salesians Sant Jordi. These are two of the leading organisations in Spain with regard to their respective second chance school projects (see Point 5). The service is located in a facility that has been completely refurbished, at Carrer de Capella 10, in Navas, a neighbourhood in the district of Sant Andreu. Its activities began in September 2019 with thirty young people, and it will be expanded over the next two years (extendible for one more year) until reaching a maximum of ninety young people. The EM2O aims to return young school leavers to the educational system. We understand this return to mean that, when the young people finish the EM2O programme, they are able to begin post-compulsory training or enter the job market, having been provided with tools that improve their conditions for beginning their professional lives. Since the beginning of the crisis, unemployment has affected more those young people with less studies: the difference between the unemployment rate of young people who, at the most, have the compulsory education and those who have post-compulsory education, is higher and it is almost the triple (39% and 14.3%, respectively). Education is, therefore, a key element in having a relatively safer position in the labor market69. It is because of that that the E2O project focusses on adolescents and young people between the ages of 16 and 25 who find themselves in any of these situations: people who have left school without graduating from ESO, or have graduated from ESO but then stopped studying and are now unemployed without any professional qualifications, and very importantly, that they voluntarily wish to participate in this service. 8. Work methodology This project focuses its deployment around people, who are understood as being active subjects that receive personalised attention. What are known as subjective methodologies are applied, which are characterised by the following aspects: 68. https://dogc.gencat.cat/ca/pdogc_canals_interns/pdogc_resultats_fitxa/?action=fitxa&documentId=799722&language=c a_ES 69. http://ejoventut.gencat.cat/web/.content/e- joventut/recursos/tipus_de_recurs/documentacio/arxiu/document/informes_epa/Informe_EPA_1r_trimestre _2019.pdf 87  Through proximity and by listening, being aware of the emotional connection and understanding that the team of education professionals are guides and companions. This is why it is important to have a team of multi-disciplinary professionals from the world of education, psychology, education science, free education, technical-professional training and job placement.  Through respect and recognition, based on the premise that adolescents and young people are fully-fledged citizens.  Through the personalisation of learning, based on the idea that there are many ways of learning and that there are also many chances to make a mistake. The school offers a two-year programme that is based on six main lines of action that do not necessarily have to be sequential: 1. Diagnosis, empowerment and definition of a personal work plan for each young person. This first line of action has three objectives:  Diagnosing and assessing the young person’s situation in its entirety.  Empowering the young person to recover their self-esteem, helping them to identify their potential abilities and express them. Discovering their weak points and how to overcome them.  Defining a personal work plan (PWP). The adolescent or young person makes decisions based on their potential abilities and desires and is capable of sustaining their training process over time in a self-sufficient way. In this line of action, the figure of the tutor is of fundamental importance, and has the goal of developing personalised educational support throughout the time the young person is at the school. 2. Guidance based on what has been defined in the personal work plan. The objective is to put the personal work plan (PWP) into practice. To this end, the methodology applied is based on the following:  Guidance, assistance and support for the young person in their integration into the education system or their inclusion in the job market.  The young person undertaking the appropriate training 3. Training. This training consists of two basic blocks: 3.1. Training in basic and cross-cutting skills that include working on personal and social skills, with emphasis on the set of skills, abilities and attitudes that are necessary for responding to educational and employment situations of varying complexity. And also the promotion of health actions (with the aim of raising awareness about healthy eating habits and prevention of drug-taking, among others), affective-sexual education with a gender perspective or the prevention of abusive relationships and gender violence. 3.2. Technical-professional training based on the personal work plan that each young person defines. Offering the young people a variety of options, using own means or those of collaborating organisations, that may range from “Job taster sessions” (which provide practical knowledge of professions) or training and insertion programmes (PFI), to 88 professional certificates or preparation for gaining access to regulated vocational training courses. There are also plans to create “bespoke training” that may be requested by financial stakeholders in the territory and and which provides job placement opportunities. This training should aim to provide knowledge and skills for undertaking jobs that are not currently listed in the Department of Education or the Catalan Employment Service catalogue. This may be on the initiative of companies or training organisations to cover specific jobs or emerging sectors. All of these training courses will be planned from the perspective that the young people can move around the city and make use of existing training resources in order to achieve the objectives listed in their personal work plans. The aim of this training is for the young people to reach the goal of gaining access to a longer, recognised training course, but at the same time, to support and sustain their process once they have gained access, through follow-up carried out by the designated tutor or tutors. Work on the life project of each young person, part of their personal work plan, also includes a series of activities that will create ties with the surrounding area or territory. The EM2O is a school that is outward looking, enabling it to extend beyond the walls of the facility and gain access to the educational potential and resources offered in the surrounding area. 4. Learning activities and service for the community. The objective is to promote the young person's social participation and create ties to their closest community in order to exercise full citizenship and develop their civic commitment. The young people will work on the real needs in the area, with the aim of improving it. 5. Leisure activities and support for training. These activities have a teaching purpose linked to informal education, as an instrument for transmitting concepts, values and skills to the young people. On the one hand, it will promote healthy leisure activities and on the other, it will promote experimentation in order to create a positive relationship with the learning process, favour time organisation and management (knowing how to differentiate between the times and places for work and leisure) and prevent absenteeism and dropping out. 6. Monitoring and evaluation. Once their integration into the education system or job market is completed, the work methodology will focus on ongoing follow-up to ensure that the transition towards greater self-sufficiency and independence is successful. In addition to these lines of action, there will also be a focus on working with their families. The objective is to foster the family's connection with, and involvement in, the educational process of the adolescents and young people. As part of the work methodology, the aim is to place special emphasis on the relational aspect of EM2O, given that this will be one of the main elements involved in being able to approach and assist these adolescents and young people. In this sense, coordinating and working with other city stakeholders, especially in the education, employment and healthcare sectors, will be a vital aspect of EM2O's actions (Mental-health plan, Youth Plan - Barcelona Education Consortium, Youth Centres, Barcelona Activa). This coordination and joint work is intended to deal with relational aspects, with the aim of ensuring the comprehensive nature of the assistance and improving interventions with the adolescents and young people. Regarding relations with the territory's organisations and institutions (local resident associations, prevention services, youth facilities, leisure education organisations, companies, etc,), these will help to improve the opportunities and living conditions of the adolescents and young people. 89 The benefits or potentialities of working with other players and resources include, primarily, the fact that they make it possible to improve knowledge and analysis of the reality and favour a more global vision, an overall view of the situation of the city's young people. On the other hand, it favours mutual knowledge between various sectors, stakeholders, organisations and professionals and, in some cases, this facilitates the creation of synergies and exchange and collaboration relationships among professionals, services and organisations. In this way, it is possible to avoid the duplication of resources and efforts, thereby optimising capacity for impact and action. 9. The challenges facing EM2O EM2O is just starting its journey and it is facing challenges that can be summarised in the following:  Raising awareness of the fact that the adolescents and young people who are outside both the education and employment system are not a homogeneous group and require individualised actions in order to find solutions to their situations.  Assessing the impact of the service (how many young people define their own life project and return to the education system or obtain a professional project).  Ensuring the EM2O is identified as one more public resource within the range of resources dedicated to early school leaving in the city, a service that is well connected with the other educational, social, health and employment resources. Bibliography BARCELONA INSTITUTE FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS (2018) Oportunitats educatives de la infància i l’adolescència a Barcelona 2018-2019. Barcelona: IIAB-IERMB and Barcelona City Council. 90 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Keywords: Unaccompanied migrants, migration, social protection, basic rights Journal on social knowledge and analysis and resources The city's care of unaccompanied child, adolescent and youth migrants Marina Mañas70 and Núria Menta71 Municipal Institute of Social Services (IMSS) 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. Introduction Child, adolescent and youth migrants travelling alone are unaccompanied migrant minors.72 Therefore, it refers to the emigration of minors to another country without an adult guide in the receiving country. Children, adolescents and youth migrants are usually a very heterogeneous group with very different realities, situations, personal experiences and migratory processes. However, they have some elements in common: the life stage they are currently at (adolescence), and the dreams and expectations of improved socio- economic conditions for themselves and their families. The improvement in their rights compared with their country of origin is true, given that here they have the right to education, health care and so on. They are emigrants in their country of origin and immigrants in the receiving country. They and their families have certain expectations with respect to migration and the betterment it will mean for them. Regarding their emigration, they carry with them a cultural load, knowledge and an attachment to their homeland, and they are ‘parentalised’ by their families; in other words, the child or young person takes on the family responsibilities 70. Department of Social Care Services in the public space of the IMSS 71. Director of the Social Intervention Service of the IMSS. 72. The definition of child, adolescent and youth migrants is the nomenclature defined and used by the Directorate General of Child and Adolescent Services (DGAIA) of the Government of Catalonia. 91 encountered in adult life (Bargach, 2009). A further defining characteristic of these youths is that most of them are very mobile residentially, and are therefore not rooted socially, hence they suffer from what is known as the ‘Ulysses Syndrome’, the chronic, multi- faceted stress suffered by immigrant persons (Achotegui, 2009). The most important thing to remember, however, is that these young people and adolescents are in a life stage when their personal identities are under construction. They must, therefore, find positive adult referents to mirror themselves on. We must consider these children and youths’ potential, since they are the most well-educated members of their households and the ones who have the most energy and ability to undergo the challenge of emigration. This type of migration started in Europe in the 1980s. In Catalonia, it started at the end of the 1990s with young people mostly from Morocco. In 2000, migrants started to arrive from the African sub-continent (mainly Senegal and Gambia). There is currently a diversity of up to sixteen countries of origin, although the majority come from the area of the Maghreb. In Spain, the care of children, adolescents and youth migrants usually falls under the social protection system. The protection system in Spain makes intervention and care for these children an obligation, and their status as a minor is the priority criteria over other aspects such as the fact that they are immigrants and the current Immigration Law. As minors, they are guaranteed reception and tutoring since they are minors without parents and, therefore, it is the public body responsible for the protection of minors in each territory (autonomous region) who must provide them with tutoring and is responsible for their care. This delegation of responsibility in the regional protection system and the lack of a centralised body makes the coordination and monitoring of this highly mobile group within Spain difficult. As mentioned previously, this group are very mobile within the territory, moving from one autonomous region to another, among which there is no coordination. A state level observatory is needed and the processes of mobility and the reasons for it need to be established. In Catalonia, the Directorate General of Child and Adolescent Services (DGAIA) is the body responsible for the protection of minors. The first upsurge in the phenomenon of child, adolescent and youth migrants travelling on their own was at the end of the 1990s, and this is when the DGAIA first created welcome centres specifically for this group which offered a large number of places and were received extremely negatively by the neighbouring community. With the decline in the number of new arrivals of the following years, migrant minors have been received using municipal protection system resources. 1. The situation in Barcelona city In Barcelona, the City Council created the Municipal Detection and Intervention service in 1999 to attend to unaccompanied migrant minors living at serious social risk on the streets and in public spaces in Barcelona city. It includes the set of services provided by different institutions under the Coordination and Compromise Agreement to improve the inter- institutional response to the serious social problem of undocumented children and youth in situations of serious social risk, of 9 March 1999,73 and under later agreements made between the Government of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council. Due to the exponential growth in the number of unaccompanied minors arriving in Catalonia, the DGAIA has had to open new centres and tutored flats as required without any pre-planning or groundwork carried out with the territory or the neighbouring community, because of the situation of emergency and collapse of the system. This precipitated response has generated 73. This was an agreement signed by the Justice Department and the Home Affairs Department of the Government of Catalonia, the State Delegation, Barcelona City Council, Sant Coloma de Gramenet City Council, and the Public Prosecution. 92 reactions of stigmatisation and rejection from neighbours and the community, and has even provoked some violent reactions. The support procedure for child and youth migrants starts with detecting and identifying who these minors are. The security forces and, in the case of Barcelona, social work teams are the ones who intervene in the public space in the city and can find these children, adolescent and youth migrants. Once found, they must be accompanied to the Public Prosecutor for minors in the Care of Minors Office (OAM) of the Catalan police force (Mossos d’Esquadra) to be identified. The Immigration Law states that all unaccompanied foreign minors must be identified. In the case that they are carrying documentation that identifies them, this must be validated by the OAM. They are then placed in the hands of the DGAIA for their protection, which is when they enter the protection system. If they are undocumented, or the authenticity of the documents they are carrying is in doubt, they must take some medical tests to determine their age. Those classified as minors are referred to the protection system, while those identified as adults are put back on the streets where they remain in a situation of administrative and legal irregularity. Both the administrative procedure they must follow and the medical identification procedure they must undergo have been seriously questioned by social entities such as Bayt al-Thaqafa, the Noves Vies Association and Save The Children, among others, as well as law professionals who denounce the system to determine age by means of an x- ray since it has a two-year margin of error, and so are advocating a change of procedure. And, until this happens, they ask for a guaranteed interpretation of the results of the medical test. The protection system supports these minors until they are 18 years old, which is when they come of age and are no longer considered as abandoned minors that must be tutored. In Catalonia, the DGAIA includes the Support Area for Tutored and Ex-tutored Youth (ASJTET), a unit that provides young people aged 16 to 21 years old that have been tutored by the DGAIA technical and educational support in the areas of housing and job placement, in addition to psychological, economic and legal support, with the aim of fully integrating them into an autonomous and emancipated social and employment situation. Some young people do not use this service, either because they choose not to follow an action plan, because they arrived in Barcelona at 17 years old and were not able to follow the tutoring process, or because they have not reached a situation where they are autonomous enough to be eligible for access. With the increase in the number of arrivals, the ASJTET cannot provide support for the amount of young people that reach the age of adulthood. The arrival and settling of child, adolescent and youth migrants in our society is difficult. The environment, the culture and the education system are all very different from the experiences they have had in their own countries. To this can be added their age, the trauma of the migration process, the involvement and expectations of the family, and the stigma or negative view that unfortunately part of our society has of this group. The document and bureaucratic part, in other words the processes and procedures they must follow to obtain resident and work permits are not easy, and this is even more difficult when they arrive here as adults. As tutored minors, the DGAIA takes charge of the process to be granted a resident's permit and, in some exceptional cases, the process to be able to work as a minor. When they reach adulthood, it is the Immigration Law that regulates the conditions and requirements to renew their resident’s permit and find work, which include having to have a full time 40-hour per week employment contract of at least 1 year's duration. The Immigration Law requirements are obviously out of sync with young people's real possibilities nowadays. When the largest proportion of arrivals are youths 93 aged between 16 and 17 years, documentation for this group becomes essential, even if system saturation lengthens the processing period. The problem, then, arises when at 18 years old these young people stop being protected and treated as abandoned minors, which is when their status changes and they become adult immigrants in an irregular administrative situation. Special reference must be made to the invisibility of the girls, who often remain outside the protection system. The role of gender and the cultural and family situations they have experienced in their countries of origin mean that their arrival process takes place through intermediaries, for example through a job in domestic service, getting married and so on. This makes their detection and access to the protection circuit difficult. Data provided by the Department of Employment, Social Affairs and Families for this year shows that 96.1% of the unaccompanied children, adolescents and youth this year are boys and 3.2% are girls. The following graph shows the evolution of arrivals of this group in Catalonia in the last ten years. The exponential increase in the number of arrivals of unaccompanied children, adolescents and youth in Catalonia has collapsed all the systems. The detection and identification circuit has collapsed the Public Prosecution and the health system that carries out the diagnostic tests to determine their age. This means that when the security forces detect these minors they must stay in the police stations since they cannot be attended to immediately by the Public Prosecution. The protection system has also 94 collapsed since it does not have enough facilities and professionals to be able to cope with the huge number of minors placed in their care. This situation of collapse in the different care systems has created many anomalies. It has affected the number of minors who escape from police stations and the Public Prosecution. These youngsters do not trust the police and do not want to spend many hours, or even days, in the police station, a phenomenon that makes identification and entering the protection circuit even more difficult. The number of escapees and rejection of the centres provided by the DGAIA has also increased. Available places are assigned, but there is no way of planning whether this is the most suitable place for each of the profiles they are dealing with. These circumstances lead to increased numbers of this group on the streets, and in flats and squats, in addition to more incidents in the public space, increasing the negative perception some citizens already have. Many new centres and places have been opened to respond to the needs of these young people but, due to the situation of emergency, the necessary groundwork has not been done with the communities, an aspect that has caused some citizens to feel insecure and, consequently, reject this group. This improvisation has also lengthened the period for obtaining resident’s permits, which leaves the minors who arrived at the age of 17 to leave the protection system in a situation of administrative irregularity, as shown in the graph 2. Even though the number of arrivals has decreased slightly in 2019, the number of unaccompanied children, adolescents and youth reaching 18 years old and leaving the protection system with or without a resident's permit and with no resources to cover their basic needs and building a life project is worrying. These youngsters leave the protection service where they have been treated as abandoned minors, to remain in the immigration system, almost all of them in a situation of residential exclusion and homeless. We must reflect on whether the route out of the protection system could be the homeless persons care system. Also important is the fact that Catalonia, like other autonomous regions, has no strategy for the care of homeless people and, consequently, there is no portfolio of social services for dealing with situations of homelessness. 95 2. The different services and specialist teams Barcelona has always been a welcoming city. The City Council has always prioritised humanitarian and solidarity values. To this effect, since the first unaccompanied child, adolescent and young immigrants arrived, social resources that do not exist in the portfolio of municipal social services have always been found and deployed. The municipality does not have specific responsibilities for caring for unaccompanied children, adolescents and youth migrants, because these are state (the Immigration Law) and autonomous region responsibilities (protection of minors). Despite not being responsible for this area, Barcelona City Council, through its social services, has provided a series of resources to support the minors that are detected in the public space and put them in touch with the DGAIA protection service, and to provide adequate support for youths aged 18 years and over, especially when for different reasons they are in a socially vulnerable situation. The Detection and Intervention Service (SDI) was created in 1999, and is directed at the unaccompanied children, adolescent and youth migrants who live on the streets and in public spaces in Barcelona and are in a situation of serious social risk, to guarantee them access to the resources of the protection system. This service also intervenes in young people in similar circumstances until they are definitively referred to the basic social and health services and other resources, at least until they reach 21 years old. The SDI intervenes across all of Barcelona, detecting and identifying new unaccompanied minors and youth through picking them up off the streets, accompanying them to the relevant centres depending how each situation is assessed, monitoring their progress, and directly intervening in behavioural and situational issues. This service also works with entities and services, providing support and advice on caring for this group from their specialist area. This team is currently made up of six social education professionals, who work in split teams of two. They work from Monday to Friday on morning, afternoon and evening shifts, while at the weekend there is an on-duty team to support minors detected by third sector entities and municipal social services. As can be seen in the following two tables, the number of interventions between 2017 and 2019 has increased exponentially, even though it is difficult to cover all existing needs. To this effect, in 2020 the service will be extended, and the number of educators whose task is to intervene in the public space will double. These will also be responsible for monitoring the phenomenon in the city, and they will have a psychological and legal assessment support team at their disposal. 96 In 2006, the Social Conflict in the Urban Space Management Service was created to address co-existence problems in the public spaces of the city, and the social rejection and alarm that can be generated by the welcome centres. This service carries out community work and has the task of communicating with and informing the neighbourhoods’ social fabric (neighbours, shops and social entities) with the aim of allaying perceptions of insecurity and stopping criminalising speech, and also of supporting this group and the services available to them in the communities that support them in the integration process. They also intervene in conflicts in the public space that arise from other situations that impact negatively on co-existence, such as the exits of night entertainment spots, inappropriate and exclusive uses of recreation places or areas, and interventions linked to social care centres, and so on. This team is made up of three sub- teams with fifteen professionals in total, all specialists in medication and conflict management. In 2018, they intervened in 45 mediation programmes, five of which were related to child, adolescent and youth migrants. 97 Barcelona has a long experience of caring for the homeless.74 Already in the nineteenth century, there were three shelters. The municipal programmes can be said to have started in 1985 with the first Social Services Law. This is when Barcelona City Council’s care for the homeless programme was developed, providing those without a home with new resources and services depending on the specific needs and phases of social disconnection (initial, advanced, consolidated) in each case. This marked a shift in the concept of care, going from a provision perspective to encompass new approaches to care that were more person centred and focused on social integration pathways. The Social integration Service for the homeless was created in 1990 and provides support to socially vulnerable people and groups who use the public space to spend the night or are in situations of chronic precariousness in terms of accommodation, and who have no link with the region's social services. It is made up of SIS Medi Obert and SIS Care and Treatment, their area of action is the entire city of Barcelona including the airport, and their target for care is the homeless adult population. The street team (Servei d'Intervenció Social Medi Obert - SISMO) is currently differentiated from the treatment team (SISTAC). The street team (SISMO) is made up of 29 professionals who cover 100% of the city area from Monday to Friday in morning, afternoon and evening shifts supporting homeless people, ensuring that their basic needs are covered and putting them in touch with the most suitable homeless programme. They are supported by a team of psychiatrists from the homelessness programme of the mental health area of Barcelona Health Consortium. The treatment team (SISTAC) is made up of twenty-four professionals who attend to people without a home and who approach the service independently, provided they have no stable abode and are in a serious situation of vulnerability, and are not being supported by other municipal services. Since 2017, the Social Integration Service has also supported ex-tutored youth. 74. Tracing the trajectory of the Municipal Care for the Homeless Programme, Barcelona (April 2006). 98 The network of municipal services and resources for homeless people has always provided support for the homeless people who, due to the itinerant nature of this group, are not linked with the city. Every day, the municipality provides 1,349 municipal accommodation places, 285 day centre places, 145 hygiene services places and 1,637 social meals service places. These services are currently under collapse due to the migratory flow and the fact that there are no state or regional level service portfolios, as the following graph shows: 70% of the people accommodated in homeless shelters in the city are of foreign origin, and 20% of these are youths, many of which come from other autonomous regions. When they turn 18 years old these come to Barcelona, attracted by the DGAIA’s social service (to which they do not have a right if they have not been tutored by this body) and the city’s accommodation resources. The increase in the number of youths in the homeless programmes’ facilities and premises, and the consequent difficulties in meeting the needs of this group, prompted the municipal authorities to consider providing these with a specific residential solution. In 2017, the Maria Feixa Accommodation Centre was set up, located between the neighbourhoods of El Born and La Barceloneta. The following table shows the evolution in the number of youths attended to by the different municipal centres and resources. 99 Barcelona wholesale market also started a training programme for fishmongers beginning in September 2019 in which eleven youngsters take part, leading to the option of a contract that will enable them to regularise their administrative situation. In August 2019, through the social entity Superacció and within the framework of the municipally-funded Ciutat Vella District shock plan, a pilot sports club started which is aimed preferably at minors living on the streets and unconnected to any protection centre (but in which over-18s can also take part), and whose goal is to engage this group through sporting activity to encourage them to voluntarily return to the protection system. A way of implementing a follow-on social project aimed at the over-18s once this pilot action has finished is being discussed. This action took place during all of August and was attended by 100 youth, 10 of them minors and the rest under 25 years old. Of these only two were women, and 88 lived on the street. The success of this activity is attributed to the methodology of education through sport, and also to support directed at harm reduction and low expectations in terms of the commitment to attend. In the autumn of 2018, the Barcelona Youth Network (Xbcn), promoted by the Social Services Consortium and Barcelona City Council, was launched as a collaboration and coordination space made up of the public administrations (Consortium, Government of Catalonia, through the Support Area for Tutored and Ex-tutored Youth (ASJTET), Barcelona City Council (through the Area of Social Rights), and 43 first-level third sector entities that work with young people in the city from different areas. It was conceived in response to the growing number of youths in Barcelona aged 18-25 in vulnerable situations. It supports four profiles of young people: a) Ex-tutored young people, b) Unaccompanied youth of foreign origin who start the migratory process as minors and who, once they have passed through the protection system, find or have no options once they reach 18 years old. c) Youth of foreign origin who have not passed through the Catalan protection system because they arrived in Catalonia as adults with no family members or documents that enabled them to apply for residence. d) And youth who, irrespective of whether they have passed through the protection system, currently have no personal, social, family or economic resources, and are in slums or other inadequate accommodation. The main goals of Xbcn are: 100  To create a portfolio of services and resources provided by the public administrations and services that form part of the network to be able to design itineraries depending on each young person's needs, and which is not just adapted to the description of the different resources and services, but is focused on these young people and the involvement of this group in the system.  To create a sumatory system of resources that guarantees sustainability and transparency.  To increase public and private coordination in the social services system.  To work on the integral skills of each young person so that they achieve full autonomy.  To become an observatory of the youth population in situations of vulnerability in Barcelona. Given the exceptional situation regarding the arrival of unaccompanied youth, the Government of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council have set up various collaboration spaces created especially to address the situation of these minors and to guarantee them protection. Since November 2018, Barcelona City Council has been working with the DGAIA and the Social Services Consortium on an intervention procedure for minors living on the streets who for different reasons refuse to enter the protection system (called refractory minors). The aim is to connect with these young people through the work of the SDI to persuade them to enter or re-enter the protection centres. To this effect, Barcelona City Council has implemented various intervention proposals through the DGAIA aimed at this group to connect with them and provide them with their basic needs. Among the actions under way promoted by this joint initiative are:  Regular meetings to evaluate the actions currently in progress, compare information about the situation and put different possible measures on the table to improve how the problem is addressed.  DGAIA and the City Council share a list of minors who for different reasons refuse to enter or re-enter the child and adolescent protection system in order to address each case individually and study the best way to link these young people with the system.  Dar Chabab health team of nurses and psychologists who support the SDI with their work on the streets. They are also working to provide a psychiatry service that can issue legally binding reports to recommend stays in specialist centres where required.  Protocol with the Barcelona Public Health Agency to process the health code of all the minors and young people, both those under protection centres and those on the streets, and their assignment to health centres to undergo health tests for epidemiological monitoring. Bibliography ACHOTEGUI, JOSEBA. “Estrés límite y salud mental: el síndrome del inmigrante con estrés crónico y múltiple (síndrome de Ulises)”, Gaceta Médica de Bilbao, n.º 106 (4) (2009), pp. 122-133. BARGACH, AMINA. “La integración del menor migrante sin referente adulto en el país receptor”. En Jiménez Hernández, Antonio S. (coord.). Menores migrantes sin referentes familiares: una perspectiva integral del fenómeno, Granada: Grupo Editorial Universitario, 2009, pp. 29-34. 101 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Keywords: cooperativism, intercooperation, young migrants, Journal on social knowledge and analysis integral strategy, Acollim.coop “Acollim.coop”: the social and solidary economy in the reception of unaccompanied young migrants LabCoop, sccl. and Catalan Federation of Work Cooperatives 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. 1. The migration of unaccompanied minors to Catalonia ‘One very important change in countries now is that some towns are emptying of young people. Young people will not change their minds about coming, the resources that are meant to keep them are no use because they always think that they want to prevent migration. The idea of coming cannot be changed, but it is possible to explain the reality that they will find here, and then they can take step of migration consciously so that the impact is not so traumatic’ (Young person of legal age interviewed in May 2019) The mobility and displacement of minors and young people on their own has been occurring for centuries throughout the history of Europe and the world, but the migratory phenomenon known as ‘unaccompanied minors’ (UM) appeared between 1980 and 1990 in Europe, linked to the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989. This new childhood category entailed a change in approaches, and a new protectionist perspective was implemented, granting all minors the need to be protected and placed in the care of institutions that have competence in the protection of minors. The migration of unaccompanied minors has become part of the panorama of international migration, and the displacement of underage young people on their own, without older family members, is not unique to Spain, but occurs in many other geographical locations: Mexican minors emigrating to the USA, Bolivian minors emigrating to Argentina to work in 102 the textile industry, Afghan minors in Denmark and many other examples. The migration of unaccompanied minors and young people is a transnational and global phenomenon. The fact that the migration of unaccompanied minors presents some specific particularities that distinguish it exclusively from other types of migration places us in a situation in which the migration of minors on their own constitutes them as a ‘new migratory actor’ and they are configured as an analytical category with their own identity, with specific motivations and objectives and with placement paths in broader and different migratory spaces, examples such as the creation of transnational solidarity networks based on age groups, their own forms of job placement or self-representation through identity signs (Suárez, 2006). The arrival of these minors and young people has presented a challenge to Catalan society and to the public administrations from the moment these minors and young people began to be detected by protection services, now almost 25 years ago. The first unaccompanied minor documented in Spain arrived in 1993, and in 1997 there were 81 minors, and in 2001 the number had risen to 591 (Quiroga, Alonso and Soria, 2010). Although this phenomenon remained stable, with a volume of around 400 new arrivals each year, from 2016 a new phase began that was characterised by an exponential increase in arrivals and by the collapse this caused in the public administrations’ reception and protection systems: 684 minors in 2016, 1,489 in 2017 and 3,659 in 2018. It is predicted that in 2019, the number of minors could reach approximately 5,500 (Ombudsman’s Office, 2018). Although years have passed, the motivations remain very similar and affect the young people’s biographical trajectories: economic motivations, improvement in social and cultural expectations, fleeing from war or conflict, or political, ethnic or religious persecution, or fleeing from a significant family conflict, especially in the case of young people, in which motivations have aspects specifically related to gender inequality, and which must be dealt with differently (Quiroga, Alonso and Soria, 2010). 2. Cooperativism and care for people in the community The cooperatives, which began in the mid-19th century, had important historical roots in Catalonia in all their forms, and organised work, buying and selling in common. These companies are societies constituted of natural or legal persons who have joined together to improve the social and economic situation of its components and the community as a whole, through collective business activity. They can carry out any economic or social activity. To understand how the practices of the social and solidarity economy (hereafter SSE) can affect the reception of unaccompanied minor migrants, it is first necessary to understand the seven guiding principles of cooperative practice: voluntary and open membership, democratic member control, economic participation of the members, autonomy and independence, education, training and information, cooperation among cooperatives, and concern for the community (International Cooperative Alliance). Cooperatives work to achieve the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their social fabric and, with the application of the cooperative principles, cooperative businesses help to create a better world, starting with the following actions: • Create stable and good quality employment. • Contribute to economic growth based on sustainability, which surpasses short-term perspectives and commits to the diversification of activities. • Work based on the needs of the people and with concern for the community and the environment. 103 • Support rural areas and agricultural activity, in a way that allows farmers’ processes and prices to improve, as well as urban areas, professionals, shops, artisans, etc. • Give the people a voice and empower them to make business decisions, in a way that promotes democracy. Today, a total of 4,310 cooperatives are registered in Catalonia, 74% of which are associated work, 10% farming and 5% services, and the remaining 11% are consumer, housing, education or other cooperatives (Department of Employment, 2019). In a study by the Confederation of Cooperatives in Catalonia, it was highlighted that cooperative businesses have a turnover of €4,614 million and represent 1.5% of the total employment generated in Catalonia. Since 2009, the year immediately after the outbreak of the economic crisis, cooperativism has grown in Catalonia. One of the most relevant pieces of data is that the creation of jobs grew by 118% compared to 2008. Of these jobs, 76% were permanent contracts, 77% were full-time and 8.6% were jobs created among people under 25. However, cooperatives in Catalonia represent 0.7% of the total businesses in Catalonia and provide 2% of the GDP (data from the second quarter of 2018, Department of Employment). Under the broad umbrella of types of cooperatives, those that carry out social activities or care for people are called ‘social enterprise non-profit cooperatives’. The aim of these cooperatives is job placement or integration of groups at risk of exclusion, or the defence of social rights or coverage of needs insufficiently addressed by the market, and can establish the participation of volunteers in the achievement of the corporate aim. These cooperatives carry out their activities in sectors involving care for the elderly or for people with disabilities, educational leisure, nursery schools, social exclusion or at-risk children. According to data from the Federation of Work Cooperatives of Catalonia, there are 167 social enterprise cooperatives in Catalonia, providing work for 11,000 people and bringing in €213 million. 3. The role of cooperativism and its differential value in the reception of young people If cooperatives and the SSE can play an important role in the reception of young unaccompanied migrants, it is because it is a movement with its own ideological framework, equipped with structures, operating patterns and a capacity for adaptability that allow it to be a sector that is very conducive to innovation in order to deal with this situation of structural crisis and savage capitalism that excludes and stigmatises an important sector of the population. Bearing in mind these ways in which cooperatives work, the SSE, within the framework of the reception of young migrants, can make differential contributions with respect to other social agents, both in the joining of measures and in the provision of distinctive values in its management models, anchored in their guiding principles. This link between cooperativism and the interest in promoting a quality reception focused on the rights of unaccompanied minor migrants has been the driving force behind the Catalan cooperative strategy ‘Acollim.coop. A comprehensive cooperativism strategy for the reception of young unaccompanied migrants in Catalonia (2018-2021)’ that is at the stage of definition and design and is promoted by social enterprise cooperatives, but which is a call to bring together the entire cooperative ecosystem. This comprehensive cooperative strategy, which aims to provide an integral and articulated response, commits to the following actions: 104 a) Prioritisation of the needs of the group of young people over profit The SSE is an economy that seeks to satisfy the needs of people over profit, and one of the inherent principles of these business organisations is to work to achieve the sustainable development of its communities, fostering practices based on values such as humanism, democracy, solidarity, inclusivity, diversity and equality, fairness and justice for all. At the same time, these values encourage structures and shared co-governance platforms where projects are built collaboratively with a view to social change. Cooperativism is a very suitable agent for developing a whole set of coordinated measures and actions to confront the fight against the uncertainty and social inequalities that many of these young people find themselves in, especially because of their condition as migrants: difficulties obtaining the necessary permissions to work, difficulties accessing suitable housing, difficulties learning the language, the existence of xenophobic attitudes on the part of society, and economic difficulties, to name a few. And above all, considering the unaccompanied minors who reach the age of majority –a very important part–, and in the process of leaving the institutional systems, they are expelled from social protection circuits with significant deficits which follow them into their adult lives. b) The SSE as an articulator of comprehensive responses from cooperativism Also an identifying principle, cooperativism and the SSE are cooperative ecosystem75 that continually practise the entwining, strengthening and promotion of inter-cooperative relationships76, collaborating in all ways with other cooperatives on a local, national and international scale. Inter-cooperation allows them to share resources, projects and risks, on the one hand, but on the other, it is a proactive principle of putting solidarity into practice through mutual support. This inter-cooperation recognises and amplifies all forms of joining together, from informal networks to more formalised structures, such as federations, confederations, inter-cooperative agreements, second degree cooperatives or integrated cooperatives. And, at the same time, it promotes solidarity between people and organisations, distancing them from competitive expansion models and selecting models in which mutual aid is the key to growth and sustainability. The Catalan cooperative strategy ‘Acollim.coop’ is formed from the shared cooperative identity and from an interdisciplinary perspective, with inter-cooperation as the basis of operation. This means that from the different productive sectors and areas of cooperatives, just as from the different types of cooperatives (work, farming, consumer, housing, services etc.), we can see each other, and think together about the actions and strategies that we need to deploy in a coordinated, linked and meaningful way, all together and simultaneously, which will allow us to have an impact on sectors that seem as distant as housing, placement, social cohesion and the fight against racism and stigmatisation. Moreover, cooperativism, in this model of constant inter-cooperation, repeatedly applies highly complex, multi-level forms of co-governance, while it also frequently integrates a multi-activity approach to becoming sustainable in the context of structural and social defragmentation. With this alliance and the generation of shared resources, cooperativism can carry out entire, comprehensive, integrated projects, with a strong impact on the life trajectories of young people, guaranteeing paths that do not break when they reach the age of majority. 75. Local cooperative ecosystems is defined as those socioeconomic intercooperation circuits based on territorial proximity and strategic affinity, which combine a democratic organization, a solidarity economic dimension and a sociocommitory action that is relevant in its environment (Miró, 2018). 76. We define inter-cooperation as ‘the creation of a network of links to build the social market beyond the strict relationship between client and supplier, that is, it is not just one collaboration, but a process of joint construction of cooperative economic relationships from the perspective of social transformation’ (XES, 2016). 105 c) The capacity to respond to the needs of young migrants using cooperative networks in which they themselves have a central role The social and solidarity economy foresees and defends an alternative way of producing, consuming and working and, therefore, of satisfying people’s individual and collective needs. The SSE is committed to getting involved in the life pathways of young migrants beyond urgency and care, within the framework of the protection system. In this sense, it can become an agent that offers real options for young people to be able to carry out long- term life projects and attain citizenship rights. Above all, considering the fact that these young people, at the age of majority, find themselves outside the protection circuit, but still need to access housing, the labour market and social relationships. One of the actions that ‘Acollim.coop’ can incorporate is to promote mutual assistance solutions and collective entrepreneurship processes in a cooperative format between the young migrants themselves and their predecessors, their communities of origin and destination, to resolve common needs, understanding that the cooperative formula can become a model of vocational integration for self-employment for groups beset by social inequalities and uncertainty. To manage to create and consolidate cooperatives of young people – work cooperatives but also other kinds. These models of job placement seek to avoid inequalities characterised by gender, defending employment rights and with a view to dignifying employment conditions and people and fighting against employment insecurity. Cooperativism, fostering work cooperatives, encourages them to conform to the typical forms of self-organisation of social creativity: small dynamic work groups, capable of being reformulated collectively and permanently, which distribute power and internal initiative, and inter-cooperate through network and exchange and, therefore, promote the self-organised cooperative as a constituent node of the emergent productive creativity of society (Garcia, 2017). At the same time, the cooperative practice of the cooperative people themselves, who are promoting the ‘Acollim.coop’ strategy, is an everyday example of transformation, empowerment and organised citizenship. The operation of cooperativism itself and the organisations that practise it has become a real, practical model of the possibility of change and social participation, and shows how models of collective entrepreneurship function in practice. Of how cooperative people respond collectively and cooperatively to individual needs which, in turn, are global. In this sense, the SSE has become an example of how, through self-organisation and cooperation between various agents, we can resolve housing, consumer, employment and service needs, always prioritising people’s needs over profit. d) A reception rooted in the community The community aspect of cooperativism goes across all of its dimensions, allowing it to be able to commit to a reception rooted in the community receiving the young people, a reception that also considers the receiving community, to work together for social inclusion, taking advantage of the value of diversity and the complementarity that this phenomenon can bring. As the SSE movement is committed to solidarity and social justice and fights against social inequalities, while also presenting a broad, dynamic social base with a solid foundation of social commitment, cooperativism is able to become this political agent of change and transformation with its focus on young people, and in the encouragement of strategies to involve the active participation of the society organised in the reception, as well as becoming involved as a strong, articulated political agent to denounce the violation of citizenship rights and the obstacles to accommodation in the current legal framework, especially in immigration law. It provides the opportunity to respond to a social problem by addressing integrality and complementarity. It also offers the possibility that the mesh of 106 alliances and inter-cooperation allow their impact to affect not only the groups that form them, but citizens in general. This is placed at the centre of actions, through awareness- raising, encouraging the struggle against stigmatisation in order to counteract the story of fear and insecurity, deconstructing and dismantling racist and xenophobic narratives. On the path that this strategy has to travel, we must reinforce the commitment to entrepreneurship with processes that consolidate an organised citizenship guaranteeing its rights. 4. Cooperative responses to social challenges It must be noted that it is the Public Administration that is responsible for responding to the needs of these young people with regard to all their processes of reception and social inclusion, and it must be the absolute guarantor of their citizenship rights. However, the SSE can help to guide this group to carry out their life paths through the fostering of projects and processes geared towards orientation, skills acquisition, information and work and social integration. And in this context, the SSE can form a bridge between the Administration and the people so that they can access the network's resources, help to connect them with the rest of the community, resolve doubts in their day-to-day life and link them to what they need, listen to their worries and work with the rest of society on raising awareness and conscientiousness. The social intervention model in Catalonia has been debated for years, calling for the need for a change in the relationship and interlocution of public powers with organisations and with the citizens. To make this change of model effective, it is necessary to elaborate on a model of local intervention (close intervention, design, planning and management, located in the everyday, community environment, rooted in and in harmony with the area) and on the promotion and facilitation of innovative, creative environments and spaces in which to experiment with formats and take risks (Rojo, 2010). These innovative spaces, where it is possible to experiment with the cooperative format, are understood from the models of social innovation that defend practices and processes of collective empowerment ‘through which excluded communities respond to their basic needs transforming power relations and mastering the skills that can bring them greater independence’ (Moulaert, 2010), configuring socially autonomous spaces, activating dynamics of inclusion and empowerment and, finally, generating new democratic institutions (VVAA, 2019). If we now recognise that ‘the innovative forms of social creativity are coming into being outside of the market, where they produce what could be the social articulations of the future’ (Miró, 2018) with an intent to provide a collaborative response, rooted and parallel to the great social challenges, then we can also recognise that the SSE, and cooperativism in particular, are important, necessary actors to promote social experimentation laboratories where self-organisation of collective intelligence becomes fundamental: of new lasting social bonds, of new rights, of new realities, of new goods and services self-produced by the community (Miró, 2018). The contribution that the SSE can make to the reception of young unaccompanied migrants is also travelling in this direction. If cooperativism wishes to have an even greater social and economic impact on the community in which it is situated, one of the challenges is also to intervene and make proposals for society as a whole, not only proposals for internal use, but also proposals where it must be able to analyse the changes occurring in the social environment at historic moments in order to understand them, and propose corrective measures that can help to mitigate difficulties. The ‘Acollim.coop. A comprehensive cooperativism strategy for the reception of young unaccompanied migrants in Catalonia (2018-2021)’ is the materialisation of what has been detailed in this article, a strategy of its own to the corresponding public administrations, as a commitment and capacity to put cooperativism into action, beyond social enterprise 107 cooperatives that are already working on the reception of young unaccompanied minor migrants. A strategy that also emphasises the way it is being designed, the construction and elaboration, the core of which is being defined in a comprehensive, collaborative way, and with the participation and seeking the consensus of the maximum number of cooperatives, not only those of social enterprise. The launch of ‘Acollim.coop’ is also the time to be innovators, to experiment and to transcend some pre-established models already known to cooperativism, and will also have to test the capacity for leadership of a sector that seeks a radical transformation of our environment and the society in which we live, where the values that make up our shared identity and which set us apart from other types of business are the spearhead that guides our decisions and will make this strategy successful. We will have to face a great number of challenges. The first, to be able to manage real projects formed of the maximum number of cooperatives with very different objectives for involvement, from different productive sectors and of different kinds. The second challenge facing us is to be capable of becoming a real option so that the young migrants are able to satisfy their needs, especially for work and housing, from the perspective of rights, far from a care focus, adopting an intercultural and anti-racist position. However, positioning ourselves as a praxis of corporate responsibility and professionalism, alongside people who are capable of combating job insecurity as cooperatives. Third, a challenge linked to funding, understanding that the SSE can make much of little, but also being realistic about the fact that only with inter-cooperative combined funding can we realise a strategy of this scope. Finally, and possibly the most difficult, is how to incorporate the real participation of the young people themselves, the central characters, in the action in the very definition of ‘Acollim.coop’ in the first place, and secondly, in its execution, from the co-governance that will be deployed. And in constructing new cooperative links to address social inequalities and the unfortunate insecurity of more and more groups, we will have to learn some lessons from other international travel associates, who have years of advantage. For example, Quebec, where it is clear that, in order to develop sustainable practices in the articulation of cooperativism in the face of the great social challenges, different areas of agreement are needed, where co-governance, common identity and a global vision are essential, the experience of combining hybrid perspectives and spaces (sectors, territories, social movements) and a determination for collaboration, rooting in communities, as well as strengthening alliances to promote new models to continue to transcend the limits of the same area and reach the general public by increasing visibility (Boichat, 2016). Ultimately, if cooperatives are diversifying, generate employability, and have their own operating structures and guidelines which, together with their capacity for adaptability, allow them to establish themselves as extremely conducive to innovation and hybridisation in order to face this scenario of structural crisis and inhumane capitalism, we are the spearhead against great social challenges, and the strategy ‘Acollim.coop’ can be a practical example of how to develop this in the reception of unaccompanied young migrants in Catalonia. Bibliography BOCHAT, Gabriel. ‘L’economia social del Quebec, l’èxit de transcendir els límits’. Nexe. Quaderns d’Autogestió i Economia Cooperativa, núm. 39 (2016). DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT.2019. http://observatoritreball.gencat.cat/ca/ambits_tematics/economia_social_i_autonoms/coop eratives 108 GARCIA, Jordi. L’economiasolidària en cent paraules. Barcelona: Icaria, 2017. FEDERACIÓ DE COOPERATIVES DE TREBALL DE CATALUNYA. https://www.cooperativestreball.coop/la-federacio/sectorial-cooperatives-d-iniciativa-social. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATIVE ALLIANCE https://www.ica.coop/es/cooperativas/identidad-alianza-cooperativa-internacional. MIRÓ, IVAN. Ciutats Cooperatives. Barcelona: Icaria, 2018 MIRÓ, IVAN. ‘El quart impuls [Cooperativisme_Treball immaterial_ Creativitat _ Territori]’. Nexe. Quaderns d’Autogestió i Economia Cooperativa, núm. 26 (2010). ROJO, GUILLERMO. ‘Apunts per al debat. Reptes de la societat i el tercer sector’. Nexe. Quaderns d’Autogestió i Economia Cooperativa, núm. 29 (2011). QUIROGA, V.; ALONSO, A.; SÒRIA, M. Sueños de bolsillo. Menores migrantes no acompañados en España. Madrid: Unicef, 2010. QUIROGA, V.; ALONSO, A. AND SÒRIA, M. Somnis de butxaca.The migration of unaccompanied migrants to Catalonia.Barcelona: Jaume Bofill Foundation, Digital Publications, 2009. OMBUDSMAN. La situació dels infants migrants sense referents familiars a Catalunya. Executive summary, 2018 SUÁREZ, LILIANA. ‘Un nuevo actor migratorio: jóvenes, rutas y ritos juveniles transnacionales’. A: Checa y Arjona. Menores tras la frontera. Otra emigración que aguarda. Barcelona: Icaria, 2006. VVAA. ‘La innovación social: ¿prácticas para producir autonomia, empoderamineto y nueva institucionalidad?’. Revista Internacional de Sociología, núm.77 (2019), p.126. SOLIDARITY Economy Network (XES) http://xes.cat/ 109 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Keywords: early intervention, child Journal on social knowledge and analysis development, infancy, CDIAP, networking, disability The Barcelona Network for Childhood Development and Early Intervention. Strategic alliance Assumpta Soler77, Ana Rosa Vidal and Laura Garcia78, Laura Trujillo and Sergi Morera79, 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. 1. What is early intervention? Early intervention is the set of preventive and support actions aimed at the young child population, families and their environment, from when the child is conceived until they turn six years old, with the aim of responding as early as possible to the temporary or permanent needs of young children with any type of developmental disorder, or who are in a situation of risk of developing one. A developmental disorder is understood as a transitory or permanent neurological, psychological or sensorial dysfunction presented by a young child during their maturation process which significantly affects their development, as a result of health or relational events that compromise their biological, psychological or social evolution. The early intervention services provide comprehensive care that takes all aspects of the young child into account through the perspective of professionals from diverse disciplines. It encompasses prevention, detection, diagnosis and therapeutic intervention aimed at achieving the child’s maximum level of personal development and integration into their environment. Scientific evidence has shown that early childhood is the stage when neuronal plasticity is at its peak and, as such, this is when prevention and detection interventions to foment quality family relations and prevent possible developmental disorders are most effective. Early intervention is an investment in a child’s capacity to progress in the personal, educational, economic and social spheres, and the earlier the 77. Coordinator of the Municipal Institute for Persons with Disabilities. 78. Barcelona Network for Childhood Development and Early Intervention. 79. Planning and Evaluation, Municipal Institute for Persons with Disabilities. 110 intervention the more effective and less costly it is, and the greater the reduction in social costs at later ages. In brief, and as pronounced by the World Health Organisation, the first years of life are a window of opportunity to improve health and equality. 2. Background in Barcelona Barcelona City Council led the way among the public administrations of Catalonia and Spain when in 1983, and through the Municipal Institute for Persons with Disabilities (IMPD), they set up two interdisciplinary, public, free, sectorised early intervention teams, which they named interdisciplinary teams for early childhood (EIPI). These teams were first located in the districts of Ciutat Vella and Sants-Montjuïc. The latter was later moved to the district of Nou Barris, such that both municipal services were located in the two Barcelona districts with the highest child vulnerability indices in the city: Ciutat Vella and Nou Barris. Different programmes, regulations and recommendations stemming from this first city council initiative have been developed at both a regional and a state level. Some of the most notable in Catalonia are the Health and Social Security Department’s Sectorial Early Stimulation Programme (1985); Decree 206/199580, which establishes the level of intervention and, essentially, the implantation of the Child Development and Early Intervention Centres (CDIAP) in the region; and Law 18/2003 and Decree 261/200381, which establish early intervention as a universal right for all young children up to the age of six years old that need it. The two pioneer services in Barcelona were then integrated into the public network of specialist care services of the universal, free Catalan social services system distributed throughout Catalonia. At a national level, the turning point was the publication of the White paper on early intervention drafted in 2000 by the Royal Disability Trust of the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs. Once the CDIAP public network was set up in Catalonia, a comprehensive care model with a biopsychosocial perspective was implemented through multidisciplinary teams, and intervention models (early stimulation) focused on rehabilitation and correcting deficiencies were set aside. The child, as the subject of rights, preventive action and intervention in the family, social and community spheres have become key factors of this new system of public care services for young children with developmental problems and those at risk of having them. 3. Early intervention in Barcelona There are eleven CDIAPs in Barcelona, covering all the city’s districts and neighbourhoods. The centres are publicly run or privately run while receiving public funds. The Municipal Institute for Persons with Disabilities (IMPD) manages two of the centres: Nou Barris CDIAP-EIPI and Ciutat Vella CDIAP-EIPI. Passeig de Sant Joan CDIAP is run by the Government of Catalonia, and the other centres are run by specialist entities with extensive experience and expertise in early intervention. The CDIAPs in Barcelona are distributed as follows: The CDIAP teams are made up of professional specialists in physiotherapy, speech therapy, social work, psychology, paediatric neurology and psychometrics, among others. The multi-disciplinary nature of the teams means that care can be provided for any type of disorder, ensuring integral intervention that meets the child and family’s needs. While all the CDIAPs comply with the requirements of the public network, each of them has their 80. This Decree is accessible at: https://portaljuridic.gencat.cat/ca/pjur_ocults/pjur_resultats_fitxa?action=fitxa&documentId=108304 81. The Law 18/2003 and the Decree 261/2003 are accessible at: https://portaljuridic.gencat.cat/ca/pjur_ocults/pjur_resultats_fitxa/?documentId=329445&action=fitxa, and at: https://portaljuridic.gencat.cat/ca/pjur_ocults/pjur_resultats_fitxa/?documentId=346199&action=fitxa, respectively 111 own particularities depending on the characteristics of their reference population, the type of management (three centres are public and the rest private), and the composition and specialisation of the professional teams, among others. 4. The Barcelona Network for Childhood Development and Early Intervention (IMPD) Within this context, the IMPD is taking a further step towards improving the city’s childhood policies, and is inviting Barcelona’s CDIAPs, experts and reference entities to create a collaborative alliance to boost and improve the care provided to the most vulnerable young children in the city. To this effect, the Barcelona Network for Childhood Development and Early Intervention was set up in 2015, and includes all the CDIAPs in Barcelona, the two reference entities in the field – the Catalan Union of Child Development and Early Intervention Centres (ACAP), and the Catalan Early Intervention Association (ACAP) – and the Nexe Foundation, as an expert in multi-disability care. From its beginnings, the initiative has received the support of the Department of Employment, Social Affairs and Families of the Government of Catalonia. The objectives of the Barcelona Network for Childhood Development and Early Intervention are:  To provide complementary resources that improve the care provided to young children with developmental difficulties on behalf of the IMPD for the use of all the CDIAPs. 112  To boost collaborative management methodologies in the city’s shared services and programmes.  Liaison with other public child care services in the city to improve efficiency among services and community action.  An interdisciplinary training and consultancy offer for the Network's professionals, which complements the specialist training provision.  Cooperation and mutual support in intervention and research methodologies. The first steps of the Barcelona Network for Childhood Development and Early Intervention focused on establishing a firm basis for future projects, seeking cooperation and synergies among the different specialist teams. The network is made up of 40 professionals and experts who actively participate in the working commissions. One of the results of this alliance is that data is available for the first time on the status and evolution of early intervention in Barcelona city. The basic aggregated data of Barcelona’s eleven CDIAPs have been provided by the Sub-Directorate General of Care and the Promotion of Personal Autonomy of the Directorate-General of Social Protection of the Government of Catalonia, gathered from the shared registry system of all the CDIAPs of Catalonia and reported by the centres themselves in their annual reports. A summary of the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 is presented for the purpose of this paper, and to illustrate the magnitude of the joint care action of Barcelona city’s eleven early intervention services. 4.1. The population served by Barcelona's CDIAPs The population aged from 0 to 5 years old in Barcelona city represents 5% of the total population of the city; in 2018, there were 81,789 children in this age bracket. In 2018, Barcelona's CDIAPs provided care for a total of 6,671 young children, 8.16% of all the children in the city between the ages of 0 and 5 years. According to figures provided by the Government of Catalonia, who is fully responsible for early intervention, the target population for early intervention services is 7.5% of the population in the age bracket of 0- 5 years. In Barcelona city, this proportion represents 6,134 young children, an average of 606 users per centre. Therefore, in 2018 the number of young children provided with care in the city as a whole was higher than the target population for the city. However, it must be noted that the population characteristics and social realities of the city’s neighbourhoods are very different among them and, therefore, the defining characteristic of the distribution of the inequality and vulnerability indices for young children is precisely its heterogeneity, presenting some very marked singularities across territories. While the objective of this paper is not to analyse early intervention in each territory, we believe that we are right in saying that the early intervention needs of some Barcelona neighbourhoods outweigh the standard percentage for all of Catalonia, established at 7.5% The figures for the evolution of the number of children provided with care in the last three years show a steady increase of 9.41% between 2016 and 2018. These first data on the evolution of demand provide us with tools of reflection and analysis to guide any future action: has the number of service referrals increased further? Are families more aware of and informed about the CDIAPs? Has the detection of disorders improved? Is there a growing trend for any specific pathologies? a) Distribution by gender The distribution by gender of children in this age bracket in the general population is the same as can be observed on a world scale, at 1.06 boys for every girl. Expressed as a percentage, in the age bracket 0-5 years old, 51.4% of children are boys and 48.6% are girls. 113 The proportion of young children provided with care at the city's CDIPAs is different to the proportion of young children in the 0-5 year age bracket. Over the last three years in the city, as a whole, the distribution by gender has been around 67% boys and 33% girls. This gender pattern is the same in the group of young children that are recognised as disabled: in 2018, 36.5% of the population between 0-5 years with a disability were girls. Although the number of children with the disability certificate is very low, this distribution by gender is maintained throughout childhood and adolescence (0-17 years). In line with the municipal drive against the feminisation of poverty and precariousness, and the promotion of actions against gender inequality implemented through the Strategy, these data provide us with valuable information, based on other specific studies, on what the root causes of this unequal distribution in demand and early intervention in the city between boys and girls might be. b) Age of the children when they first register with the service Regarding the age of the children when they first register with the service (3,253 in 2018), for almost 25% of users this is before they are 12 months old. However, almost half of new 114 users at the CDIAPs are between 25 and 48 months old. There is a slight upward trend in the number of new requests for the service from very young children. 5. Reasons for consultation at Barcelona’s CDIAPs The reason for consultation is the main motivation for requesting care for a child, as expressed by the family or the service that made the referral, at the moment the service is requested. Remember that families can approach the early intervention service independently or by referral from other services involved in child care such as schools, the health service or social services. The reason for consultation does not always coincide with the diagnosis once it is made, but is basically an expression of the observable symptoms or most visible concerns that have prompted the consultation. As shown in the following table, the main reasons for consultation are language development disorders of different aetiologies (around 30% of new consultations), followed by motor development problems and biological risk. The main reasons for consultation have risen in the last three years. The main centres that refer cases to the CDIAPs belong to the areas of health and education, referring 61.3% and 28.1% of cases, respectively. Only 5% of registered users come to the centres via direct requests from the families. 115 6. Therapeutic intervention at the CDIAPs Once the initial formalities at the CDIAP have been completed, the team makes an interdisciplinary diagnosis and develops an individualised therapeutic intervention plan for every child: speech therapy, physiotherapy, psychomotricity, psychological treatment, social work and so on. Below is a graph showing the hours of care received by the young children and their families depending on the type of support and therapeutic needs. Most noteworthy is that over 50% of professional hours correspond to the discipline of psychology, followed by physiotherapy and speech therapy. In cases of a suspected child development disorder, a broad diagnostic approach encompassing different areas and levels is fundamental, given that in most cases the problem presented by the child has multiple aspects. The symptomatology usually has a multi-factor origin resulting from the interaction of genetic factors, health issues, psycho- affective care issues, general environmental conditions and so on. The diagnosis of the 116 difficulties presented by the child will be the outcome of considering several specialist diagnoses in an integral way, identifying both the main and the secondary diagnoses. Hence, the diagnosis does not necessarily coincide with the original reason for consultation at the CDIAP. Data for the years 2016-2018 show that language and motor development disorders of different aetiologies are the most usual diagnoses at Barcelona’s CDIAPs. Relational, affective and behavioural disorders have also been frequently diagnosed at the CDIAPs in the last three years. There are various reasons for stopping care or no longer using the service: symptom improvement (27%), family decision (20%) or reaching six years old, the age limit for receiving care at the CDIAPs (18%). 9% of young children who leave the service are referred to other intervention centres or services, especially child and youth mental health centres (CSMIJ), among others. Regarding the age of the child when they stop using the service, 52% are over 48 months old and 27% are over 61 months old. 7. Barcelona Network CDIAP support action The data presented above make difficult work for all the CDIAPs, and they describe a context in which specific action proposals are incorporated that respond to the needs of the city's CDIAPs. The Barcelona Network of CDIAPs, which has a collegiate coordination structure and a participatory working methodology, implements pioneering actions in the areas of health, the relationship between families and professionals, and applied research. Notable among current Barcelona Network actions are: 117 7.1 The contribution of complementary services to CDIAP resources The IMPD promotes the contribution of complementary resources to improve the quality of the care provided by participating CDIAPs. To this effect, and via collaboration with the Barcelona Institute of Sports, free access to eight swimming pools has been granted to users to promote therapeutic aquatic activities that increase young children and families’ learning and participation opportunities, providing them with highly therapeutic communication and relational experiences they would otherwise not have access to. An average of 125 children participate annually in these activities. The CDIAPs can also now request interpretation and intercultural mediation services for their intervention actions, paid for by the IMPD. Depending on the location of the CDIAP, many of the families registered with them are of foreign origin. In 2018, five of the CDIAPs requested linguistic translation/interpretation support to assist with therapeutic communication for 71 families who spoke 11 different languages. Regarding the intercultural mediation service, four CDIAPs requested support to provide care for the children of 100 families who spoke five different languages. 7.2 Networking with entities The Network has secured a collaboration agreement with the Nexe Foundation to provide support, guidance and specialist advice to the families and professional teams involved in the CDIAPs, Specific equipment and games adapted to the needs of young children with multi-disabilities has also been provided. In 2018, 30 young children received specialist intervention in this area. An agreement with the Barcelona Osteopathy Foundation has also been made, providing complementary osteopathy treatments for 30 young children from low income families. Along the line of seeking collaboration among the various stakeholders, families registered with the CDIAPs can now use the Movement Bank, a temporary loan service for support products for people with reduced mobility (crutches, walking frames, walking chairs and so on), which has a bank of equipment specifically for children. Loans have been made to 28 families following assessment by an occupational therapist and an expert in orthopaedics to guarantee the suitability of the equipment for the needs and characteristics of the young child. 7.3 Training and education among professionals The Network promotes ongoing education aimed at the interdisciplinary teams to complement the specific training provided by the Catalan Early Detection Association (ACAP) for each of the disciplines. Training has been provided on diversity issues to be able to provide care among the multiplicity of cultures and parenting and care patterns of the families that use the city's CDIAPs. In the same line, monographic sessions were organised in 2018 in conjunction with the Care and Wellbeing Association on six cultural communities that are users of the CDIAPs (Chinese, Russian, Pakistani, Armenian, Moroccan and Philippine), in which 134 professionals took part. This year, further training in cultural skills has been provided with the course on intervention with people from different cultural contexts, given by the Transcultural Psychiatry team of Vall d’Hebron Hospital. A total of 25 professionals from the Network’s CDIAPs interested in widening their theoretical and technical knowledge to enable them to offer a maximum quality service attended these courses, which provided them with a thorough understanding of the culture, ethnicity and language of their service users. Also in 2019, the Therapeutic Aquatic Activity course was given, which was especially designed to train professionals in the different disciplines involved in the CDIAPs and entities in the Network to be able to offer a therapeutic resource that takes place in water, with a methodology based on games and personal interactions. Again in 2019, and in conjunction with the Municipal Institute of 118 Education (IMEB), training was provided to the education professionals and management teams in municipal nursery schools that aimed to improve their ability to detect infant disorders and ensure fast, efficient intervention. Last, a course on warning signs in 0-12 month-old infants and first interventions was given by a team of professionals from the different disciplines involved in the Barcelona Network CDIAPs, with close to 100 attendees, all of them professionals from the teaching teams at municipal nursery schools. 7.4 Liaison with other early child intervention services One of the aims of the Barcelona Network is to facilitate liaison with other public early child intervention services in the city to improve efficiency between services and community action. With regard to the protocols set out by the Government of Catalonia in relation to referrals and coordinating cases among the health, education and social care areas, the Barcelona Network is updating coordination with the city's specific services. The Barcelona Network has taken part in the Nadocat Commission, which brings together entities including the Catalan Early Detection Association, the Nadocat Association, the Neonatal Studies Group, the Catalan Paediatrics Society and the Catalan Union of Child Development and Early Intervention Centres. This commission, which focuses on the needs of premature infants and those at biological risk, has drafted the documents ‘The need for networking for the care of premature infants and those at risk in hospitals, CAP Salut and the CDIAPs’. To this effect, coordination is ongoing between the Special Needs Care Educational Team (EEAEN) of IMEB and those in charge of the Territorial Management of Primary Healthcare in Barcelona of the Catalan Healthcare Institute, and the Perinatal Mental Health team of the Hospital Clinic, among others, to improve detection and prevention in IMEB nursery schools. 7.5 Cooperation and mutual support in intervention and research methodologies The IMPD, as the promoter of the Barcelona Network, has signed a collaboration agreement with the Affective Bond and Human Development Laboratory of the University of Girona to carry out a joint research project aimed at evaluating the interaction between parents and young children and the quality of the affective bond. This evaluation protocol, in which five CDIAPs have taken part, enables qualitative and quantitative data to be obtained on the quality of the interaction between parents and young children and creating a secure affective bond. 8. Future challenges In these first years the Network has been in operation, the use of knowing the reality of the city's support network, and the need to work together, promote research and share experiences and intervention methodologies to improve the quality of early child intervention in Barcelona city has been demonstrated. In the coming years, the Barcelona Network will continue working with this strategic alliance to boost collaboration and cooperation among stakeholders and experts, with the aim of seeking consensus as to the key elements of a high quality early intervention service in the city. Dialogue will continue with other community agents that intervene in the 0-6 years age group, with the clear aim of integrating and promoting the inclusion of young children with developmental disorders in their communities. 119 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Keywords: young people and adolescents, mental health, detection, Journal on social knowledge and analysis early intervention Mental Health in Adolescents and Young People: the Konsulta’m Project Pilar Solanes and Lídia Ametller, Department of Health, Area of Social Rights, Global Justice, Feminisms and LGTBI Barcelona City Council 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. Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which the individual is conscious of their own abilities, can deal with the usual tensions of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is capable of contributing to their community (World Health Organization, 2013a). Since it is estimated that approximately 15% of the population will suffer from some kind of mental illness over the course of their life, mental health has been incorporated as a priority in the programmes and policies of European countries. For this reason, the member states of the European region of the World Health Organization (WHO, 2005), the European Commission and the Council of Europe signed the Mental Health Declaration for Europe in 2005 in Helsinki. This document recognises the promotion of mental health and the prevention and treatment of mental disorders as fundamental objectives for the protection and improvement of the well-being and quality of life of the entire population. In this context, within the framework of Barcelona City Council’s health policies, in 2016 the first Barcelona Mental Health Plan 2016-2022 was drawn up and approved at the Municipal Plenary (Barcelona City Council, 2016). This is a shared city strategy to encourage a framework that can provide for the promotion, prevention and care for the 120 mental health of the citizens. This plan is in alignment with the policies and recommendations promoted by other institutions, such as the Catalan Government (Comprehensive Care Plan for People with Mental Disorders and Addictions and the Master Plan for Mental Health and Addictions. Generalitat de Catalunya, 2017) and the WHO Regional Office for Europe (European Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020) (WHO, 2013b). This plan was created with the impetus and leadership of Barcelona City Council and the Barcelona Public Health Agency, but it also involved and continues to involve the voices of municipal political groups, various sectors of the City Council (health, employment, housing, education, social services, etc.), organisations providing mental health services, professional and scientific organisations, and other institutions such as the Barcelona Public Health Agency, the Barcelona Health Consortium, the Barcelona Education Consortium and the Catalan Ministry of Health. The Barcelona Mental Health Plan 2016- 2022 consists of four strategic lines, 11 objectives and 111 action plans, encompassing activities designed for the promotion of psychological well-being in residents of Barcelona, the provision of high-quality accessible services for people suffering from mental illness, as well as assistance in carrying out life projects to the highest possible satisfaction and in the struggle against stigma and discrimination. Given the unanimous consensus on the urgency and necessity of focusing efforts on care during childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, the plan prioritises care for people at this stage of life. With this priority in mind, efforts have been focused on the stage of adolescence, a stage of life in which many physical, social and emotional changes take place, to which we must continually adapt and adjust. The data indicate that, in Europe, between 15% and 20% of adolescents present a psychological or behavioural problem, and these have a higher risk of continuing into adulthood and even becoming chronic (WHO, 2005). It is estimated that almost half of the mental health problems presented in adulthood began during adolescence (Kessler et al., 2007; Patel, Flisher, Hetrick and McGorry, 2007). The report Mental Health in Barcelona 2016, which the Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB, 2017) carried out within the framework of the plan, highlights the presence of psychological problems in 7.9% of boys and 10.4% of girls, while those that would be at the boundary represent 15.4% and 20.9%, respectively (graph 1). In all age groups, there is a higher proportion of girls with psychological problems than boys. Moreover, the symptomatology shows a tendency to worsen over time in girls, which was not observed in the same way in boys. 121 In reference to the types of problems, according to the results of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) included in the report, attention and hyperactivity difficulties have a higher prevalence in all age groups, in both boys and girls (graph 2). In girls, emotional problems stand out, and in boys, it is behavioural problems. On the other hand, this report also highlights an increase in the prevalence of psychological problems in 2016 versus 2012, specifically among boys aged 15-16, and girls aged 15-19 (graph 3). Although there can be a genetic predisposition in the development of psychological difficulties, we must also take into account the environmental factors that have an impact. In this respect, a higher prevalence was recorded among schoolchildren in more disadvantaged neighbourhoods, in comparison with the population of neighbourhoods with a higher average income. To draw up the plan, a qualitative analysis was carried out of the mental health needs that were detected in Barcelona city. A result of this analysis was the document ‘Challenges, Facts and Proposals’ of the Mental Health Plan (Barcelona City Council, 2016), which presents two challenges related to adolescence, On the one hand, the need to generalise the emotional and social learning necessary in adolescence and provide new listening, counselling and support services for this group. From this challenge arises the proposal to identify and promote new listening, support and counselling services for adolescents, with 122 new formats: the right people, at the right place and time (for example, incorporating guides in the places where adolescents relate to each other). On the other hand, the need to provide earlier, more intensive, higher quality care to children and young people with the greatest mental health difficulties. Providing training and knowledge in these subjects (for example, learning to observe children's behaviour and interpret it) for professionals working in child care services is proposed, especially of those who work with groups at higher risk. From both the data presented previously and the needs detected in the participatory process of the Mental Health Plan set out in the document ‘Challenges, Facts and Proposals’ detailed above, the plan prioritises care for children, adolescents and young people. This priority is being put into action with the development of various actions on the part of different parties. For example, the ASPB’s emotional education project for children aged 3 to 5 in Barcelona schools called ‘1,2,3, Emoció!’, the ‘Escoles enriquides’ (‘Enriched Schools’) programme from the Barcelona Education Consortium and the Neighbourhood Plan, which consists of support from different professional profiles, such as the social educator or the emotional education technique, in the city’s high complexity schools, and the support service ‘Aquí t’escoltem’ (‘We listen you here’), for adolescents and young people from the City Council Department for Young People. With reference to early detection and preventive intervention in difficulties relating to mental health that can appear in adolescence and young adulthood, as has been mentioned earlier, it is important that it is carried out in the proximity of the young people themselves, both in the spaces in which they live their daily lives, for example youth centres, as well as training professionals and volunteers who are in permanent day-to-day contact with this group. In order to take advantage of the spontaneity of young people who need an immediate response to their emotional problem or specific issue, it is necessary to try to provide a response as quickly as possible, without prior appointment. The complementarity of the community programmes and resources designed for young people and the networking of professionals are also important. One of the projects promoted as part of the Mental Health Plan aimed at adolescents and young people in order to respond to the above criteria is the Konsulta’m programme, with the goal of detection and early intervention in mental health problems in adolescents and young people aged from 12 to 22. The programme consists of the following: one evening a week, in a youth centre or similar facility, without prior appointment, a clinical psychologist and a social educator or nurse from the mental health centre for children and young people (CSMIJ) or for adults (CSMA) offers a listening service for children and young people who need a specialised, rapid and immediate response to their problem, and provides tools to deal with distressing personal situations. If necessary, they offer specialised counselling and support for families and, if it appears necessary to carry out a specific clinical evaluation or intervention, they accompany the adolescent and their family to the referral mental health service. The most interesting aspect of the programme is that it is made available to professionals and voluntary workers in the area who work with adolescents and young people (in open centres, youth clubs and other leisure facilities, in education centres, etc.). It offers advice and guidance on specific cases or situations that can be found during the course of their daily professional work, as well as intervention in the natural environment and training exercises, when required. The Konsulta’m programme was launched at the Palau Alòs Youth Centre in the Santa Caterina neighbourhood in June 2018 and, so far, various different points have been opened. Seven points have now been launched, and it is forecast that by the end of 2019 123 there will be a total of nine points covering the whole city. Their distribution is shown in figure 1. In the period 2018-2020, the programme is in its pilot phase, during which the basic elements of the model are being developed, using a working group formed of various professionals who manage the programme in each area and also those who work with adolescents and young people in the community. The evaluation will be carried out later. This programme must involve a change of perspective and way of working in the different professional fields, as well as the articulation and joint work of the mental health network and the community network, putting the adolescent or young person at the centre of the intervention and reducing the disjointed approach. Bibliography BARCELONA PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY (2017). Mental Health in Barcelona 2016. Barcelona: Barcelona Public Health Agency. Available online at: BARCELONA CITY COUNCIL. Department of Health (2016). Barcelona Mental Health Plan 2016-2022. Barcelona: Barcelona City Council. Available online at: 124 GOVERNMENT OF CATALONIA (2017). Comprehensive Care Plan for People with Mental Health Disorders and Addictions. Strategy 2017-2019. Barcelona: Government of Catalonia. Available online at: GOVERNMENT OF CATALONIA. Department of Health (2017). Master Plan for Mental Health and Addictions (PDSMA). Barcelona: Directorate General for Health Planning. Available online at: KESSLER, R. C.; AMMINGER, G. P.; AGUILAR-GAXIOLA, S.; ALONSO, J.; LEE, S.; USTÜN, T. B. (2007). ‘Age of onset of mental disorders: A review of recent literature’. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 20(4), p. 359-364. WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (2005). Mental Health Declaration for Europe. Facing the challenges, Building solutions. Helsinki: World Health Organization. Available online at: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (2013a). ‘Salud mental: un estado de bienestar’. Available online at: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (2013b). European Mental Health Action Plan 2013- 2020. Geneva: World Health Organization. Available online at: PATEL, V.; FLISHER, A. J.; HETRICK, S.; MCGORRY, P. (2007). ‘Mental health of young people: A global public-health challenge’. Lancet, 369(9569), p. 1302-1313. 125 24 Barc elona November 2019 Soci etat Keywords: Promoting health, schools, healthy eating, physical activity, Journal on social knowledge and analysis adolescent behaviours Incorporation of the presumption of inequalities in the promotion of health at school Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB)82 and CIBERESP83 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. Introduction Overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence is a serious public health problem (Lobstein, 2004). Moreover, it is associated with morbidity and mortality in adulthood (Guo, Wu, Chumlea i Roche, 2002). The perception of the physical, psychological, emotional and social changes that come with puberty in a society that demands a thin body and, at the same time, encourages overeating and sedentary leisure activities can lead to behavioural disorders in some people (Smolak, 2004). In an attempt to find an answer to these problems, and following the line of other programmes promoting health in school developed by the ASPB, a team of experts working with teachers, psychologists and medical and nursing staff developed the CHANGES programme in 2000. This programme is targeted at compulsory secondary education (ESO) second-year students and is intended to facilitate the work carried out by teachers with students in relation to the physical, psychological, physiological and social changes that occur in adolescence. It includes classroom activities and interventions in the community. 82. Olga Juárez, María Salvador, Iolanda Robles, Andrea Bastida, Francesca Sánchez-Martínez. 83, Lucia Artazcoz (CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Spain; Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona; San Pau Institute of Biomedical Research (IIB Sant Pau), Barcelona. 126 The initial version of the CHANGES was developed according to a theoretical model of behavioural change that believes attitudes, the influence of others and our perception of our own abilities determine our behaviour(Bandura, 1986; Prochaska i Velicer, 1997). The same model provides tools for changing behaviour, which form the basis of the activities in the classroom. This type of approach is based on the belief that behaviour is, ultimately, under the control of the individual concerned (Burke, Galen, Pasick i Barker, 2009). The social setting is important, in part because it provides models and influences behaviour. Based on this logic, people who have the necessary information and believe they can take action on the basis of that information can restructure their lives to avoid detrimental outcomes and they can select socially beneficial environments that foster the desired behaviour. Despite that, this conception of the social context as a normative social environment that allows free choice within the limits of self-sufficiency is narrower than understanding behaviour from the perspective of the determining factors and social inequalities in health, which identify various levels, proximal and distal, as well as the intersection between various axes of inequality (Burke et al., 2009; Glass i McAtee, 2006). CHANGES was updated in the academic year 2017-18 when it was decided to broaden this initial theoretical model and recognise the importance that population stratification has in shaping health outcomes and opportunities. Therefore, the updated version adopts an intersectional perspective, which includes interculturalism and functional diversity. It also involved an exhaustive review and updating of the contents, with the incorporation of various new features as well. These changes are in response to suggestions from teachers that we have been collecting over the years the programme has been running, as well as those of participating students and the Barcelona Public Health Agency’s community health teams. They are also in response to the desire to include new knowledge in the contents. In addition to a review with an intersectional perspective, we also wanted to reflect the different realities of Barcelona’s schools to facilitate the programme’s implementation. So the emphasis was on using participatory methodologies that would enable a dialogue between the diverse student positions and avoid a single, dominant view. It should be noted that content has been added too, such as the importance of rest and the affect of screens and social media during these life stages. Efforts have also been made to respond to demands for the programme to be supplemented with suggestions for both audiovisual materials and technological ones (apps). These suggested supplementary materials are published online84 facilitating access and enabling the site to be swiftly updated, which is necessary due to the constant changes that occur in these kinds of materials. 1. Programme objectives and methodology Objectives  To improve self-knowledge, personal evaluation and acceptance of the diversity of bodies in this period of changes.  To promote healthy eating through better knowledge, attitudes, skills and behavioural intentions, as well as providing resources to support the community.  To promote behaviour in physical activity and rest through better knowledge, attitudes, skills and behavioural intentions, as well as providing resources to support the community. 84. Programme website: https://www.aspb.cat/canvis/ 127  To incorporate a gender perspective, interculturalism and functional diversity when considering the influence of stereotypes and social pressure on the experience of changes that occur in adolescence on personal evaluation and self-image. Methodology a) Population The programme is targeted at second-year ESO students at all Barcelona schools. It could be adapted for other years depending on the characteristics of the school or the group of students. Implementation of the programme, as with all health promotion programmes in schools, is voluntary. CHANGES is currently being implemented in state- run, private and state-maintained schools. Teachers and other school staff (psychopedagogical and social education staff) should carry out the intervention after they have received the training offered by the ASPB, since it is considered essential for implementing the school programmes in the right way (Jourdan, 2011; Moynihan, Paakkari, Välimaa, Jourdan i Mannix-McNamara, 2015). The activities are carried out using the free teaching resources available (teacher’s guide and student material) and teachers can also receive support and advice throughout the school year from the ASPB team of public health professionals. b) Intervention settings The programme provides for interventions in different areas; in the classroom, in school and in the community. Classroom intervention is based on sessions with activities developed by teachers, while school interventions consist of actions to foster conditions that enable schools to promote and facilitate healthy behaviours, thus boosting and reinforcing the work done in the classroom. Intervention in the community involves community activities that help to enrich, boost and reinforce the programme, by establishing healthy relations with the immediate environment. c) Content and duration of the programme The content covered by the programme can be divided into four distinctive blocks. 1. The first block focuses on physical, psychological and social changes that occur during adolescence. It is important that students recognise and anticipate these changes so they can adapt positively to them on a personal level and see them as a normal process when they arrive. It is also a matter of adolescents understanding that they are going through a stage where lots of changes occur at all levels, and that not everybody experiences them at the same time, that there is a lot of diversity. 2. The second block identifies and analyses how society influences personal evaluation, self-image and self-esteem with the idea that there is an “ideal” or standard body. The programme looks at how to respect, value and accept the diversity of bodies, both our own and those of other people. 3. The third block focuses on the influence that screens and social media can have on adolescents. Classical advertising has lost weight in terms of the influence it can have on adolescents, while social media have assumed an important, almost vital role (Groesz, Levine i Murnen, 2002; Perloff, 2014). Some influencers have such an impact on adolescents that they can significantly mark and influence their identity: changes in their habits, beliefs, and so on. In this block, the channels or influencers with the most impact on the class group are identified and analysed, and alternatives with healthier messages are put forward. 4. The fourth block is based on promoting healthy types of behaviour with regard to eating, physical activity and rest. This is the period when adolescents begin to decide, 128 partly, what they eat, what physical activity they do and when they rest. Thus it is a question of fostering healthy habits and training students so they can make healthy decisions. At the same time, care is taken to ensure the school has a policy that is consistent with the programme. It is recommended that there are two sessions for each block with a total time of eight hours. Where it is not possible for teachers to devote this time, they can reduce the number of sessions to a minimum intervention of one session for each block with a total of four hours. 2. Main results a) Evaluating the effectiveness of the original version. The programme was evaluated in 2000 by 2,800 second-year ESO students in Barcelona. The study enabled the food and eating-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of the group who had followed the programme to be compared with a control group that had not. The results showed that the intervention group had significantly improved their nutritional knowledge and, more importantly, their food preferences or even some habits. While the suggestions added later to increase physical activity have not been evaluated by means of an experimental study, they are based on studies with proven results and the recommendations of national and international bodies. b) Process evaluation Every academic year a process evaluation is carried out using two sources; the school registration database and the database of the evaluation questionnaire, completed at the end of the year by teachers who have implemented the programme. The registration database is used to analyse the schools, classes and students covered, as well as their territorial distribution. The evaluation questionnaire enables training, implementation and satisfaction with the programme to be evaluated, as well as identifying its strong points and areas for improvement. Attendance and satisfaction data gathered at the training sessions are also extracted. Chart 1 shows how the coverage of CHANGES developed between 2004 and 2019, remaining stable at around 40% of students. This is the highest coverage level of all the school health promotion programmes offered by the ASPB. A slight increase in registrations can be seen in recent years, reaching 45% of students in the 2017-18 school year. 129 A total of 78 ESO schools participated in the programme in the 2018-19 school year, in other words 35% of all compulsory secondary education schools in Barcelona, as well as one special education school. The intervention reached 5,918 students in 224 classes, which means 45% of the city's second-year secondary students. The territorial distribution of the schools covered, as Graph 2 shows, was unequal, ranging from 21% in Gràcia, 22% in Sant Martí and 23% in Sarrià - Sant Gervasi, to 62% in Nou Barris and Ciutat Vella. A neighbourhood breakdown shows 22 secondary schools in neighbourhoods covered by the Barcelona Health in the Neighbourhoods (BSaB) strategy registered with the programme. That means a coverage of 46%, compared to 32% of neighbourhoods not covered by the strategy, where 56 secondary schools and a special school registered (Figure 1). BSaB is a community health strategy that prioritises the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the city to reduce health inequalities. 130 Prior training was given in November 2017. It consisted of a workshop held three times and attended by 63 teachers. All the teachers attending the training given by the ASPB team of professionals found the workshops very interesting, 98% very useful, 95% very practical and 97% very clear. On a scale of 0 to 10, the average score for overall satisfaction with the workshops was 8.8. Overall, both the teachers’ perception of the students’ reaction to the activities and the evaluation of the programme’s contents received good scores (Graph 3). 131 3. Update pilot test The programme update was prepared during the 2016-17 school year by the ASPB Community Health Team, in collaboration with teachers and students who had implemented the programme, and expert bodies such as the Surt Foundation, the Centre for African and Intercultural studies and the IMPD. During the 2017-18 school year, the updated version was approved in 77 classes at 60 schools in all the city’s districts with a total of 2,732 students, 75% second-year ESO and the rest first- and third-year at special schools. The evaluations were very good, with a score of around 8 points out to 10 while 91% of teachers answered would do the programme again. The positive aspects they highlighted include student participation, with the chance to talk about their concerns and offer the perspective adolescents have on certain situations. The most negative aspect was problems with accessing material, which enabled the problem to be identified and a solution found. Various meeting were also held with the teachers involved and they provided information for improving some activities or offering alternatives when doing them. The experience with a special school was very positive and encouraged us to begin developing a new experience that will take shape in the 2019-20 school year, when special education professionals will coordinate with ASPB and IMPD staff to identify aspects that will enable the programme to be applied with adolescents who have functional diversity. 4. Conclusions and future challenges School is the ideal framework for promoting health, given that pre-adolescence is a key period for learning. Compulsory schooling means it is accessible to students, their families and the whole community. The CHANGES programme has showed itself as a useful resource for schools when it comes to promoting healthy eating, physical activity and rest, as well as considering personal evaluation and the influence of social media. The programme allows schools to deal with subjects that are not necessarily included in the school curriculum, but which are very important for students. Thus, CHANGES goes beyond healthy eating and tackles subjects that perhaps would not be dealt with in other ways, such as self-image and personal evaluation. Moreover, topical subjects are added to it that engage students, such as the influence of social media. Another notable aspect is the programme’s community perspective, based on the relationship between the ASPB health community, the school teachers and other association and institutional projects. 132 The 14th edition of the programme, published in October 2017, includes an exhaustive review and update of the content. The purpose of this review is to respond to the needs posed by teachers, social changes and the diversity of students in Barcelona. In addition, incorporating gender and intercultural perspectives gives the programme the opportunity to work on reducing the health inequalities in our city from the classroom. This updated version has been successfully piloted and has given rise to new challenges such as intersectional work to improve its application in special schools, where work will start in the 2019-20 school year. Bibliography LOBSTEIN, T.; BAUR, L.; UAUY, R. (2004). "Obesity in children and young people: A crisis in public health". Obesity Reviews [London, England: IASO International Obesity TaskForce, 2004]. BANDURA, A. (1986). "Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory". A: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, US: Prentice-Hall, Inc. BURKE, N. J.; GALEN, J.; PASICK, R. J.; BARKER, J. C. (2009). "Theorizing Social Context: Rethinking Behavioral Theory Nancy". Health Educ Behav., 36 (Suppl. 5), 55S- 70S. GLASS, T. A.; MCATEE, M. J. (2006). "Behavioral science at the crossroads in public health: extending horizons, envisioning the future". Social Science & Medicine (1982), 62(7), pp 1650-1671. GROESZ, L. M.; LEVINE, M. P.; MURNEN, S. K. (2002). "The effect of experimental presentation of thin media images on body satisfaction: A meta-analytic review". International Journal of Eating Disorders, 31(1), pp 1-16. GUO, S. S.; WU, W.; CHUMLEA, W. C.; ROCHE, A. F. (2002). "Predicting overweight and obesity in adulthood from body mass index values in childhood and adolescence". American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 76(3), pp 653-658. JOURDAN, D. (2011). Health Education in Schools. The challenge of teacher training. Health Education Journal. Sant-Denis: Inpes, coll. Santé en action. MOYNIHAN, S.; PAAKKARI, L.; VÄLIMAA, R.; JOURDAN, D.; MANNIX-MCNAMARA, P. (2015). "Teacher Competencies in Health Education: Results of a Delphi Study". PLoS ONE, 10(12), pp 1-17. PERLOFF, R. M. (2014). "Social Media Effects on Young Women’s Body Image Concerns: Theoretical Perspectives and an Agenda for Research". Sex Roles, 71(11–12), pp 363- 377. PROCHASKA, J. O.; VELICER, W. F. (1997). "The transtheoretical model of health behavior change". American Journal of Health Promotion, 12(1), pp 38-48. SMOLAK, L. (2004). "Body image in children and adolescents: Where do we go from here?". Body Image, 1(1), pp 15-28. 133 Knowledge and Research Department Area of Social Rights, Global Justice, Feminism and LGBTI Barcelona City Council Valéncia, 344, 5a. 08009 Barcelona T. 93 413 26 69 barcelona.cat/revistabarcelonasocietat 134