The experimental BarriODS project, jointly promoted by the University of La Laguna and the Government of the Canary Islands, has recently been incorporated into the UN-promoted SDG Acceleration Action Platform, established as a global record with a demonstrative effect of policies, commitments, multi-stakeholder partnerships and other initiatives undertaken by governments, the United Nations system itself and a wide range of organizations to support the spread of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The UN encourages governments and other stakeholders to register policies, initiatives, or commitments that accelerate the implementation of one or more SDGs, so that they transcend their local framework and can be recognized and even replicated internationally. In the case of 'BarriODS,' its contribution to SDGs 11, 16, and 17 is recognized, as it is a project that promotes the local implementation of the 2030 Agenda by involving institutions, diverse organizations, and citizens themselves, along with the University of La Laguna, across all the islands of the Canary archipelago.
And it does so through the lens of the Canary Islands Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, which involves the localization or regional application of the SDGs, following, in particular, its action priority 1.6, which contemplates the community approach.
The training phase of the project, which began last May in the towns of El Pinar (El Hierro), San José de Breña Baja (La Palma), Playa de Santiago (Alajeró, La Gomera), La Postura (Adeje, Tenerife), Bañaderos (Arucas, Gran Canaria), Guisguey (Puerto del Rosario, Fuerteventura), La Peñita (Tías, Lanzarote), and Caleta del Sebo (La Graciosa), is currently concluding. These towns have a combined population of approximately 15,000, forming a diverse group of neighborhoods and villages that largely reflect the socio-territorial diversity of the archipelago.
Within the framework of this highly applied training process, participants have been organizing themselves into embryonic steering groups, tasked with leading community processes in each locality to formulate an action plan. Through service-learning activities, an initial assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of each neighborhood or town, as well as the challenges that must be addressed, has already been developed.
In some cases, the project reinforces existing processes, whether promoted by public administrations or driven by organized citizens, always in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals. Within this experience, the use of community walks has been of particular interest, allowing participants to take different routes together through the participating towns.
Francisco García Rodríguez, rector of the University of La Laguna, values the recognition that BarriODS' inclusion in the UN platform represents, highlighting "the contribution that public universities make in stimulating innovation in the community sphere. It is a necessary working model to face the great challenges that society faces today anywhere on our planet," explains the rector.
For his part, Vicente Zapata Hernández, the project director, emphasizes the importance of the project's international visibility, which is now focused on deepening the shared knowledge of each locality to advance their respective action plans. Zapata also highlights "the leading role of the University of La Laguna in an initiative with regional reach, which is also useful for the systematization and transfer of its applied results.".
It's worth noting that BarriODS has a technical team managed by the General Foundation of the University of La Laguna that travels throughout the archipelago, carrying out tasks such as promoting, supporting, and facilitating the working groups or initiatives that have been formed. It is also responsible for fostering relationships between the different territories and organizing joint events, currently held online, although the aim is to convene a final in-person meeting in one of the participating locations to facilitate the exchange of results.
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