Call for Seed Projects - Resolution

Laboratorio Ecosocial do Barbanza resolves the Call for Seed Projects announcing the selected initiatives: 

  • Understanding and transforming the territory from bioculture
    Promotes Félix Muriel Secondary School, Rianxo

  • More than firewood
    Promotes Communal Land Community “O Fieitoso” in Taragoña, Rianxo

  • Extensive beef cattle farm in Laíño wetlands
    Promotes María Teresa Feiría Baleirón

The 3 proposals will receive an economic support of 5.000€ each one as well as technical advice and communication support throughout 2021. They were selected from a total of 15 applications submitted to the Call for Seed Projects of the Barbanza Ecosocial Lab.

The call

The Call for Seed Projects was the first step of the second phase of the Lab, in which to put into practice the principles of sustainability identified during the research carried out in 2020. The research culminated in the publication of the book When we were sustainable. Learning from Barbanza: shaping our future from our roots (available for free download in Spanish, Galician and English at www.barbanzaecosocial.org).

From this research it is clear that it is crucial to combine sustainable productive uses and the demonstration of their benefits (environmental, economic and social) and their dissemination, as well as to develop these activities in coordination with the local community, establishing and reinforcing links between people and the territory.

The entities that are part the Lab consider that the 3 selected proposals combine these aspects in an exemplary way with a great potential for impact, visibility and development. The final selection of the projects reflects the diversity of approaches of the candidacies, as well as of the promoters of the projects (private initiatives, associations and communal land communities, and educational institutions).

The Lab highlights the quality of all the applications received, which shows great potential to promote the development of the rural areas of the region by the local community. The team of the project expresses its willingness to collaborate with all the initiatives, even if they are not selected, and encourages the candidates to present their projects in future editions of the call.

The selection process

During the selection of the seed projects, multiple aspects were taken into account, such as their productive value, their contribution to the community, their contribution to environmental regeneration or novelty and the “seed” character of the project – its structuring character capable of becoming an example to be replicated by other people and entities in the future.

It was taken into account that the actions could be carried out in a reduced time frame in order to achieve results and valuing that they included tangible interventions in the territory.

At the same time, their capacity to develop on their own was considered, or if there were other sources of funding or collaborators that could potentially boost these initiatives, with the advice of the Lab team.

Three projects were selected after an extensive debate, which counted on the participation of Fundación RIA, the HISTAGRA group of the University of Santiago de Compostela, Fundación Banco Santander and an Advisory Board composed of researchers from the Galician universities and experts in the promotion of rural development.

Additional documents

Advisory Board Agreement