Three social transformation projects win the Eines 2023 Awards

The awards, which include a cash prize of 2,500 euros each, were presented on 17 October at a ceremony at the Mercat Vell in Mollet del Vallès with the participation of UAB Rector Javier Lafuente. These awards are given by the UAB, the Mollet del Vallès town council, the Vallès Occidental and Vallès Oriental county councils, and the Barcelona Provincial Council, institutions that make up the Chair in Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation, attached to the Centre for Studies and Research in Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation (CREIS).

The Eines award in the national category (Catalonia) was awarded to Bolet ben Fet, a project focused on the use of forest by-products for the production of organic mushrooms, which also facilitates the integration of people with intellectual disabilities into the labour market. This initiative generates a system of sustainable mushroom cultivation, both economically and environmentally, which provides stable work for people with functional diversity, training them as workers and giving them a salary that opens up a horizon of self-realisation, as well as meeting the growing demand for mushrooms using forest by-products that do not have many commercial outlets (sawdust, fine firewood, etc.) as raw materials for cultivation. The project also improves the income of forest owners and operators, so that there may be more profitable, better managed native forests with a lower risk of fires.

The mushroom production farm in Sant Antoni de Vilamajor (Vallès Oriental) employs twelve people, six of whom are disabled. In 2022, they produced more than 34 tonnes of mushrooms. The action covers the entire production process, from the preparation of the growing substrate to the direct marketing of the mushrooms in restaurants and shops.

As for the Eines award in the regional category (Vallès), the winning project was the Green Hospital: a Net Zero University Hospital, an initiative launched eleven years ago by the Hospital Universitari Mollet, which has made it possible to achieve Net Zero in direct emissions by 2023: CO2 emissions have been reduced by 85% and the rest is offset through the voluntary Greenhouse Gas Emissions Offsetting Programme of the Catalan Office for Climate Change.

The project covers different aspects: the promotion of sustainable architecture and structures, the decarbonisation of processes (resource management, avoidance of unnecessary travel, etc.), the promotion of a green culture through measures such as compulsory environmental training for staff, etc. The hospital has also drawn up an action plan and targets to be met by 2050 for the total elimination of emissions, including those from the supply chain and society.

Finally, the Eines award in the local category (Mollet) went to Dones d'Aigua, a young project that seeks new lines of business to continue with the special work centre Taller Alborada of the Municipal Institute of Services for the Disabled. The collection of figures called Dones d'Aigua consists of decorative figures made by people with intellectual disabilities. This project offers therapeutic employment and work in two centres in Mollet, the Bosque occupational centre (eighty users) and the CET Alborada (48 workers).

The pieces represent a water woman, a magical figure in the collective imagination that can be found in many places. There is a collection of more than ninety water women and they are all named and numbered in order to enhance their value. The products are aimed at individual customers as well as companies, associations, town councils, etc. The fact that the product can be personalised means that it can be adapted to the needs or preferences of any person or group.

"Impact on the territory"

At the event, Héctor Sala, lecturer at the UAB Department of Applied Economics, presented the Yearbook of Entrepreneurship, Economy and Social Innovation, which this year devotes several chapters to circular economy and the links between this type of economy and the social and solidarity economy, while David Sánchez, innovation technician for economic development at the Barcelona Provincial Council, gave a presentation on the economic, entrepreneurship and social innovation viewpoint.

In his speech, Rector Lafuente pointed out that the university wants to be "an engine of change" and defended the link between academic activity and the social fabric of its environment: "We must put citizens at the centre of each laboratory". Rector Lafuente affirmed that "the most important thing for the university is to have international prestige and, at the same time, to have an impact on our surrounding regions". In addition to the rector, the President of the Vallès Oriental Regional Council, Emilio Cordero; the Vice President of the Vallès Occidental Regional Council, Xavier Garcès; the Mayor of Mollet del Vallès Town Council, Mireia Dionisio; and the Provincial Deputy of the Barcelona Provincial Council, Eva Menor, also took part in the event.