It is a self-managed cultural center in a marginal neighborhood of Zaragoza, run in an assembly-based manner. Our vision works to help people and groups create, experiment, and transform. It's an open space for the entire city, with more than 40 social entities participating. Any person with an idea of a social nature can make a proposal to the assembly. It lives in the heart of the neighborhood, along with the thousands of people who shape it and find their space in it.
Local
Spain
zaragoza historic center
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
2011-07-01
As a representative of an organization, in partnership with other organisations
Name of the organisation(s): Centro Social Comunitario Luis Buñuel Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Inés Last name of representative: Gracia Bolsa Gender: Female Nationality: Spain Function: Director Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: C/ Francisco Pradills n°4 casa 8 Town: Villanueva de Gállego Postal code: 50830 Country: Spain Direct Tel:+34 691 37 83 51 E-mail:inesgraciapersonal@gmail.com
URL:https://www.youtube.com/@cscluisbunuel Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): #dalevidaalbuñuel #elbuñuelnoserinde #elbuñuelnorebla #cscluisbuñuel
URL:https://www.facebook.com/CSCLuisBunuel Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): #dalevidaalbuñuel #elbuñuelnoserinde #elbuñuelnorebla #cscluisbuñuel
URL:https://twitter.com/CSCLuisBunuel Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): #dalevidaalbuñuel #elbuñuelnoserinde #elbuñuelnorebla #cscluisbuñuel
Yes
New European Bauhaus or European Commission websites
Luis Buñuel Social Project Community It is a community-created space on a public assembly that has become a true cultural center in a marginal neighborhood of Zaragoza, Spain. Our philosophy is based on SELF-MANAGEMENT, helping individuals and groups to create, experiment, and transform. It is an OPEN space for the entire city and neighborhood, regardless of color or ideology; it is also the power of cooperation and development aimed at achieving the common good. El Buñuel is a COMMON space for integrating projects and activities. More than 40 citizen organizations of a social nature and civil voluntary service participate in its operation, including non-profit social initiative cooperatives. Any person with a project of a social nature can propose it to the assembly, which will debate it for approval by consensus and implementation. It is up to the neighbors to decide what activities they require and desire. In the last 4 years, we engaged in 192,000 community activities. Luis Buñuel is an integrating space open to all who come to us in order to find an essential place of coexistence in order to create neighborhood networks with the rest of the city. The "CSC Luis Buñuel" has created the fittest space for the neighborhood of "El Gancho" It's an intergenerational and intercultural center available for everyone; "we build a community." The CSC Luis Buñuel is in the heart of the community and in the hearts of thousands of people who, for more than a decade, have found their space in it.
community
social-cultural activities non-profit
circular economy
synergy
Public assembly
Our Community Social Center "Luis Buñuel" is based on our belief that environmental and economic sustainability are possible. Therefore, we prioritize a conscious shopping by giving a second life to any item in every consumption situation. CSC Luis Buñuel is settled in a 19th century school that was abandoned. For this reason, it has come to life again without the need for new construction. Only volunteers are in charge of maintaining the services, so there is no cost. We are absolutely committed to self-management. We also promote bartering in a "time bank" and a "free clothing store", where you can take three garments every Saturday. Furthermore, we collect toys once a year, which are then repaired and thoroughly cleaned. They are given to the children living in Zaragoza under international protection. We also collaborate with the association "ZaragoZa does not throw food away" and use the surplus food given by the shops in the neighborhood and the products from our orchard to cook a vegetable pot every Sunday morning. This way, more than 300 people can have a hot meal, delivered in reusable containers. We are vegetarians in our effort to diminish the excess of meat consumption in the world and its environmental impact. We are involved in the promotion of veganism. Obviously, we are very careful when recycling and using reusable plastics. We strongly believe that our project should be an example of sustainability, self-management, and conscious consumption, as it has been in development for eleven years and we have learned a lot from our experience. We are pleased to share it with everyone on our web page, www.centroluisbunuel.org. See Appendix 1
Many of the projects carried out at the CSC Luis Buñuel during its twelve years of operation have brought together thousands of people. An active public that has collaborated in both the design and the organization. We'd like to highlight three editions of the festival, which were created to raise awareness about the refugee crisis and their integration into European countries. The name of the festival is REFUGEFEST CO (I, II, III).
In the three editions of REFUGEFEST CO, the following actions have been integrated into the space of the former secondary school Luis Buñuel: screening of documentaries on the issue of migration, conferences and colloquia, photo exhibitions showing the flight paths, Arabic calligraphy workshops; and pottery workshops for children. The recreational and cultural aspects were also present in the festival were: tasting of typical dishes from the countries of origin of displaced persons (Syria, Nicaragua, Senegal, etc.) made by refugees settled in the community; salsa dance workshops or drum exhibitions (batucadas), also led by Latin Americans who teach the audience the different rhythms. In the center of the institute's courtyard (about 1700 m2), a stage is set up where poetry readings and concerts of folk, African, pop, singer-songwriters, rock, rap, etc. take place throughout the day. All activities are open to the public, and the entrance to the Luis Buñuel is free throughout the day to facilitate a quiet and peaceful meeting between the various refugee communities and the neighbors of Zaragoza. The Luis Buñuel provides a time and space for them to meet, get to know one another, and overcome the fears that cultural distance causes among Europeans.
These festivals are just one example of the types of activities that require a design for public movement and the logistics of stands and supplies. See Appendix 2
The governing body of the center is the Assembly, which is open to anyone who wants to participate without any type of hierarchy. Decisions are made by full consensus, without voting. Discrepancies are addressed until a unanimous consensus is obtained. This process is slow, but it allows the sensitivities of all the participants to be incorporated, and it is a true school of participatory democracy.
Both individuals and collectives that carry out their activity in the center participate in the assembly. We have feminists, anti-racists, ecologists, collectives for the right to housing, solidarity artists, self-organized collectives of migrant people, groups of older people, etc. These collectives bring values of social justice, solidarity, interculturality, and intergenerationality to the center and to the assembly, and this synergy between different social uses that take place in the center encourages the generation of community culture for the people who participate in its activities.
The Community Social Center is a space for the entire city of Zaragoza, but it has a very solid link with the neighborhood in which it is located (San Pablo), and collaborates with the most important social agents: the health center (with which very important work was carried out during the confinement due to COVID-19) the neighborhood public school (Santo Domingo school, to which technological support was provided during COVID-19, among other collaborations), the "Lanuza-Casco Viejo Neighborhood Association", the neighborhood local trade, etc. This collaboration led, during the confinement due to COVID-19, to the creation of a mutual support network in the neighborhood, which is still active today. This solidarity network, nucleated in the Community Social Center supports the neighbors with housing, food, health, technological, and relational needs. See Appendix 3
CSC Luis Buñuel is an entity managed by and for citizens. A community organized in assemblies. We have built an intergenerational and intercultural center in Zaragoza, where no other place like this has existed before. That's the reason for its huge impact on the life of the city: more than 300,000 people have attended more than 750 activities over the past 11 years. It's a self-managed place that benefits more than 40 social and volunteer groups of citizens. The Buñuel's doors and concept are open to give all of them the opportunity to experiment, create, and develop new ways of improving our world. Most of their dynamics couldn't be approached in traditional spaces. We don't allow attitudes that involve any kind of discrimination (religious, sexual, xenophobic, racist, etc.) or violence; it's a safe, zero-tolerance place.
There's a General Assembly every Wednesday where the social activities proposed by any citizen are debated and accepted or rejected via consensus. They have to be open to everybody, from children to the elderly.
The main achievement of CSC Luis Buñuel is that, thanks to its continuous work, the neighborhood has been given a new life with as many as 192,000 shared uses.. There's a higher level of options: professional and legal assistance, free lessons on different topics, the HQ of "Artists for Peace', free use of the library or the games room, the orchard, the "shop of time", "time for silence", the free clothing shop with more than 1,900 garments given, the Communal Pot, with more than 28,000 hot meals shared, previously cooked by volunteers with the assistance of the shops in the neighborhood. Lectures, concerts, workshops, projections, meetings, live music, and suportive events.
The Luis Buñuel CSC is at the heart of the neighborhood and in the hearts of thousands of people who, for more than a decade, have found their space there.
See Appendix 4: "Photo Gallery."
The building in which the project operates was built at the end of the 19th century. It was designed as a military college but soon became the Museum of Fine Arts and later the City Hall of Zaragoza. In the years 1979–1986, the Ministry of Education renovated the space and installed a high school. The building was abandoned in 2005.
The first stages of our project began in 2011 as an occupied cultural center, but soon the neighborhood saw the great possibilities and repeatedly requested the regional government to transfer it. That government ceded the property to the local City Council in 2013. The regional government was already sensitive to accommodating a participatory center during the cession. This is how it was transferred to the local government, which, finally, drafted a cession agreement with the association that coordinates the rest of the groups. The city council made some renovations on the first floor and has supervised the activities carried out by a monitoring committee. It also takes care of the electricity and heating supplies. In recent years, institutional relations have deteriorated because the self-managed participatory model is not to the liking of the current political corporation. Despite the great benefits valued by the social fabric of the neighborhood and the world of culture throughout the city, the current government does not want our continuity. That is why it is so necessary to obtain European recognition such as this to help us move forward. See Appendix 5
Our project is a cultural and social project. It is a true laboratory of democracy and participation. Buñuel is a space that evolves at the pace of its users. Every Wednesday, an open assembly is held, and decisions are made by consensus. Any outside group or association can come to the Buñuel and request that their activity be carried out. The conditions are that it must be a socio-cultural activity that respects everyone and that takes care of the space and the users as if we were a big family. The permanent activities can be divided into cultural and social activities. They are very diverse and can be consulted in the annexes of the archives. Among the cultural activities, we could highlight the various community theater groups, yoga, percussion, dance, cinema, musical bands, plastic arts, community gardens, debate, batukada, handicrafts, cultural fairs of different countries, etc. Many of these activities are carried out by our elders, so they are intergenerational and intercultural.
There are numerous social activities or mutual support groups, but we could highlight "La Olla Solidaria," a solidarity meal; "El Ropero," a clothing exchange; the activities of various groups LGTBQ, affected by the mortgage, an anti-eviction platform, feminism 8M, "Hugs against Loneliness," responsible consumption, consumer cooperatives, migrant meetings, refugee support, a social flea market, a solidarity garden, and so on. It is not only about the activities carried out in the center itself. There is also an intense collaboration with the neighborhood schools and health centers; during the pandemic, El Buñuel provided support that was highly valued by the Neighborhood Health Board. The teachers of the schools in the area value the interaction with them as very positive in a complex multicultural environment. For all these reasons, we form a project in continuous growth based solely on citizen participation, mutual care, and the overall improvement of our environment. See Apx 5
During the last 11 years, while we have been developing our project, 400,000 people have enjoyed our activities. There are 120 permanent sociocultural activities that are attended weekly by 6,500 neighbors. As they are free or paid through a donation, a great number of the people taking part in them wouldn't be able to do it if our center did not give them these opportunities. Around 700 temporary activities have taken place due to the huge space the building brings us, so the events have been massive. We estimate that our center has been used 192,000 times. The "Olla Solidaria" distributes 14,500 meals a year; the "Supportive Wardrobe" offers clothes for 2,000 people; and the "Help to refugees group" gifts toys to 600 kids every Christmas. But we want to focus not only on the global figures but especially on the utility we offer to the many marginalized communities: multiple people from different countries, cultures, and sexual orientations, at risk of being excluded from society. All of them take advantage of the existence of our Buñuel social center. We always say that they are not numbers, they are people. All of the aforementioned groups find a safe haven in Buñuel—a meeting place, a home. That's why the people shouldn't be taken into account for their great number but for the many needs they have. They can develop their activity in Buñuel and then spread its benefits outside of it. For instance, the "anti eviction group" or "group of people endangered by mortages" helps many others who are at risk of social exclusion in these situations. It's really difficult to know the exact numbers, but we really feel, because all these people have told us so, that we are doing a great job. See Appendix 6
CSC Luis Buñuel is a remarkable example of political theory in design. A human construction that stems from self-organized assemblies of 15M and neighborhood associations. When they engaged in a discussion about their daily reality, the urgency of self-design arose and was materialized in a building that was chosen by the neighborhood. It served as a home for self-design and implementing a theory of radically inclusive neighborhood participation. This project’s day-to-day social system is based on mutual aid and the will for collaboration, which are the driving forces behind the project and the human network sustaining it.
Self-critique is in the very DNA of the project. It became evident that a self-design vision that takes people’s necessities into account is empowering for a community in which individual and collective development are deeply intertwined. Pragmatic utopias in people’s daily lives or during critical times, as covid, have been shown to trigger a burst of creative and generous altruism as well as successful self-organized grassroots movements against isolation and solitude. This process has detonated the imaginations of the people who take part in it and the capacity to realize it has become something both personal and communal. Nowadays, self-design has become paramount to assuring a more open society that allows and even rewards nonconformity. In a neighborhood where diaspora, poverty, and mental health problems are a daily reality, self-design as a theory of radically open participation is what makes the project thrive in all its facets. People can participate in this ongoing self-design or function within the design created by creative, generous altruism, and brilliant grassroots organization.
Overall, C.S.C Luis Buñuel is built upon the diversity of mediterranean cultures and diaspora communities enriching our urban ecosystem. Owing to these grounds and the will of neighbors, this community project embodies the hope of self-design. See Ap 6
When a new proposal for an activity arrives, it is received by a specific commission in charge of collecting the needs that said activity may have (the "activities commission"). This is the first approach that people and groups have with the center and it is where the project is shared: the history, way of working in community, decalogue of rules, and philosophy of the Luis Buñuel.
Self-management is a fundamental part of this philosophy and it is thanks to it that the center remains in operation. During the week, it is the same groups that offer activities and who coordinate to take turns and keep the center open, attending to people and solving doubts that neighbors and users may have. Another side of this self-management are the different commissions that work on the most specific parts of this great multidisciplinary project: economy, communication, interpersonal care, building maintenance, etc., which are also open to anyone who wants to participate in the more global management of the center.
Later, this same commission will transfer all the proposals to the general assembly, where, by consensus, it will be decided if said activity is approved. One of the requirements for an activity to be approved is that someone offer to sponsor it. The figure of the sponsor is that of someone who already knows the center and is in charge of accompanying newcomers until they feel integrated and can be the ones who take on this role themselves. Part of this process consists of explaining everyday things such as where to find cleaning products, what keys are needed and where to get them, or where to find the different spaces in the building. However, the symbolism of the sponsor goes beyond being the one who solves doubts: it is a fundamental part in the growth of this network, since it will be the one who presents and integrates this new activity, group, or person with the rest of the entities that make up the Buñuel. See Appendix 7
The center exists thanks to the space we occupy. Having an old high school with 1,700 m2, classrooms of various sizes, toilets, an outdoor patio, etc., allows us to carry out the hundreds of activities we do every year. Obviously, to be able to replicate a project like this, a building similar to ours is necessary. In all the neighborhoods of large European cities, there are abandoned buildings that, with a small institutional investment, can accommodate a community and participatory project like the Buñuel. The methodology is simple: we need people with ideas and a desire to invest their time for the good of the community. How can this be achieved? By bringing together different groups and associations with the principles of solidarity and involving them in a shared common space. We do not mean that the project can be easily replicated immediately. The Buñuel has been growing and learning over the years. So many people working together always generates tensions that must be resolved with methodologies and internal regulations.
By consulting our memories, statutes, manuals of good use, and participatory manuals, we can support similar incipient projects.
In Europe, there are centers similar to ours in many countries and cities. In Spain, there is still no awareness that free and conscious citizen participation generates multiple benefits for society. Our institutions tend to close these spaces for participation and collaboration. That is why we need a center like El Buñuel to be awarded: to set an example and validate before Europe something that enriches our neighborhoods and our cities. If El Buñuel is a reference in Europe, many similar centers can feel supported and can repeat the experience. We would be delighted to collaborate on the implementation of similar spaces to ours. See Appendix 8
Solidarity, sonority, care, community, equality are some of the values that characterize not only the CSC Luis Buñuel project, but also all the people who make it a reality. The Luis Buuel, located in one of the city's most troubled neighborhoods, is a reference for the entire city, for solving any kind of problem they encounter, both at the neighborhood and city (and world) levels.
For example, the inclusion and active contribution of different multicultural associations, promotes tolerance, respect, and community among people of all backgrounds. Alternatively, learning through various digital skills activities with collectives like the HackLab.Another example is the trans lab. The trans lab is a group for trans people of different ages that meets every two weeks to build community and support each other. Its activity consists mainly of talking about issues related to gender identity, such as: discomfort with gender in childhood, coming out to the family, the relationship with our body, what it means to be trans for us.... It also offers help to solve doubts about legal issues and medical procedures and recommends each other's tricks, readings, movies, therapists... There are also book readings on LGTBIQ+ topics and more dynamic sessions such as writing poetry, painting in the park, conscious touch, body expression, and emotional work.
All this is possible thanks to the self-management character of the project, so that all kinds of initiatives in these areas have space and a voice. It also favors the creation of solid networks of mutual support among neighbors, avoiding any kind of social exclusion, discrimination, or problem in this regard. In addition to creating a network of care to safeguard mental health. See Appendix 9
