It is in this context that this participatory process has been carried out, with the aim that this new MPGO allows responding to the needs of all those affected, both those who currently live in the area and those of the rest of the town.

One of the strong points of the project has been to clarify the information and make it reach as many people as possible, thus generating a space for debate from which to guarantee the possibility of getting involved and thus participating in the decision-making process. To this end, various open actions (informative and deliberative), sectoral meetings, online participation channels or an exhibition at the Ateneu Torrellenc, among others, have been held.

Some of the ideas that have been developed and executed include installing water fountains in the streets and play areas, making areas accessible for outdoor sports, building a vegetated maze for playing, equipping a space for parkour, or adding “facing” benches that encourage social interactions in public spaces. It is worth noting that beyond the functions of these elements, the interventions also have a pedagogical component for children, young people, and the rest of the population, who can see to what extent the smallest members of society are capable of making decisions that affect the entire population.

Thus, a space is offered where adolescent citizens can exchange points of view and concerns about their city and the district where they live, finding common ground and stimulating teamwork to build a set of proposals that improve their experience as adolescents in Barcelona or the respective district.

This process has been carried out through high schools, combining face-to-face sessions in the schools themselves or municipal spaces, and online sessions that offered greater flexibility in attendance and participation.

As an added value, throughout the process, the technical and political team works to listen to the work done by the adolescents, providing them with feedback: informing them of existing initiatives or explaining why they would not be viable, as well as committing to making some of the proposals presented a reality.

Some of the results that have been achieved with this process, in its two editions, include improving communication between the City Council (both at the city and district level) and adolescent citizens, seeking the best channel through which to convey the improvements that they already promote, as well as informing participants of existing formal spaces (assemblies, etc.) in which they could already participate.

In this line, the way has also been opened for political and technical representatives of the district to be closer to the reality of secondary schools, thus improving the resolution of specific needs or collaborations.

Some improvements have also been proposed and executed in the city, such as the installation of sports practice elements in open courtyards that respond to the current needs of the participants, or the creation of a map of existing public sports facilities in the district, with the location and type of resources available.

In conclusion, the adolescent citizenship involved in the process, in both editions, valued the experience very positively, as it allowed them to make political figures a little more real and to understand first-hand how they could participate in the political and social life of their city and district.

The participatory sessions are focused on the will to open spaces of cooperation between the political-technical team of the City Council, the group of drafting architects (Mangrana architects) of the preliminary draft of the new proposal for the old Col·legi del Carme, and the associated citizens and not associated with Caldes de Montbui. Through restricted technical sessions and workshops open to the public held in the equipment area, a process of cooperative work takes place in which the architectural decisions advance at the same time as the joint report on technical requirements, community needs, and citizen wills.

The participatory process “El Carmen s’obre al poble” developed progressively and cumulatively from face-to-face meetings and digital support tools, including the municipal platform “Decidim” and an electronic suggestion box. It was about, based on the recognition of historical use and the memories and experiences accumulated in the old school, contrasting the current technical and citizen needs of the municipality and trying to distribute them among the different spatial resources offered by the equipment.

Thus, the program of needs enjoyed broad agreement among all the participants, assuming, among others, the opening of the large patio of the equipment as a new public space of the municipality, underlining the importance of the flexibility of the spaces and the maintenance of the social and historical essence of the whole building.

In addition, the Follow-up Commission established during the participatory process assumed the proposal of citizen involvement throughout the planning, transformation, and commissioning process. The method of transforming the equipment will necessarily take time, and we did not want to miss the opportunity to carry out activities in the “meanwhile,” to give continuity to the reflections on co-management initiated in the process and to advance the feeling of belonging and citizen reappropriation of the future equipment.