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Ama tu Zona (Love your Zone) | Civic Europe
Community development

Ama tu Zona (Love your Zone)

Participation citizen process for the creation of a digital marketplace of social economy and solidarity

Creators

Who is behind this?

Magí Signes

Fundació Cívica Esperanzah

https://www.fundacioesperanzah.org

Spain

Idea

Idea pitch

Challenge
To reactivate the consumption and the commercial network, critically affected because of the COVID-19 crisis, with more than 150 businesses closed or almost nearby closed with a total number of 1.035 people that become jobless ( 24,3%).

Goal
To promote the creation of a digital marketplace creating local products/services, Ama tu Zona, based on the social and solidarity economy, through a process of participation and discussing between citizenship and the businessman.

Where will your project idea take place?

El Prat de Llobregat (Barcelona)

What is the specific societal challenge faced by this region?

The Ama tu zona project faces 2 essential challenges:

1. Promote a process of citizen participation to reactivate consumption and local commerce in El Prat de Llobregat. This is the sector most affected by the COVID-19 crisis, with more than 150 establishments that have been closed and 1,035 people in a situation of registered unemployment (24.3%) in the catering sector and sellers of products and services.

2. The second challenge is to promote a process of training, participation and cooperation between citizens and the local commercial sector that is firmly committed to a model based on the social and solidarity economy that places the dignified life of people and the care of our planet at the centre.

Who are you doing it for?

The project is aimed at all the citizens of El Prat de Llobregat over the age of 14 (55,000 people). The heavy users are people between 14 and 45 years of age (more than 35,000 people). It also targets more than 1,800 businesses that make up the commercial fabric of the catering trade and sellers of local products/services.

How do you plan to get there?

The action plan will be developed in 4 phases of activation:

Phase 1 - Participation, training and citizen debate to define the needs of consumption, sale of local products and services, and recovery of jobs through the creation of a digital marketplace.
In this phase, an online platform is created with online and face-to-face tools to promote participation and debate with the aim of establishing a diagnosis of the situation that will help to define the characteristics of the Ama tu Zona digital marketplace.

Phase 2 - Construction of the digital marketplace in beta phase with the participation of citizens and local businesses as users of the online platform.
The public (as consumers) and the local business community (as sellers) can make use of the platform and interact within the online environment to detect and correct problems that will improve the development and usability of the digital marketplace.

Phase 3 - Local and regional promotion of the digital marketplace to encourage participation in the consumption and sale of local products/services, and to further implement the development and continuous improvement of the online platform.

Phase 4 Finally, it will be possible to export the participation model for the creation of a digital marketplace to other local regions that may need the online platform.

What are the expected results?

The first year with low sales (21500 EUR), the initial investment and the operating costs to implement the project (90000 EUR) make it possible for the digital marketplace to maintain its economic activity.

In the second year, sales start to increase (56500 EUR) although the break-even point is not yet reached, with operating costs of 63000 EUR.

In the third year, the break-even point of the project is reached with a market share of 3% which makes Ama tu Zona economically viable (with a positive result), with sales revenue of 91500 EUR, operating costs of 85000 EUR and a staff of 3 full-time workers.

How does your idea strengthen active citizenship at a local and community level?

The public is aware that, now more than ever, citizen commitment, participation and cooperation are needed to tackle one of the most important economic and social challenges facing our society.
The project will provide citizens with an open and free online platform, without the need to register. The platform will have participation tools that will allow people to give their opinion and generate debate: surveys, agora, space for new proposals, complaints, denunciations...
In the same way, face-to-face events are promoted in public facilities so that people who do not have access to the internet or prefer to participate in a physical space can give their opinion and take part in an open and equal citizen debate.

Why is this idea important to you?

The team promoting the project is a group made up of 21 organizations that belong to the Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystem of El Prat de Llobregat. It is a further step towards intercooperation between different entities in the territory, promoting their permanence and natural integration within the strategic vision of the ecosystem.

The Ama tu Zona digital marketplace project is a strategic participatory tool that seeks to empower citizens in the decision-making processes that affect the social and economic life of El Prat de Llobregat. Above all, it aims to promote citizens' awareness of the need to change the local economic model in order to boost the social and solidarity economy ecosystem.

€ 100000,-

Total budget

€ 35000,-

Funding requested from Civic Europe

Major expenses

10000 EUR online platform for citizen participation
30000 EUR digital marketplace development
30000 EUR staff costs
15000 EUR promotion
15000 EUR other related expenses

What do you need from the Civic Europe community?

We would welcome any comments, observations and questions that give us to tools to detect possible weaknesses, threats, strengths and opportunities that could help us to strengthen the project.

Team

fundacioesperanzah

orando

Idea created on April 26, 2021

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