The intergenerational meeting organized by EL CORREO and BBK fosters dialogues on coexistence, aimed at resolving or mitigating problems inherent to contemporary society.
The main objective of the GenerAcción Forum, promoted by El Correo and BBK, is to bring together people from different generations to reflect together on specific issues related to coexistence.
In its latest edition in 2025, held at the Kultur Etxea in Romo, the chosen topic was housing, but not in a generic sense, rather from a perspective as concrete and present in people’s lives as harmony or discord in neighborhood communities.
In an artistic context set through the music of Daniel Merino and the visual creation of illustrator Itxaso Goitia, participants were presented with the challenge of conceiving a project to “bring the bonds of yesteryear to a modern neighborhood community“, so that solidarity might resolve or mitigate some problem of contemporary society.
Participation was structured around four working tables, which began by developing a diagnosis of the situation, based on concrete and real experiences: there was discussion of communities with little interaction and often negative, of self-sufficiency, of loneliness, of lack of mutual aid…
The spokespersons from each working table presented the proposals developed after 25 minutes of internal dialogue. In many cases the strategies were convergent, proposing formulas that would generate encounters “more as neighbors than as owners” and foster pleasant coexistence spaces, practical exchanges, community bulletin boards, etc.
The table represented by the director of the Punta Begoña Foundation, María Peraita, proposed intergenerational cultural activities of simple practical application and high impact, based on experiences lived by the participants.
“In my building, a child has all his drawings displayed on the staircase, and now he has organized an exhibition for all the kids to participate; that generates connection.” That experience, according to the working table’s proposal, could be extended to other purposes: “from implementing a message board for exchanging favors, to sending Christmas greetings to the neighborhood. Playful ways of generating a pleasant environment.”
The meeting included the participation of expert Eduardo Fierro, from the intergenerational shared housing platform, which creates links between elderly people living alone who have a spare room available, and young people, also alone, seeking affordable accommodation. A shared housing project that “has become a community regeneration project.”
The purpose of the GenerAcción Forum largely aligns with the approaches of the Punta Begoña Foundation in addressing the Comprehensive Restoration of the Galerías and their landscape and cultural environment.
One of the foundational objectives is to make the Galerías, during its restoration process and after its completion, an open meeting place for culture, art, education and leisure, based on participation and social initiative, that contributes to generating coexistence and making a more livable municipality.
In this regard, it is the first cultural heritage project verified and certified (SGS International) for its contribution to the effectiveness of the Sustainable Development Goals, among which Goal 11, “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” stands out. In short, more livable.
