The WELLCOM (COMmoning WELLbeing in Barcelona urban gardens) project, coordinated by Sergio Villamayor, researcher of ICTA-UAB and the Department of Political Science, was selected in the 2025 call for Research of the Barcelona City Council in collaboration with the "la Caixa" Foundation. The UAB collaborates with three more projects that were also selected.
The aim of this biennial call is to provide scientific evidence that can go towards solving Barcelona's urban challenges, and promote new technology through innovation, and to foster collaborations between universities, research centres, third sector entities, and the city's economic fabric. The results of the selected projects, thirteen in total, were made public at an event at the Barcelona City Council, chaired by Jordi Valls, deputy mayor of Economy, Housing, Finance and Tourism; and with the presence of Àngel Font, deputy director general of Research and Grants of the "la Caixa" Foundation. The rector of the UAB, Javier Lafuente, was also present.
The UOC, the Metròpoli Institute, and Tarpuna SCCL also participate in the WELLCOM project coordinated by the UAB. The aim of the project is to gain more knowledge of the functioning of community urban gardens in the city of Barcelona and their impact on the well-being of people and neighbourhoods. Over the course of two years, it aims to characterise the diversity of community practices and governance models of urban gardens, assess the social, environmental and health benefits they generate at a personal level, identify the main challenges and opportunities to strengthen them, and propose recommendations to improve public policies supporting community urban gardens. It will do this through participatory and open research, offering different ways of participation to interested gardens until 2027.
The other three projects in which the UAB also participates are Arbrat i SeQuera a la ciutat, coordinated by CREAF in collaboration with Barcelona Regional, in which Xavier Domene from the Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology participates; Barcelona, a "mindful" city for the prevention of depression, coordinated by the Sant Joan de Deu Research Foundation in collaboration with the Hospital del Mar (IMIM), with the participation of Juan Viente Luciano from the Department of Clinical Psychology and Health; and Greening City Logistics: Innovative Sustainable Last Mile Solutions for Barcelona (GLIMS), in which Laura Calvet from the Department of Telecommunications and Systems Engineering participates, and which is carried out with the UOC (coordinator) and the UPC.
Researchers from the projects selected in the call, along with institutional representatives of the Barcelona City Council and the "la Caixa" Foundation.
The 2025 programme of the call has been endowed with up to two million euros. Of the total lines of research selected, six are included in the field of life sciences and health; six more focus on sustainability and climate change, and a final project is based on technological innovation in the city.
The Research and Innovation call is part of the Barcelona City Council's Strategic Plan for Science and Innovation 2024-2027, which seeks to strengthen research in the city and support scientific careers in Barcelona and its metropolitan region in areas such as digital health, advanced therapies, artificial intelligence, and food and responsible consumption.
