Looking back on actions from 2025

We share a review of actions Fundació Emprius has carried out in 2025, which is drawing to a close:

Early in the year, the first edition of the Sentit Comunal congress took place in Vic, which we co-organised with other organisations. We think it was a success — more than two hundred people attended, and many followed the live stream. Videos of the four congress sessions are on the Emprius YouTube channel.

In February we published the “Guide to co-operative housing in rural areas”, which you can download freely. We then held an online launch event with the guide’s authors, which you can watch as a video. The document is designed to support people who’ve spotted property in a village and are considering buying it to launch a shared housing project.

That same month, the Emprius Annual Gathering took place at Calafou (Vallbona d’Anoia) — a co-operative and community project in a former industrial colony collectivised through a collective co-operative purchase. It was a day of coming together and recharging to carry on.

In spring we opened the call for the Emprius Prize 2025 (Premi Emprius). The jury’s verdict came a few months later, and the winning proposal was “Communal management of dryland farmland”, submitted by the Manresa-based collective Entre Feixes.

We also launched the fundraising campaign “Let’s collectivise Cal Cisteller!”, which culminated in the announcement of Fundació Emprius’s purchase of this property in Alt Penedès, where an Ateneu Rural is being developed. It was the first land purchase Emprius had announced. On the fascinating story of the people behind Cal Cisteller, we published the article “Mutual aid and collective work: years recovering ‘tornallom’ and the project for an Ateneu Rural in Penedès”. Cal Cisteller’s news was even featured on 3Cat’s Telenotícies news programme!

In July we signed a three-way collaboration agreement with Coop57, a co-operative for ethical and solidarity finance, and Fundació Coop57. Both are key organisations in the social and solidarity economy, and we share a vision of social transformation with them. This involves strengthening our approach to funding community and transformative projects in rural areas as a strategic priority, and positioning Fundació Emprius as a tool at the service of these projects.

In October we organised an Emprius Open Doors gathering, held online, with around thirty people signing up. Some have since joined various Emprius working groups.

In November came the premiere in Tremp of the film “Fem cumó, un altre camí” (“Doing cumó: another way”), which realised the proposal that won the Emprius Prize 2024, submitted by Usnea RP. The film will be released free online in autumn 2026. Until then, we’re organising a screening tour across the region. By year’s end we’d already held about ten, and we’re planning many more for next year! If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look at the trailer!

In autumn we also announced the second edition of the Sentit Comunal congress, taking place on 17 January 2026 in Berga, themed around “Rural world and popular culture”. Download the congress dossier to see the programme!

We’ve also recently announced the purchase of Can Gínjol, a country house in Lleida’s market-garden belt. It’s our second land purchase announced, and another sign that Fundació Emprius is a useful tool to serve transformative projects in rural areas.

Throughout 2025 we took part in over twenty events and workshops. We could highlight the first Revoltes de la Terra mobilisation, which we supported by providing infrastructure acquired by Emprius (a large marquee). There was also the “Masos Vius” day, the 1st Exchange Day on Revitalising Rural Heritage, and FESSrural in Bot. For the third year running, we’ve led one of the sessions of the Specialisation Diploma in Solidarity Economy, run by Ponent Coopera in partnership with the University of Lleida, alongside Adrián Almazán.

Across the media, different outlets have covered some of our announcements. Pilar Sampietro invited us on to the “Vida Verda” programme on Ràdio 4 to discuss the Emprius Prize and Cal Cisteller. We’d like to mention the articles “Emprius” by Margalida Ramis (Ara Balears) and “An award to rescue the commons” by Joan Canela (La Veu del País Valencià). Emprius was also mentioned in “How to find housing in rural areas?” (Arrels). The released film “Fem cumó, un altre camí” was featured in a heartfelt piece in Pallars Digital — and another in Directa: “Restoring the communal soul to the Pre-Pyrenees valleys”.

With this year behind us, we’ve launched the campaign “Without commons, there are no communal assets”, to grow our membership base before the year ends. If you become a member this December, you’ll be able to claim tax relief on up to 80% of your contribution from mid-next year.