Catalonia, a Green Future Conclusions and papers of the cycle BIBLIOTECA DE CATALUNYA - DADES CIP Catalunya Futur Verd (Congrés) (2017 : Barcelona, Catalunya), autor [Catalunya Futur Verd. Anglès] Catalonia, a Green Future : conclusions and papers of the cycle. – 1st English edition Títol a la coberta: New territoriality: fertile cities, creative fields. – Recull de les ponències presentades a les jornades Catalunya Futur Verd, celebrades a Barcelona del 22 de març al 18 de maig de 2017. – Títol original: Catalunya Futur Verd : conclusions i ponències del cicle de jornades de treball i reflexió. – Bibliografia I. Catalunya. Departament de Territori i Sostenibilitat II. Títol III. Títol: New territoriality: fertile cities, creative fields 1. Desenvolupament sostenible – Catalunya – Congressos 2. Ordenació del territori – Catalunya – Congressos 502.13(460.23)(063) 711(460.23)(063) © Government of Catalonia Ministry of Territory and Sustainability Av. de Josep Tarradellas, 2-6 08029 Barcelona territori.gencat.cat About this edition: Coordination Technical Office, Ministry of Territory and Sustainability Edit Montserrat Clarasó Graphic design and layout Xavier Solé – Disseny visual Technical Office, Ministry of Territory and Sustainability This cycle was organized by the Ministry of Territory and Sustainability of the Governmen of Catalonia in cooperation with Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera 1st English edition: 2021 DL: B-4948-2021 Minister of Territory and Sustainability Damià Calvet i Valera Secretary General of the Ministry of Territory and Sustainability Ferran Falcó i Isern Coordination Xavier Baulies, head of Research and Innovation, General Secretariat Ministerial technical board Samuel Reyes, Water Agency of Catalonia Jordi Macarro, Waste Agency of Catalonia Bet Tuà, Urban Habitat and Territory Secretariat Carles Valls, Secretary of Urban Habitat and Territory Josep Planas, Directorate General of Environmental Policies and Natural Environment Enric Pueyo, Directorate General of Environmental Quality and Climate Change Maria José Sarrias, Directorate General of Environmental Quality and Climate Change Xavier Mateu, Secretary for Environment and Sustainability Argeme Pérez, Research and Innovation, General Secretariat Margarita Torre, Research and Innovation, General Secretariat Marc Prohom, Meteorological Service of Catalonia Xavier Baulies, Research and Innovation, General Secretariat Ministerial organizing board Cristina Gil, Research and Innovation, General Secretariat Anna González, Research and Innovation, General Secretariat Glòria Bernal, Research and Innovation, General Secretariat Presentation of the three working days Josep Rull, Minister of Territory and Sustainability (1st and 3rd) Marta Subirà, Secretary of Environment and Sustainability (2nd) Moderation of the sessions Ferran Miralles, Director General of Environmental Policies and Natural Environment Joan Manuel Tresserras, professor of the Department of Journalism and Communication Sciences at Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) Josep Maria Tost, Director of the Waste Agency of Catalonia Assumpta Farran, Director of the Energy Institute of Catalonia Mercè Rius, Director General of Environmental Quality and Climate Change Josep Planas, Deputy Director General of Sustainability Information and Promotion Agustí Serra, Director General of Territorial and Urban Planning Xavier Baulies, head of Research and Innovation, General Secretariat Technical assistance MCRIT Andreu Ulied Laura Noguera English version Alfonso Martínez Jaume, Research and Innovation, General Secretariat Presentation This publication contains the presentations, conclusions and supplementary material from Catalunya Futur Verd, the second cycle of strategic conferences that the Ministry of Terri- tory and Sustainability organised a few years ago. The first one, GlobalCat, addressed the territorial conditions for the internationalisation of Catalonia and its economy. On this particular occasion, the reason for the conferences was to try to determine the foundations for the new economic growth of the country, this being understood as indi- visible from the sustainable development of the region and the wellbeing of the citizens of Catalonia, regardless of whether they live in an urban or rural setting. The impoverishment of rural areas of Catalonia by aesthetically inconsequential urban de- velopments of arguable purpose are the result of old-fashioned models of regional develop- ment. The time has come to achieve a new relationship between urban and rural settings, with the realisation that indiscriminate urban development must never encroach upon the rural environment in an attempt to replicate metropolitan patterns that are completely alien to this kind of setting. To this end, information and communication technologies (ICT) can be of great assistance, in many cases obviating a physical presence. In this way, the rural world can broaden the scope of its activities which, thanks to ICT, can cover the whole world. The countryside has become the place of choice for a new creative class, and it has proved ineffective to repli- cate urban models in these environments. Meanwhile, the network of Catalan towns and cities retain their economic competitiveness, but it may be advisable to improve their quality of life, and a key process for achieving this is the renaturing of urban spaces. The aim is thus to integrate the values of both urban and rural settings, taking the best of each of them to instil in the other. Or, to take this even further, making the distinction between the two areas irrelevant: both of them should strive for maximum creativity and environmental sustainability (both socially and economically). The fact that the conferences were held at a historic moment in time can also help to instil a successful experience of fully regenerative economic development, rooting and binding the population to their territory. Catalonia is at a key moment in its history as a country, and we must take on the challenge of recovering from the economic crisis of recent years and its very serious social repercussions. Taking advantage of this fact, we note that both reasons demand that we put our knowledge and innovation skills at the service of growth models 5 that include the environmental factor in their activities and which, at the same time, allow for increased social cohesion and territorial balance. The ravages of the recent crisis have shown us how important it is for economic activity to respect natural and social boundaries. It would be good for environmental and social factors to be integrated into economic activities as another asset in the corporate balance sheet. The climate crisis demands a clear turnaround in the economic policies followed so far. These must become more quantitative than qualitative, more systematic than complemen- tary, based more on obligations than incentives, more focused on large-scale actions than large-scale plans and, ultimately, more aimed at transforming the economic model than at stepping up proactive action. We must set about a real Green Agenda in Catalonia as the country's main sustainable economic development strategy, looking to 2030. An ambitious transforming agenda to modernise the country, that serves as an effective framework for implementing the Sustain- able Development Goals in Catalonia, taking the approach of the European Green Deal as a model. A Green Agenda demands that we engage in actions to guarantee our territory’s response capacity: fortunately, the mosaic that forms our country should ensure that the environmen- tal impacts that will undoubtedly come about will be spatially restricted, but that does not imply that we should miss any opportunity to increase our territorial resilience (and leading on from this, our human and economic resilience). It is precisely in this increase of our territorial capacities that the human factor plays such a key role. Citizens who are committed to the local issues of its immediate environment and feels a bond with their territory are citizens who will contribute to global environmental improvement. Finally, we believe that the Public Administration should improve its decision-making pro- cesses and start acting in a timely manner. It must become a proactive agent that imple- ments new environmental policies right from the start. For this reason, we believe that the Catalunya Futur Verd conferences have provided us with valuable material to reconnect the different constituent concepts of this new territoriality (circularity, attachment, resilience, boundaries, etc.) in our governance and in our policies. Given the broad scope of the subject matter to be explored, the seminars were divided into three sessions that addressed cultural issues (social and economic), biophysical ele- ments (territorial and environmental) and political matters (governance, education, etc.), all of which will need to underpin the new territorial model being advocated. We also believe that the scientific rigour and academic category of the speakers invited to the Catalunya Futur Verd conferences will have helped to strengthen the conceptual foun- dations of this new country model to which we aspire. Damià Calvet i Valera, Minister of Territory and Sustainability 6 Introduction Catalonia is diverse but its resources are limited, and therefore the ability to tend towards economic models based on environmental efficiency becomes imperative. In fact, it must be understood that without said efficiency any economic growth Catalonia