The UOC participates in new research on sustainability in Barcelona

Barcelona City Council and the "la Caixa" Foundation have approved funding for thirteen research projects within the framework of their 2025 funding call, which allocates up to two million euros to emerging projects in the city. Two of the initiatives approved involve researchers at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC).

The call is part of the 2024-2027 Strategic Plan for Science and Innovation, designed to enhance research in the city and support scientific careers in Barcelona and the city's metropolitan area. The funding aims to promote and strengthen strategic areas including technological innovation, life sciences and health, and sustainability and climate change in Barcelona.

In this latest call, in which initiatives involving 32 organizations have been approved, the UOC is coordinating the GLIMS research project, which seeks to promote new and more sustainable urban goods distribution, and is participating in WELLCOM, which aims to foster urban allotments in Catalonia's capital.

Improving urban goods distribution 

Urban goods distribution is one of the major challenges that cities face: it increases congestion, pollution and the noise from road traffic, and can create inequalities between neighbourhoods in terms of access to efficient logistics services. The GLIMS project, which is being coordinated by the UOC, aims to "develop and implement a sustainable, efficient and socially just urban logistics model that will enable us to meet these challenges and contribute to Barcelona's climate transition," said lead researcher Cristian Castillo, one of the coordinators of the URBANLOG (Urbanisation, Trade and Sustainable Logistics) research group and a member of the Faculty of Economics and Business.

GLIMS aims to combine urban data and artificial intelligence to simulate scenarios and evaluate measures which have a real impact on traffic, emissions and territorial equity in urban distribution. The project seeks to develop a predictive model for making decisions about the strategic location of logistics facilities such as microhubs and convenience points, and the optimal planning of delivery routes. GLIMS also aims to simulate road pricing scenarios for freight vehicles to determine how different pricing strategies would affect traffic, emissions and logistics efficiency. To do this, it will use simulations and focus on areas which are in greater need of decongestion and improvements to their environmental quality.

A key factor is understanding how consumers respond to price changes and delivery options in e-commerce, which accounts for a significant proportion of the distribution of urban goods. GLIMS will study the elasticity of demand and willingness to pay, and will include segmentation techniques to capture differences related to gender, age, income level and origin, in order to ensure a representative and inclusive assessment of online purchases.

The ultimate goal is to have "a robust foundation to guide decisions made by the city council and the logistics sector focused on urban distribution that reduces congestion and emissions, while improving equality in access to services," concluded Castillo, who is affiliated to the UOC-DIGIT research centre.

In addition to the UOC in its capacity as coordinator, the other participants in the project are the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV).

Promoting urban allotments as social and ecological assets

Urban allotments have experienced considerable growth in Barcelona: the number has risen from just over 20 in 2012 to more than 180 in 2025. This trend is increasingly associated with social welfare, health promotion and socio-environmental resilience. But what is the impact of these urban allotments at the "community" level, and how do they become measurable benefits for people and neighbourhoods?

The WELLCOM project, which is being coordinated by the UAB with the participation of the UOC, Tarpuna and Institut Metròpoli, aims to study the social phenomenon of urban agriculture and increase the activity among citizens of the Catalan capital. "Urban allotments are very diverse: there are models organized by the council, grassroots community initiatives, and hybrid formats. Understanding this diversity and its impact is essential for reinforcing their role as a key resource for the city," said Marina Pera, a UOC researcher at the Urban Transformation and Global Change Laboratory (TURBA Lab).

One of the new project's objectives is to identify the diversity of community practices in urban allotments, and assess how they are associated with social, environmental and health outcomes for individuals and neighbourhoods. The research also aims to identify the challenges and opportunities related to each governance model, and to propose policy measures to strengthen community practices in urban allotments and green spaces.

WELLCOM will carry out case studies to focus on the governance and impacts of urban allotments, carry out surveys on the urban allotments in Barcelona's ten districts to identify common patterns, and organize participatory workshops with key stakeholders.

"We want to provide useful evidence to adapt municipal programmes, reinforce the Urban Agriculture Observatory, and provide a focus for policies that enhance the social and health benefits associated with urban allotments," said Marina Pera, who is affiliated to the UOC-TRÀNSIC research centre. 

About the funding call

This fifth biannual call, which is a result of a partnership between Barcelona City Council and the "la Caixa" Foundation, seeks to promote research projects in areas including community health, the digitalization of the city, the climate emergency and sustainability in order to address the city's urban challenges. The initiative also aims to contribute to collaboration between research centres, third-sector organizations and the city's economic and social fabric.

The UOC projects are framed within the UOC's research missions of Planetary health and well-being and Digital transition and sustainability, supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 3. Good Health and Wellbeing; 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation; and 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities.

Transformative, impactful research

At the UOC, we see research as a strategic tool to advance towards a future society that is more critical, responsible and nonconformist. With this vision, we conduct applied research that's interdisciplinary and linked to the most important social, technological and educational challenges.

The UOC’s over 500 researchers and more than 50 research groups are working in five research units focusing on five missions: lifelong learning; ethical and human-centred technology; digital transition and sustainability; culture for a critical society, and digital health and planetary well-being.

The university's Hubbik platform fosters knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship in the UOC community.

More information: www.uoc.edu/en/research