Projects
Cartographies for Social Inclusion: Building an Accessible and Diverse City
September 2025 – December 2026
Funded by: Grants for projects promoting the social impact of knowledge generated by universities and other agents of the research, development, and innovation system in Catalonia (IMPAC 2024)
One of the major challenges facing contemporary cities is the lack of accessible, inclusive, and well-designed public spaces that promote social cohesion and well-being. This shortage particularly affects groups such as older adults, people with functional diversity, and caregivers, limiting their autonomy and participation. The project addresses this issue through a collaborative digital mapping platform, open to the public and co-developed by the university and social organizations, with the aim of gathering urban experiences from diverse communities and contributing to the development of more inclusive public policies.
This initiative builds upon the previous UOC project Digital Mapping, Care, and Urban Mobility, which conceptualized and prototyped an open-source tool as an innovative methodology to address social and urban challenges. In its current phase, the project focuses on further developing and consolidating the platform’s technological capabilities, strengthening methodological co-creation with social organizations, raising public awareness around urban accessibility and inclusion, and fostering the training of change agents through University Service-Learning initiatives. The project is coordinated by Professor Ines Martins.
Digital Cartography, Care and Urban Mobility
September 2025 – December 2026
Funded by: Research Accelerator Grant, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
This national research project aims to develop and analyze an interactive, collaborative, open-source digital platform to explore and improve urban accessibility and mobility from an inclusive and critical perspective. The project is led by the research groups Nodes and Mediaccions at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), in collaboration with social organizations and citizen collectives in Barcelona.
Using innovative digital and multimedia mapping tools, the project generates and analyzes complex data on mobility and care experiences in urban spaces, promoting citizen participation and the co-creation of knowledge to address territorial challenges related to accessibility and mobility. This methodology enables a deeper understanding of urban spaces as relational and experiential environments, which are essential for shaping more inclusive public policies tailored to the needs of the diverse communities living in the city.
The project is coordinated by Professors Inés Martins (NODES) and Efraín Foglia (Mediaccions).
Crossing Borders to Connect Routes. Researching with educational communities to promote equity and fight racism towards immigrants in a post-pandemic world
March 2022 – February 2026
Funded by: Spencer Foundation, Racial Equity Special Research Grant
This project explores a once-in-a-lifetime topic across five countries on three continents: the deepening of educational inequities affecting racialized and minoritized migrants around the world in the context of COVID-19. Based on a transnational case study using participatory research techniques, our analysis will not only yield constructive insights into the emergent literature on inequalities associated with COVID-19 but also contribute to identifying and transfering new approaches to fostering equity through policy and practice. The research is led by Nodes research group at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, with the participation of five more universities: University of New York (USA), University of Wisconsin (USA), University of Malta (Malta), Federal University of Goiás (Brazil), University of the Republic (Uruguay). The project is coordinated by Dr. Amalia Creus and Dr. Adriana Ornellas.
Migrant Youths’ Educational and Urban Trajectories in Times of Pandemic: Contributions to reduce Inequity and Segregation (MyWay).
September 2022 – February 2026
Funded by: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Gobierno de España
National case study that explores the deepening of educational inequities that affect non-European young migrants in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. Based on a qualitative approach that uses narrative methodologies and participatory research techniques, this study interrelates three relevant social phenomena: 1) the impact of this global crisis on the education of young migrants; 2) the deepening of urban and educational segregation; and 3) the ecosystem of social discourses and anti-immigration narratives that have accompanied the development of the pandemic. The project is coordinated by Dr. Amalia Creus and Dr. Gabriela Fauth.