Soto del Real is a Spanish municipality in the province and Community of Madrid. It is located on the southern slope of the Sierra del Guadarrama; located 42 kilometers from the city of Madrid, it has an area of 42.17 km2 and has an altitude of 921 meters above sea level. Soto del Real is a municipality that currently has 9188 inhabitants. The city council has always been active in the promotion of multiple social and environmental sectors, such as social assistance for disadvantaged categories, women equality and GBV reduction, children and elderly inclusion, but also animal protection, exemplary waste management, sustainable common practices and environmental education for youth and the entire community. Environmental protection, sustainable development and climate action are central objectives for the municipality, together with prevention, promotion and support in the field of health and sports. After four years of certifying Soto’s carbon footprint, the Ministry granted the municipality the “Reduzco” badge,
recognizing its effective commitment to CO2 reduction. Soto del Real is the second municipality in Spain with the lowest emissions per inhabitant, according to the carbon footprint calculation of the Climate Cities Network and the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

Its great expertise in managing the sustainability of the municipal territory will assist Asociation Building Bridges (ABB), a nonprofit organization and project partner acting on behalf of the same municipality. ABB has extensive experience in proposing and managing EU-funded projects, especially focusing on the inclusion of disadvantaged target groups. It has already organized several trainings for Soto del Real Youth Department; it also supported the municipality in the accreditation of the European Solidarity Corps since 2021. Moreover, ABB designs and implements other activities at the European level such as Youth Exchanges, Mobility for Youth Workers, and Volunteering programs, both incoming and outgoing. Since 2008, it has been providing the following services: Monitoring step by step the development of the project; Accommodation of volunteers; Ongoing evaluation and monitoring of all participants; Coordination and management of the overall project with the financial process; Pedagogical/cultural/linguistic training upon arrival; Logistics; Organization of internships in cooperation with the employer (agreements with companies and institutions to be concluded in phases, definition of the plan); Submission of a final report and dissemination of results; Collaborating in the preparation of the Europass Mobility and/or other certificates. As partner and beneficiary, ABB will be in charge of assisting the lead partner by providing all the relevant information in due time; it will organize
and manage its assigned activities (events) and contribute to the communication campaign and the online content. Its expertise in managing and delivering big and diverse EU projects will be of great relevance in this proposal, as well as its expertise in gathering and managing large groups of young people. ABB will contribute to the engagement of youth activists, and organize events specifically dedicated to their development and awareness raising. Its previous experience in the TFC project will highly benefit the current partnership in reaching higher results. The Federación Regional de Asociaciones Vecinales de Madrid (FRAVM, https://aavvmadrid.org/), participates as ASSOCIATED PARTNER (PIC number 902407976) in cooperation with ABB and Soto del Real. Active since 1975, it has been organizing the Citizens Week, an action packed with assemblies whose motto is “We want our rights and we want them now.” Its goal: to demonstrate the strength and tenacity of the neighborhoods, demanding the immediate legalization of neighborhood associations and other city entities, as well as full democratic rights and freedoms.

After that action the movement’s advance was unstoppable. The organization focuses on urgent topics such as the privatization of public services and lack of investment in them, air and electromagnetic pollution, GBV, the depredation of current urban planning and infrastructure policies, the exclusion of citizens from the management of public affairs. It is also very active on environmental topics. The entity will support ABB in the implementation of its events, providing in-depth content and materials on specific
environmental issues, actively involving young people from the various neighborhoods of Soto del Real, through a participatory and bottom-up approach. FRAVM will greatly contribute to the project as an expert on the issues and strongly rooted in the target area.