The Open Innovation Platform is an initiative promoted by Iberdrola in collaboration with the itdUPM and Agirre Lehendakaria Center (ALC), which works as an accelerator of processes between citizens, companies and public institutions in the territories that must deal with the closure processes of coal power plants.

What the Platform seeks is to promote the socioeconomic and environmental development of the territories of Lada (Langreo, Asturias) and Velilla del Río Carrión (Palencia), connecting the needs and demands of the community with the opportunities offered by the territory, accompanying development processes already active in the territory and offering alternatives adapted to the peculiarities of the community and its environment.

Within this work we can highlight the following: We listen to as many people as possible in the area to find out their opinions and perceptions, as well as the challenges and opportunities of the territory; We identify initiatives and projects, new or existing, large or small, of interest to the community; We create the space for collaboration between various actors and for the connection of initiatives and projects.

The Open Innovation Platform initiative was launched in July 2020 within the framework of the closure of the thermal power plant in Lada (Langreo, Asturias). This multi-stakeholder initiative aims to bring strategies and tools to the territory for its development, adopting another type of approach based on the interconnection of opportunities in the territory and starting from the real needs of the inhabitants of this community.

The territory of Langreo symbolizes the change of industrial paradigm from the XIX and XX centuries to the present day, the predominant activity has gone from a purely industrial and mining one, to a tertiarized one with less weight of industry, generating a progressive loss of economic activity due to the environmental unsustainability of these traditional practices.

That is why, given the lack of traction of the reactivation proposals offered to this territory, which essentially addressed the problem in an isolated or uniform way, in this work we intend to approach it differently, based on the approach of the Social Innovation Platforms. In this way, through a work methodology based on community listening and co-creation, the Platform has co-designed a portfolio of interconnected projects and initiatives with local actors, which represents an articulated image of the future possibilities for sustainable development for the territory, based on the initiatives, capacities and resources of each region in which it operates. 

The Open Innovation Platform initiative was launched in February 2021 within the framework of the closure of the thermal power plant in Velilla del Río Carrión (Palencia). This multi-stakeholder initiative aims to bring strategies and tools to the territory for its development, adopting another type of approach based on the interconnection of opportunities in the territory and starting from the real needs of the inhabitants of this community.

The context of Velilla del Río Carrión is directly linked to the economic activity developed in the territory: from a period of economic boom in the second half of the 20th century led by mining and industry, the city went to a situation of generalized decline due to the continuous closure of companies and businesses at present.

One of the most relevant challenges is to respond to the incessant depopulation, directly related to dynamics such as the lack of employment and entrepreneurship, seasonal tourism or the absence of location of companies with potential tractor in the territory. To face this challenge, this territory has multiple opportunities, both from the territory's own potential (rural environment as a tourist attraction, natural resources, agri-food industry, specialized training adapted to the opportunities of the territory, recycling and circular economy, etc.), as well as from the general population trends (rural repopulation, new forms of consumption, decentralized work, etc.) and other potentialities related to social and cultural factors of the community of Velilla and its districts, such as the strength of the roots and the associationism coming from the mining and industrial identity of the region.

Visit the Platform's website to know more