The privatizatization of the public digital space in the hands of big tech platforms has triggered the rise of technopolitics controlled by the 1% that uses the digital hate machines of the far right. The result is rising violence in the digital world, particularly against women in politics. Nonetheless, in the age of data colonialism and platform-capitalism, feminist movements are interacting in an interconnected and global way by using technology to grow protests and solidarity.

How should the cities react to the challenges of globalization and the progressive concentration of private media? How can we ensure that social movements can broadcast information? Are local public media necessary? Barcelona is one of the few cities in the world that has a public platform, Betevé, for television, radio and internet, as well as citizen cooperatives for television and radio that have been launched with municipal support. What other experiences are there in Europe and America?

The structural racism found in wider society is reproduced in progressive movements and parties, creating deep inequalities in the participation and representation of certain groups. This makes it essential that we work on actions and mechanisms to dismantle racism and drive the participation and empowerment of people who aren't white. We'll share the challenges to antiracist participation and the practices we're developing to tackle them.

The old polis have become technopolises that make us permanently interconnected and mediate all our actions. They censor dissent so that the world is drawn from the ambitions of those who control knowledge. We discuss Educommunication, that wants to reverse the media cartel and preserve the communication ecosystem as a space for human and social development where we can all generate content in a diverse way under equal conditions.

We must ensure that sports practices are free from discrimination, facilitators of women’s empowerment, with full equality of opportunities, which overcome prejudices and stereotypes and eliminate barriers and structural ceilings. Is racism in sport the inherent racism of society? Are stadiums a mirror that reflects it? Can sport contribute to building an inclusive future? In the world of sports, does discrimination still win the game?

Is it possible to have a local economy that puts caring for people and the planet at the center? We talk about how to build towns and cities that combine the well-being of all people with respect for the environment.

La Renta Básica Universal, el sueldo incondicional para toda la población que garantiza una vida digna, se puede entender como una forma de repartir la riqueza común entre toda la ciudadanía y como un derecho ciudadano que recompensa por las pérdidas relacionadas con las privatizaciones de los recursos comunitarios. Además, serviría como una garantía material para ejercer efectivamente el derecho a la participación política que quienes ahora carecen del tiempo y recursos no pueden realizar. Por ello, la demanda de la RBU va de la mano del derecho a la ciudad y participación política, reclamado por el movimiento municipalista y puede servir como una herramienta más para avanzar en este frente. ¿Qué tiene que ver la RBU con el municipalismo? ¿Cuál sería el modelo de la RBU que reforzaría el municipalismo y por lo tanto debería estar defendido por el movimiento municipalista internacional?

This session will allow us to reflect on the construction of feminist institutions, where we are, and how long we still have to go. What role do feminism and LGBTI politics have in left-wing organizations, in municipalist governments and in constitutional processes such as the one is currently going on in Chile? We share experiences on the feminist transformation of institutional politics and the creation of a broader feminist political agenda.

What makes a city a city and not just a collection of buildings? Without a doubt, the people who live in it. Real estate speculation has sent cities into a destructive spiral where residents are pushed out. In this session, we'll discuss the emergence of movements that defend the right to housing and municipalist policies that can help to save cities.

Transformative political candidacies around the world don’t usually enjoy economic or media power. Their strength is found in grassroots organizing, in direct communication and in the ability to mobilize a majority to win. Experts in grassroots organizing will discuss the challenges they face in 2021 and share how they are innovating to take them on in their work in campaigns and organizations.

Corruption and organized crime are scourges that affect municipalities around the world. In this session, we'll discuss corruption and organized crime at the local level, the role played by countries that are tax and legal havens and the policies needed for a more transparent and fair world.

Digitization weakens some of our rights and increases the power of big lobbies, but it also opens doors to a closer democracy from the municipalities. We talk about how to use tools like local currencies and public data control to build a new digital economic democracy.

What if the cities we live in were designed for people rather than for cars? We discuss the revolution that is transforming european urban space: superblocks.

This session will showcase transformative solutions to the global housing crisis and bring together activists and community leaders from different countries that are tackling this issue. How did they organise their (trans)local housing movement from the ground up, how did they resist eviction or build better alternatives?

Municipalist governments face a dilemma when dealing with the systemic crisis we are facing. Should they opt for degrowth policies, for green growth or, like Amsterdam, for imaginative solutions such as Doughnut Economics?. We will discuss these three models and how to apply them in the context of the Next Generation EU funds.

Lobbies are a signficant obstacle to progressive municipalist policies. Many vested interests are opposed to rent control, the remunicipalization of water and to limits on hotel constructions. How can we challenge these powers for real social change? What is the role of cities, regional and state governments and the EU?

Policing and security is an area traditionally dominated by the right. Not only do their policies fail to solve the existing problems, they even increase violence against citizens and groups. Ceding this terrain to conservative forces prevents us from transforming realities and contributes to reproducing the current model.
What barriers stop the left from addressing violence and insecurity as an area of public policy? How can we break them down?
 

The intensification of migratory flows to the European continent through the Mediterranean has met with deterrence and containment policies on the part of the EU. This process has created so-called “Prison Islands”, in addition to serious violations of human rights and international law at sea. Lampedusa, Lesbos and San Cristóbal de La Laguna are three of the municipalities directly affected by the policies of their own states and the EU, the result of which couldn't be more dramatic. Representatives from each municipality talk about how they have sought real support from other local governments to face the crisis and implement refuge policies.

Municipalism advances towards a more inclusive, democratic, sustainable and feminist economy. In order to achieve this, public contracting can be a useful tool, which represents a significant weight of local economies. In this session we will talk about the potential, limits and complexities of public contracting as a transformative tool. We'll discuss the situation in Barcelona and Chile.

The countries and cities of southern Europe share a common culture and history and many times we experience similar political situations. However, for years the alliances of Anglo-Saxon neoliberalism or the austerity-friendly Troika countries have seemed easier. Has the response to the Covid crisis managed to turn this situation around? Will we be able to build strong alliances between countries and municipalities that defend social and climate justice?