la fragua projects and its café barcelona programme implements participatory spaces for democratic innovation with representatives of racialised communities living in the barcelona metropolitan area. we are referring to black, sub-saharan, chinese, indo-asian, rromani, latin american people, indigenous peoples from abya yala and amazigh communities, among others. the programme’s ultimate aim is to incorporate people from these communities, who are building today’s barcelona and catalonia and are often positioned on the geographical as well as social margins, into public debate and the promotion of participatory democracy, from their particular and collective visions and lived experiences.

café barcelona uses the world cafe methodology, widely recognised internationally, adapted to the ways of interacting of communities such as those we are referring to (an adaptation known as intersectional world cafe), which find in the community dimension the necessary outlet that is so often denied to them in many essential areas of life. the aim is to create welcoming and comfortable spaces where fruitful dialogues can take place among small groups of different people (preferably 4, plus a facilitator and note-taker from the project team known as the “host”) on pressing issues such as political disengagement, hate speech, fake news, the loss of legitimacy of public authorities, or inequalities and the erosion of rights, among others, always around a table and a coffee (or tea, soft drink, or similar) as a representation of the creation of a space for meeting and dialogue that is fully embedded in the culture and worldview of present-day barcelona and catalonia.

we set up tables (preferably 4) to carry out timed rounds of dialogue (4), constantly changing the composition of the groups. the tables will feature iconography from the city and the metropolitan areaand the rest of catalonia, and we will provide food and drink (coffee, herbal infusions, fruit, sweets, water, soft drinks, among others) selected according to criteria of sustainability, inclusion, as well as local and km 0 production.

café barcelona is based on the conviction that the participation of racialised people becomes a key factor in our societies, especially as in recent years we have seen that they are shaped by increasing racism, the emergence of exclusionary ideologies and a form of discrimination that continues to grow according to all indicators. despite this, the situations of extreme precarity and poverty faced by most of these people, as well as the structural barriers they encounter in the form of discrimination, hinder — if not make impossible — genuine involvement and participation in existing participatory processes and spaces. as a result, a significant part of our fellow citizens is not included in public debate, at least not in an adequate and proportionate way. café barcelona seeks to help incorporate some of these voices into the democratic construction of society from the public agora, using innovative methodologies. in this way, café barcelona is an initiative that makes it possible to move towards full citizenship for all people living in the city of barcelona, in the metropolitan area and in the rest of catalonia, regardless of their administrative status or ethnic-racial condition.

on the other hand, in the participatory spaces for democratic innovation organised by café barcelona, special care is taken not to reproduce a homogeneous representation of the different communities, as indicated by existing racist biases. in these spaces, diverse individuals from each of the mentioned communities take part, applying selection criteria that take into account the representation of genders, different ages, sexual orientations, educational levels and religious beliefs and convictions, among others.

we gather the main conclusions from the dialogues held in café barcelona for the preparation of a report that will be published at the end of the programme’s implementation period, and which aims to become a key document for the participatory and inclusive structuring of cities in the barcelona metropolitan area and across the rest of catalonia.

furthermore, based on images and videos from the participatory spaces for democratic innovation of café barcelona, various audiovisual materials are produced to serve as the basis for social media campaigns. these campaigns, in addition to disseminating the project, emphasise the need for the participation of racialised people in our societies, in democratic construction and in the values of justice and equity.