Chess is a space built "from neighborhood to neighborhood", explains its member Mikel Etxaburu to URIOLA. Last December the neighbors rented a bar and a restaurant in the Plaza de Bilbao Viejo with the aim of "revitalizing and precipitating the neighborhood". They have the bar open every weekend, but they are still working on the renovation of the lonja. It is anticipated that it will soon be available to the neighborhood, ready for children’s play, conferences, celebrations, meetings, presentations, demonstrations...

Although they collaborate with the other agents and associations in the neighborhood to develop the project, they do not want to be "another association". The goal is to create “unified synergies between neighbors,” to “gather forces and activate neighbors.” They want to gather "as many personalities as possible" and for this they explain that work in the neighborhood and self-management are "an indispensable tool".

The Chess Party

This Saturday, May 20th, the Chess Festival will be held in the Plaza de Bilbao Viejo. Under the motto "We have the square as our heart; collaboration beats", a full day program is organized. There will be music, verse lunch, children’s workshops, street theatre, chocolate, square games and concerts throughout the day. The goal is for the neighbors to "go out to the square" and "participate as much as they want" because "the square unites us".

Diagnostic neighborhood of Plaza a Plaza

As one of the pillars of the chess space is that "the neighbors are the protagonists of the transformation of the neighborhood", a diagnostic neighborhood called Plaza a Plaza was launched two weeks ago. They are doing street surveys, mailboxes, assemblies... to find out what kind of neighborhood the neighbors want. The idea is to make a thorough diagnosis of the neighborhood in order to respond to the deficiencies identified later in the field. Through "constructive debate" and "horizontal participation" they want to give all the neighbors the opportunity to express their opinion about the neighborhood and extend their proposals.

The members of the Chess Space wanted to emphasize that the power being exerted to achieve these objectives is "very great". "The path is not being easy," they explain, but they make it clear that "there is a need" and that "the illusion they have is greater than the shortcomings."

This news has been published by Uriola de Bilbao and we have brought it to LUZ under license CC-by-sa.