From February to April 2024, students from the Master in Urban Resilience for Sustainability Transitions at UIC Barcelona partnered with the municipality of Calonge i Sant Antoni to explore adaptation strategies for a more livable and climate-resilient future. The resulting report —“Adaptation Pathways to Calonge 2030”— is a comprehensive roadmap co-created through fieldwork, interviews, environmental analysis, and urban design proposals.
The project was part of the final implementation workshop of the master’s program, where students worked closely with local actors, community representatives, and international experts to co-design strategies that address the pressing challenges of a town heavily shaped by seasonality, car dependency, and a rapidly aging population.
Understanding Local Realities
Calonge i Sant Antoni, located on the scenic Costa Brava, faces a complex combination of structural and environmental vulnerabilities. These include housing affordability linked to tourism pressure, the impacts of extreme weather events and sea-level rise, and a social fabric strained by an aging population and limited year-round economic activity.
Through field visits, semi-structured interviews, and demographic and spatial analysis, students mapped out the town’s dynamics and identified both risks and untapped potential. Stakeholders pointed to mobility, cultural identity, infrastructure gaps, and tourism seasonality as core concerns — and as leverage points for resilience-building.
Log-off to Log-in: A Vision for the Future
The backbone of the project is a conceptual shift captured in the slogan “log-off/log-in”: a call to log off from outdated models of urban growth and car-dependence, and log in to more sustainable, community-centered and climate-conscious practices.
Inspired by frameworks such as the 15-minute city and the livable city, the vision for Calonge 2030 embraces walkability, renewable energy, green infrastructure, and strong community participation. Spatially, the report envisions new connective tissues between Calonge and Sant Antoni — two urban centers historically disconnected — through enhanced public transport, cycling infrastructure, and shared public spaces.
From Housing Innovation to Climate Action
A central pillar of the project is the revitalization of the housing stock, through co-housing models, energy-efficient retrofitting, and inclusive housing policies aimed at attracting permanent residents and young professionals. By combining affordability with sustainability, the students argue, Calonge can tackle its demographic imbalance and enhance social cohesion.
The proposals also include a detailed energy and water strategy, with rooftop solar simulations, passive cooling and water reuse systems, and nature-based solutions like permeable surfaces and urban gardens. These interventions are especially relevant in the face of ongoing drought conditions and energy transition imperatives.
Connecting People, Place, and Nature
The workshop also focused on public space revitalization and cultural activation, identifying El Collet and Avila Jovita parks as key sites for green-blue infrastructure integration. These spaces are reimagined not only as leisure areas but as active hubs for climate adaptation and community-building, incorporating stormwater management, native planting, and co-productive uses like coworking and urban agriculture.
Mobility interventions such as the proposed electric shuttle tram, bike-sharing network, and La Ruta del Vino — a cycling route linking local vineyards and historic sites — are designed to reduce car dependency while reinforcing Calonge’s landscape and identity.
A Strategic and Scalable Framework
The report concludes with a performance assessment tool and a Theory of Change, allowing the municipality to track progress and ensure cross-sectoral synergies across eight key dimensions: mobility, energy, environment, economy, community, policy, health, and education.
While rooted in the specificities of Calonge i Sant Antoni, this project offers a replicable methodology for other small towns navigating the challenges of climate resilience, demographic shifts, and tourism dependence.
Looking Ahead
As climate challenges and demographic transitions increasingly shape the future of Mediterranean towns, Calonge i Sant Antoni offers a compelling case for how small municipalities can lead with bold, place-based strategies. By rethinking mobility, embracing water and energy transitions, and centering community identity, the town is positioned to evolve into a resilient and inclusive coastal hub.
This vision is not just a roadmap for Calonge — it’s a contribution to the broader conversation on how to design sustainable futures in contexts defined by seasonality, aging, and environmental vulnerability.
🔗 You can access the full report here: Calonge Report
📸 Image credits: All diagrams and visualizations are part of the students’ report “Adaptation Pathways to Calonge 2030” Cohort 2023-2024