Executive summary
Three spheres, twelve goals, ninety-one actions

History tells us that whenever the world has embraced processes of transformation, Catalonia has joined in resolutely thanks to **the drive of civil society**, which has explored the future both from the standpoint of the economy and the business world, and from the perspective of science and the arts. The construction of Urgell canal or the first railway line in Spain is contemporaneous to the cultural movement of the Catalan Renaissance (approx. 1830s-1880s) or the appearance of the popular athenaeums. Based on this background, the [2022 Catalonia Task Force](https://2022.cat/en/task-force) offers a reflection from the arena of civil society in order to tackle the current health crisis that coincides with a period of structural change shifting towards a digital society. Far from serving as a compulsory compendium, this paper strives to act as a **motivation for debate**, reflection and, hopefully, decision-making.

The 2022 Catalonia Task Force has organised its proposals into three spheres: **[society](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-1), [economy](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-2) and [administration](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-3)**. It considers that the current context calls for emphasis on support, care and growth for people; development of the economy and the competitiveness of Catalonia; and modernisation of the administration to transform it into an efficient driver operating as part of a network geared to generating public value. A concept of a nation where people are at the heart of policy.

In order to achieve **[a fair, empowered and capable society](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-1)**, we view education and culture as the primary driving forces behind personal, collective and nationwide transformations. These spheres act as the gateway to rights and critical spirit, and it is necessary to focus efforts on **[speeding up the transformation of the education system](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-1/goal-2)** and on a **[cultural policy centred on the development of people](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-1/goal-1)**, rather than solely on the growth of industries and facilities. It is necessary **to coordinate local culture settings**, along with national centres as well, and to be able to **assess the extent to which society benefits** from the whole cultural system. We need to strive for innovation in terms of content, formats and distribution channels, and tackle the challenges of the audiovisual and digital sectors, **re-establishing the public media**. In doing so, it is necessary to bear in mind that in this increasingly globalised and digitalised world, we face a huge challenge in **championing the language** and the future of our cultural identity. Culture and education go hand in hand; accordingly, we also need specific actions **to address school failure and dropout** and **to broaden the independence of schools** in parallel, whilst strengthening education networks in each area and organising various solutions which enable **lifelong learning** processes, which must also encompass vocational training.

The great majority of the actions set out in this document strive to solve **structural problems** that the pandemic has simply revealed or magnified. The health crisis has triggered dangers in terms of health, employment, housing and future prospects, further highlighting the need to progress towards a more effective and proactive **[comprehensive care and support model](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-1/goal-3)**. It is vital to **connect health and social services**, overcoming the stigmatisation that ties social services solely to persons in extreme situations, and making these services universal to enable everybody to benefit from an assigned social and medical professional to support them with their vital development, incorporating a holistic, empowering perspective of the relationship between the individual and the community. It is necessary **to improve the conditions for people working in domestic roles and caring for dependents**, to showcase the economic value of this whole activity and to regulate professions in this sector. Our proposal is to enable access to **[housing as a critical mechanism to combat structural inequalities](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-1/goal-4)** through a determined intervention to bring 10% of housing under public ownership within ten years.

The competitiveness of our economy will depend on talent and innovation. We need to be highly active in **[enhancing and upgrading our tax and regulatory system](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-2/goal-5)** so that it can finally help to deliver the changes we wish to encourage as a nation, such as the construction of competitive benefits by applying the **circular economy** or, more specifically, the incorporation of **green innovation into the traditional industrial fabric**. We propose specific actions to **champion local trade** using familiar mechanisms (such as urban economic promotion areas) or new ones (such as the set-up of urban logistics hubs), as well as specific actions for tourism, such as **redirecting the tax on stays in tourism establishments** or **bringing our tourist marketing up to date**, both with regard to the governance model and in terms of uses of technology.

Aside from the already familiar need to achieve greater sovereignty in the management of our key infrastructure, we also sought to highlight our similarly necessary **[food and energy sovereignty](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-2/goal-6)**. A resolute commitment to **zero-mile energy** is needed on a municipal level and with regard to family housing, whilst encouraging the **purchase of local, green produce** by lending **support to fishing, forestry, livestock and agricultural sites** to improve their management, to ensure they are environmentally friendly and to enable technology to be applied to their exchanges and markets in order to ensure fairer pricing, reduced costs and enhanced competitiveness.

**Scientific research is a driving force for development** and we must insist on **training, attraction and retention of talent**, as well as on **[knowledge and technology transfer](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-2/goal-7)**. We should provide ourselves with tax incentive programmes, investment funds and public procurement models to **champion projects generated within the enterprising ecosystem of Catalonia**, both those based on disruptive technologies and those that are already at the incubation stage. We require a **[Catalonia founded on science and data](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-2/goal-8)** where decisions concerning health, economy, administrative and service-related organisation throughout Catalonia, education and the rights and obligations of citizens, among other aspects, are forged on a foundation of scientific knowledge and empirical evidence-based facts. It is essential to benefit from a **real-time system of data broken down by regions** to support decision-making both by citizens and by the public and private sectors.

The activation of Catalonia put forward in this document calls for an **[administration centred on creating public value](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-3/goal-10)**, fostering and encouraging the participation of civil society; that is, a mobilising administration that serves as a catalyst for change and that brings itself into the modern world in order to be able to organise a **public/private cooperation** model to channel the commitment of civil society (companies, associations, citizens) to the development of Catalonia and the wellbeing of the people. We need **[new staff promotion and selection systems within the administration](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-3/goal-9)**, we must foster regulations to prevent job insecurity and **turn public management into a professional activity** starting with directorate generals. We should also foster **horizontal careers and mobility of public workers** between various administrations and organisations in the public sector to the extent that, for instance, one individual may spend a number of days working for the Government of Catalonia with the remainder of the week spent at a town council. We propose establishing mechanisms to **assess the activity of the administration according to the public value generated** (and not merely based on meeting deadlines and conditions) while re-designing processes, encouraging the **independence of public sector bodies** and **promoting citizen audits**.

Rebalancing the organisation of the different Catalan regions calls for the implementation of **[new local administration funding systems](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-3/goal-11)**, the **coordination of regional plans** and **a special plan for microtowns**, but it also requires a major forestry pact to promote the **green economy** and a **blue pact** to preserve and develop the Catalan coastline. This regional situation also involves **[assuring first-class connectivity throughout Catalonia](https://2022.cat/en/sphere-3/goal-12)** and **eradicating digital poverty** in order **to raise Catalonia into the Cloud**. We need a **cross-departmental personal data architecture** that encompasses the various administrations, adopting the **once-only principle** to any procedure, along with a legal **act to govern the digital public sector** that will unlock the current legal barriers that are standing in the way of implementing the digital services characteristic of a modern society.

In total, [twelve goals organised into three spheres and broken down into 91 actions](https://2022.cat/en/action-plan) to reactivate Catalonia. This is a proposal to start a Catalonia-wide debate centred on action.