The Barcelona Provincial Council and the Institut Metròpoli are jointly analysing educational equity and territorial justice, with a focus on the role of municipalities. This collaboration is featured in the latest issue of Papers magazine, published by the Institut Metròpoli, which was presented at a conference in Barcelona on 11 May 2026.
The Provincial Council's Education Department contributed an article titled 'The Educational Challenges of Local Entities in Catalonia'. This article stresses the central role of Catalan municipalities in the education system due to their local knowledge, proximity to residents, and ability to coordinate educational resources and agents.
Beyond highlighting the importance of municipal schools, the article identifies key challenges. These include educational governance, data management, equity, demographic changes affecting planning, and the fight against educational segregation.
Addressing Educational Challenges
To tackle these issues, the Barcelona Provincial Council's Education Department is pursuing several lines of work. These include promoting local government responsibility for educational policies, fostering network collaboration among educational agents, and working to reduce educational segregation. The council also aims to create full-time educational opportunities for everyone, develop tools to combat early school leaving, and promote lifelong educational guidance.
The Provincial Council is also working to strengthen municipal schools and gain more recognition for them. It supports education professionals in municipalities to help them develop and manage educational policies. Additionally, it seeks to improve local governance and leadership by sharing knowledge and creating spaces for reflection and analysis. These spaces are designed to help with decision-making, planning, and evaluating municipal educational policies.
Joan Galiano, the Deputy for Education, explained that "knowledge management is one of our work areas to ensure that political and technical decisions made at the local level are based on knowledge, research, and analysis." He added that this approach aims "to reduce uncertainty and increase the probability of success for educational policies."
Lídia Garcia Chicano, Manager of Education Services for the Barcelona Provincial Council, participated in a panel discussion at the conference. The discussion focused on the role of municipalities in multi-level education governance. The Institut Metròpoli's conference, titled 'The Role of Municipalities in Education and Territorial Justice', aimed to share good practices in municipal educational policies and encourage municipal technical teams to advance an ambitious, new, and practical local education agenda.
Aligning with Global Goals
The Barcelona Provincial Council's efforts and resources for educational equity align with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, 'Quality Education', and SDG 10, 'Reduced Inequalities'. The 17 SDGs were proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2015, forming part of the global agenda for 2030. The Barcelona Provincial Council is committed to meeting these goals and structures its support for local governments in the province accordingly.
