On Friday, 31 January 2014, Carme Trilla, the Head of Social Action at the Barcelona office of Caritas, the Catholic charity organization, and Albert Alberich, the Director of the job training and placement organization Formació i Treball (Training and Work), gave a lecture in which they discussed how they deal with some of today's pressing issues through the organizations they lead, such as the risk of social exclusion. The talk was part of the Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology lecture series held monthly throughout the academic year. It was organized by the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences for current students and alumni of the faculty.
Under the title “Do You Want a Better World?”, the speakers discussed the projects they are working on at their respective institutions in an effort to make the attendees aware of certain social issues and to guide the students towards possible socially minded career paths, such as volunteer social work.
Carme Trilla, an economist and a housing expert as well as the former Catalan Minister of Housing, discussed the housing mediation service offered by Caritas, specifically, its prevention plan to fight social exclusion. Trilla talked about the complex organization of Caritas, which has just celebrated its 70th anniversary, and the arduous business and communication management it requires. She explained that 90% of the financing for their projects, including the project “Universities with Heart”, comes from private donations and the networking work they with businesses and institutions.
Albert Alberich explained that poverty, defined in economic terms, is the lack of resources required to cover one’s basic needs with dignity. “However, social exclusion is much more serious. The lack of resources creates job insecurity, long-term unemployment, situations of dependence, etc.”, he said. In this regard, he said that, at Formació i Treball, an entity backed by Caritas, “we’re convinced that education and work are our best chance in the fight against social exclusion”.
Formació i Treball works towards training and job placement of people with personal and social difficulties. Alberich explained that they promote job training as well as economic activities in order to assist job placement. He also talked about the Social Commitment Programme (PES), which manages the supply of clothing, furniture and household appliances to low-income families who come to them through different social services, such as Caritas, local governments and other organizations.
