What is RondaForum?

A discussion forum where entrepreneurs, experts, citizens and decision makers share their views about the kind of city we want to live in.

A space for generating ideas capable of transforming small towns through social entrepreneurship.

A place to meet and design a future based on more efficient business models.

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Philosophy

"We want cities to which young people will return and make their opportunities"

"We want cities where entrepreneurship can address social problems"

"RondaForum seeks to bring together citizens, entrepreneurs, students, academics and decision-makers from all over Europe"

Unsustainable economic model

It started eight years ago. Governments made their cuts, municipalities were stripped to the bone, basic services were sacrificed and citizens suffered: all in the name of fiscal responsibility. The small cities of southern Europe cannot forget what caused all of this in the first place: unsustainable economic development. From the Algarve to the Cyclades, countless towns based their economic models on tourism, real-estate speculation, on a low-knowledge workforce, on subsidies.

The surpluses generated by this unsustainable but lucrative model were rarely reinvested but rather poorly spent.

Now we have a new opportunity. A new chance to disrupt our small cities. A chance to reinvent the cities we want, the cities we need.

The cities we want, the cities we need.

We want cities to which young people will return and make their opportunities. We need this because small cities are facing a long-term demographic catastrophe.

We want cities with responsible and strategic planning policies. We need this because our historical heritage and environment are essential assets.

We want cities where civil society will flourish and act as a guardian of rationality. We need this because local politics can plunge a city into short-term disasters.

We want cities where entrepreneurship can address social problems. We need this because municipalities cannot be omniscient and omnipotent.

RondaForum 2016

RondaForum seeks to bring together citizens, entrepreneurs, students, academics and decision-makers from all over Europe to discuss, design and action this future.

In a unique event mixing the local with the global, we want to connect great thinkers with real citizens, entrepreneurs with social problems, decision-makers with new ideas and alternative models.