text: The KORALE initiative aimed at addressing unwanted loneliness among both young and elderly populations across Europe is led by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and ADINBERRI, with support from the Basque Government. During the first study visit in June 2024, ADINBERRI hosted 20 representatives from the partner countries in Gipuzkoa. This visit marked the beginning of the projects four-year journey, which will culminate in the publication of a public policy guide and 24 best practices.
  The starting point for KORALE in Gipuzkoa has been the HARIAK strategy, a regional strategy to prevent and tackle loneliness. Together with the project partners Social City Vienna (Austria), Santa Casa da Misericórdia of Lisbon (Portugal), Fingal County Council (Ireland), Municipality of Aalst (Belgium) and Central Denmark Region (Denmark) KORALE will work to share experiences and good practice to combat loneliness, with a view to driving change in public policy.
  In Gipuzkoa, over 4500 residents have already participated in Hariak, the region's strategy to combat unwanted loneliness. "This makes Gipuzkoa a pioneering territory of relationships. Now, Europe is looking at us, aiming to generate a new network and tackle the enormous challenge of loneliness," explained Maite Peña, Provincial Deputy for Care and Social Policies. Her remarks were made at the opening of the conference held at Tabakalera, where both local and international experiences were shared, creating "a new ecosystem of relationships" that will enable Gipuzkoa to continue "learning and growing."
  Study Visit Highlights and Future Goals
  From June 19th to 21st 2024, 20 representatives from the five participating countries visited Gipuzkoa to present their most relevant projects. This visit marked the beginning of KORALE’s journey, during which success stories and best practices to address and prevent loneliness at individual, family, and community levels will be identified.
  Over 300 people came together at Tabakalera for the first successful KORALE forum on this journey around Europe to tackle loneliness. The event provided the opportunity to get to know and share the work being done by the European regions, and the innovative and meaningful initiatives being taken forward locally.
  Specifically, the following initiatives were presented today by Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium and Portugal:
  - From the city of Vienna, they have presented the platform against loneliness in Austria, a national network of competences.
  - Denmark presented HUSRUM, a successful initiative to combat loneliness among young people.
  - Fingal in Ireland presented the Fingal Acom project, a technology developed with older people, for older people, to promote social inclusion and participation.
  - The Belgian city of Aaslt presented its 'Reaching in vs. Reaching out' project, a tool for the exchange of good practices and experiences on the response of the civilian population to proactive action, as opposed to the one that starts from the request for help.
  - The capital of Portugal, Lisbon, presented the RADAR project, a new tool to prevent social isolation and promote participatory approaches in an urban context.
  On the part of Gipuzkoa, an in-depth presentation was given on the Hariak strategy, its its origin, the work done so far and what the next steps of this strategy will be, which is orienting and action-oriented. Under this framework, four initiatives have been presented.
  - Hrkoa's Hauskor and Auzokide's Hauskor projects. Bikainak of Adinkide as part of the local ecosystem for the prevention and and tackling of unwanted loneliness, under the Zaintza HerriLab strategy, and which aims to prevent and address this phenomenon in elderly people living at home, strengthening community relations and preventing situations of community relationships and preventing situations of fragility.
  - The Auzosare project of Zabalduz, which implements information systems at the service of pre-detection of people in a situation of unwanted loneliness and unwanted loneliness and fragility, and at the service of community activation.
  - The Etxelagun and Kalelagun projects promoted by the UPV/EHU in Beasain, which aim to address loneliness from the the architecture and the fields of housing and urban planning.
  - The Hariak Kantuz project promoted by Adinberri and the Federation of Choirs of Gipuzkoa, whose objective is to address the prevention of unwanted loneliness and community action, through the choral fabric of Gipuzkoa.
  Find the videos of the study visit on the ADINBERRI YouTube Channel.