Orain Otxar (Opengela Otxarkoaga) is a neighbourhood regeneration and building-renovation project in Otxarkoaga, Bilbao, in the Basque Country of Spain. Its stated aim is to make the neighbourhood an environmentally and socially sustainable eco-neighbourhood, with local associations involved in the process. 26
The project is a collaboration between Viviendas Municipales de Bilbao and the Basque Government’s department responsible for territorial planning and housing. Viviendas Municipales de Bilbao is the project developer identified in the supplied article; the wider Opengela initiative is coordinated by the Basque Government department. 26 The article reports that Viviendas Municipales’ director, Eider Bilbao, received an AVS award recognising the work. 2
The planned investment was €7 million over four years, for the period 2018–2022. 2 The building-renovation programme includes work on five buildings using energy-efficiency and universal-accessibility criteria; the proposed intervention covers 240 homes across 16 entrances on Irumineta, Txotena and Larrakoetxe streets. 26
Opengela is the neighbourhood-office component of the initiative: its staff accompany residents through building rehabilitation, including support with works contracts, public assistance, financing, energy efficiency and accessibility. 611 The wider European Opengela project was funded through the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme and began in May 2019; its two pilot neighbourhoods were Otxarkoaga and Txonta in Eibar. 612