Celebrating 10 years of the Prometeus program
The Pla de Barris initiative, launched in 2016, has accompanied 469 young people in their higher education studies throughout its history.
The Saló de Cent of Barcelona City Council commemorated the tenth anniversary of the Prometeus program in an event held yesterday, an initiative framed within the municipal policies of Science and Innovation and included in the Strategic Plan for Science and Innovation 2024-2027 (within axis 8, focused on the training and promotion of scientific vocations in the city). 17 young graduates from the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 academic years, with a university degree, were the protagonists of this event, which was also attended by several authorities, including the mayor, Jaume Collboni, and the councilor for Education and Pla de Barris, Lluís Rabell.
The students are part of the fourth and fifth promotions of the Prometeus program, a project to support students from areas and institutes that have a lower rate of access to higher education. The initiative was born in 2016 as a community program within the Raval neighborhood and was adopted by the Pla de Barris shortly thereafter.
During the event, in which a birthday cake was brought out to commemorate these ten years of existence of the Prometeus program, Lluís Rabell recalled that “Prometeus is a determined commitment to equal opportunities, to democratize access to university for everyone because we believe that talent has no limits or barriers”. He also mentioned that the program “is one of the government actions that best represents Barcelona’s commitment to social justice” and insisted that “it is done from the neighborhoods, from the Pla de Barris, which has been the driving force that has allowed this program to grow and take it to more territories”.
10 years of the program
Since its creation, Prometeus has quickly expanded to other territories, beyond the Raval neighborhood. This growth has allowed it to reach many more students. In ten years, Prometeus has accompanied a total of 469 young people. Currently, the majority (73%) are at university or have graduated, while the rest are in transition or doing a higher education cycle or preparing for the PAU again (27%). Including the students who graduated this year, 56 young Prometeus have already completed their higher education. Of these, 66% have already entered the workforce, while 21% have chosen to continue their higher education with a master’s degree. Councilor Lluís Rabell also referred to these data: “They are not just statistics. You are lives that have changed. Neighborhoods that you have transformed. You are families that have seen how you and your sons and daughters have opened new paths and overcome often invisible barriers.”
Prometeus is a program that promotes motivation to access higher education among students from public high schools in neighborhoods where the rate of access to higher education is lower than the city average. It is based on comprehensive, academic and personal support that is divided into four phases: high school, transition, university and job placement. It has a structural involvement of all the educational agents that participate, with stable references in both high schools and universities and the Barcelona Education Consortium.
Current participants
Currently, the Prometeus program operates in 10 public hight schools in the city of Barcelona, and has also been extended to other municipalities such as Manlleu and Pamplona (Navarra) :
– El Raval: Milà i Fontanals Institute and Miquel Taradell Institute
– El Besòs i el Maresme: Barri Besòs Institute
– La Verneda i la Pau: Bernat Metge Institute
– Zona Nord (Ciutat Meridiana, Torre Baró and Vallbona): Pablo Ruiz Picasso Institute
– Poble-sec: Consell de Cent Institue
– Turó de la Peira and Can Peguera: Barcelona Congrés Institute
– La Prosperitat: Flos i Calcat Institute
– La Barceloneta: Joan Salvat Papasseit Institute
– Sant Pere, Santa Caterina and la Ribera: Verdaguer Institute
– Manlleu: Antoni Pous i Argila Institute
– Pamplona: Julio Caro Baroja Institute and Plaza de la Cruz Institute
Today there are Prometeus students at the UB, the UAB, the UPC, the UPF, the UOC, the UdG, the URV, the UdL and the Uvic, among other universities and higher education centers.
