A macro-count will X-ray homelessness and residential exclusion in the Balearic Islands

PalmaThe Balearic Islands will conduct this September the largest count of homeless people and those in situations of residential exclusion that has been promoted so far in the Archipelago. The initiative, promoted by the Social Observatory of the Balearic Islands (OSIB) of the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) and the Network for Inclusion EAPN Balearic Islands, will deploy nearly 500 volunteers in municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants with the aim of sizing a reality that remains largely hidden.

The project, titled Citizen science for awareness and visibility of homelessness and residential exclusion, has the support of the island councils and the social services of Palma, Calvià, Eivissa, Manacor, Llucmajor, Santa Eulària des Riu, Marratxí, Inca, Ciutadella, Maó, Sant Josep de sa Talaia, and Sant Antoni de Portmany.

The initiative arises from the lack of precise data on a phenomenon that the UIB considers underreported and which, despite this, has become one of the main factors of social exclusion in the Islands. Beyond people sleeping on the streets, the study also aims to identify other forms of residential exclusion, such as people living in vehicles, settlements, or substandard housing. The collaboration agreement was signed this Tuesday between the Vice-Rector for Scientific Policy and Research of the UIB, Víctor Homar, and the president of EAPN Balears, Xavier Torrens.

The project is coordinated by Dr. David Abril and aims to generate useful information for both social diagnosis and the design of public policies. To achieve this, a research process based on citizen science will be deployed, which will allow data to be collected on the different expressions of the housing problem in the Archipelago.

University sources emphasize that the process will not only serve to obtain a more precise picture of reality, but also to raise citizens' awareness about a problem that already constitutes the main cause of social exclusion in the Balearic Islands: the difficulties in accessing decent housing.