On July 1st, we took part in Almería in the “2nd Territories with a Future Gathering”, an initiative driven by the Almería Tierra Abierta Community Foundation together with the Spanish Association of Foundations, Impact Hub, and SpainNAB, which seeks to activate territorial transformation processes from a collaborative, long-term perspective — and which we launched with a first gathering in December 2025.
The day brought together representatives from community foundations, social organizations, businesses, and experts in housing, sustainability, urban regeneration, and impact finance to share experiences capable of inspiring responses to the complex challenges faced in many territories. One of the most present messages throughout the gathering was that the social, economic, and environmental challenges facing territories cannot be tackled by a single organization or sector. The Almería Tierra Abierta Community Foundation, with a track record of just three years since its founding, shows extraordinary strength and work.
The experiences shared demonstrated the importance of building alliances able to connect administrations, businesses, social organizations, citizens, and financial actors around common goals. From social sustainability to integration, housing, or urban regeneration, the most effective solutions are those born from collaboration and a deep understanding of the local context.
Thinking about the future from horizons of transformation
One of the most thought-provoking frameworks of the day — and a foundational one for the “Territories with a Future” project — was the one shared by Rafael Cobo, from Impact Hub, who invited attendees to reflect on the different horizons from which we approach territorial challenges.
Facing a present reality marked by complex, and often overwhelming, challenges, the approach isn’t only about fixing problems or sustaining what already exists. It’s also about being able to imagine desirable futures and build the bridge to reach them.
That balance between responding to the urgencies of the present and opening space for new possibilities came up again and again throughout the day. Because territorial transformation requires acting today, while also creating the conditions for new forms of development, new economic models, and new community relationships to emerge.
Solutions that come from the territory
The panels on social sustainability, housing, coexistence, urban regeneration, and finance highlighted the importance of building comprehensive responses to complex challenges. Experiences shared by the Novessendes Community Foundation, Agrocolor, Residencia Tariquejo, Tot Raval, and Almería Tierra Abierta Community Foundation itself showed different ways of activating local capacities, strengthening community, and generating new dynamics of collaboration.
Particularly inspiring was the talk by Daniel Millor, a community architect from Quatorze and Architecture Without Borders, who reminded attendees that transforming neighborhoods and cities doesn’t depend only on physical interventions in space, but on the ability to generate relationships, trust, and collective commitment — a vision of urban regeneration that places people and community at the center of any process of change.
Also notable was the case of the Fondazione di Comunità di Messina, presented by Giacomo Pinaffo, an international benchmark for systemic transformation based on mobilizing community resources, strengthening local capacities, and designing financial instruments adapted to the territory’s real needs. Its experience shows that funding reaches its full potential when it is integrated into a strategy of sustainable human development and community building — a particularly relevant lesson for those of us working in impact investing..
The conversations on housing, integration, and coexistence further reinforced a fundamental idea: addressing territorial challenges requires moving away from fragmented approaches and toward models of shared responsibility. Because a territory’s resilience isn’t built by a single organization, but by a community’s ability to act in a coordinated way in the face of the challenges it encounters.
Impact investing: putting finance at the service of solutions
In this context, María Molina, director of alliances and impact ecosystem at SpainNAB, took part in the dialogue panel on impact investing and financing for social projects, alongside Blanca Hernández, founder and president of TuTecho-Hogar and Magallanes Value Investors, and Eduardo Valverde, deputy general director of Sustainability and Agri-food Development at Cajamar.
The conversation raised different models around one fundamental question: how to mobilize more capital toward initiatives that are generating real solutions in the territories. Impact investing must keep that premise firmly in mind: it isn’t only about financing projects, but about steering financial resources toward models capable of generating positive social and environmental outcomes that are also, economically, sustainable.
When we talk about the future of territories, we’re also talking about how to make it easier for those working every day to solve local problems to access the resources they need to scale their impact.
A shared vision for building possible futures
Territories with a Future was born with the aim of opening spaces where different actors can think together about each territory’s challenges and activate new opportunities for collaboration. This second edition in Almería confirmed how important it is to keep building ecosystems where knowledge, financing, innovation, and community commitment can meet. Because territorial development doesn’t depend only on having resources — above all, it depends on the ability to connect the people and organizations willing to imagine and build a different future.
At SpainNAB, we believe impact ecosystems are built when different actors find a common purpose. That’s why we especially value initiatives like Territories with a Future, which we want to keep driving forward together with Impact Hub and the Spanish Association of Foundations, in Almería and in other territories. Initiatives that create spaces where those who know the territory’s needs, those who mobilize resources, and those working to make new solutions possible can come together. Because territorial transformation doesn’t depend on a single actor: it emerges when capabilities, knowledge, financing, and community commitment converge around a shared vision of the future.
