As part of the program for the V Forum of Municipalities Committed to Equality, we held a debate on coresponsibility and the use of time from a rights-based perspective. The debate was attended by Marta Junqué, director of the Time Use Initiative (TUI).
TUI is an international non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the ‘right to time’ and developing temporary organization policies that improve citizens’ well-being and social equity. The organization’s main objective is to encourage public debate on how we collectively organize our time, promoting reforms that consider time not only for work, rest and leisure, but also for care and travel.
As part of the Time Use Initiative, TUI has proposed public standards to ensure that the right to time becomes a reality: “If we do not measure access to time, we perpetuate inequalities. We need real indicators and courageous public policies.’
Marta Junqué explained how the Catalan Network for the Right to Time was created, with the aim of implementing a fairer and more balanced organization of time in Catalonia. The Network is a meeting point for companies, organizations, social actors, institutions, experts, and researchers from across the territory who are committed to transforming the way time is used.
The network aims to generate and share knowledge on time organization with a gender perspective, adapted to the three sectors it works with: social and productive agents, local and regional governments, and research. Additionally, the Network’s mission includes facilitating the exchange of experiences on social transformation and promoting collaboration between key Catalan stakeholders to ensure the right to time for all citizens.
The Catalan Network for the Right to Time aims to achieve these objectives by:
- collecting, recognizing, and promoting the work of all agents committed to the right to time in Catalonia.
- Encouraging the implementation of specific time management measures from a gender perspective within companies, organizations, and local authorities, such as town councils, county councils, and provincial councils, by promoting ‘time pacts’ as a basic tool for this purpose.
- Create, exchange, and disseminate knowledge, experiences, and good practices in time organization through actions such as conferences and training for a wide and specific audience.
- Connecting research on time use in Catalonia with public policy.
Junqué closed his speech by emphasizing three key ideas:
New employment patterns and changes in lifestyles affect the way citizens live and move within the region. This has an impact on how time is used.
The implementation and promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is important, especially those in which time is a factor for improvement.
To continue reducing the existing differences between men and women. Local policies need to promote an egalitarian and coresponsible approach to time management.
