The Fundació COAC revives the legacy of the volunteering programme that accompanied the UIA World Congress of Architects held in Barcelona in 1996, bringing it forward to the 2026 edition, which begins today.

This year’s volunteering programme arrives at a particularly significant moment: the United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2026 the International Year of Volunteering for Sustainable Development (IVY 2026), recognising the key role of volunteering in building a more just and sustainable future. The Fundació COAC thus joins this global celebration with a concrete initiative rooted in the tradition of the Catalan architectural community.

For this edition, the call has been supported by the schools of architecture of Catalonia — Universitat de Girona, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Universitat Ramon Llull, and Universitat Rovira i Virgili — which have spread the word among their students and helped consolidate a group of volunteers committed to the most significant architectural event of the year.