MEDS Cierzo: Revitalizing Public Markets Through Design, Wind, and Community

MEDS Cierzo

In Zaragoza’s Las Fuentes neighborhood, a strong local wind has inspired a powerful movement. MEDS Cierzo, named after the Cierzo wind unique to northern Spain, brought together over 100 young international designers to breathe new life into the city’s disappearing public markets.

With support from EIT Community NEB’s Ignite and Grow programmes, this vibrant initiative has evolved from a temporary workshop into a lasting association and community-driven startup focused on urban revitalization, community interaction, and sustainability.

A New Energy in the City

Formed where warm and cold air masses meet, the Cierzo wind became a metaphor for the exchange of ideas during the Meetings of Design Students (MEDS) workshop in Zaragoza. For two weeks, participants co-created interactive, multifunctional public spaces in Las Fuentes, reimagining local markets as vibrant, inclusive hubs that serve far more than commerce.

Their mission: to restore public markets as community gathering spaces by:

  • Adding child-friendly areas
  • Strengthening neighborhood identity
  • Enhancing spatial and social connections

In doing so, they spotlighted the markets’ existing strengths: short supply chains, high-quality products, sustainable circular practices, and close ties between buyers and sellers.

KIDCHEN: A Prototype for Transformation

One standout result of the workshop is KIDCHEN – a modular, sustainable kitchen prototype that doubles as a stage, classroom, or exhibition space. More than just a design object, KIDCHEN has become a platform for community activation.

Built with recycled and locally sourced materials, and developed with guidance from designer Mario Melendo and Fundación Zaragoza Ciudad del Conocimiento (FZC), KIDCHEN has already:

  • Engaged over 6,000 people through events, school workshops, and public exhibitions
  • Demonstrated its adaptability and inclusivity across diverse settings
  • Created a replicable model for transforming underused public spaces into shared community assets

→ Read more about KIDCHEN on Fundación ZCC’s website

A Lasting Impact, Locally and Beyond

What began as a temporary workshop has grown into a permanent association. MEDS Cierzo is now a Zaragoza-based collective working to scale urban design interventions across other neighborhoods and cities, staying rooted in the New European Bauhaus values of sustainability, beauty, and inclusion.

Their projects champion:

  • Inclusive, multifunctional public spaces
  • Design grounded in local identity
  • Student-led, hands-on innovation
  • Cross-cultural exchange

And their model shows how design education, when placed in the heart of a community, can lead to long-term, structural change.

→ View MEDS on the Horizon Europe Results Platform

→ Visit MEDS workshop website
→ Follow MEDS Cierzo on Instagram

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