Who is Marta Lozano Molano?
Marta is a Spanish activist, Social Music composer, Director of the Wazo Magazine and President of Wazo Coop. Wazo Coop is a non-profit & social Cooperative based in Extremadura, an autonomous community located in the south-western part of Spain. Its mission is to empower people from rural areas, to promote positive impact in the region and to create opportunities for the local communities.
Her motivation, achievements and obstacles
With her colleagues Andrea Vincenti and José Luis Díaz, Marta decided to establish Wazo Coop in order to tackle Extremadura’s main social issues, such as unemployment, inequality, and lack of infrastructure. In fact, the Spanish autonomous community is one of the most unpopulated and rural area, where many young people are forced to move elsewhere to study or work.
Marta, for instance, left Extremadura in order to do her bachelor’s degree in Music Composition in the North of Spain. Afterwards, she moved to London, where she studied a MA at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
Although Marta enjoyed her Londoner life, once her studies were over, she chose to return to Spain to encourage sustainable development and to generate positive impact in her native country.
Marta’s interest in social issues is also tangible in her other main passion, social music. In particular, her music compositionspromote values and defend solidarity causes to generate a positive impact on the people who perform them and on those who listen to them. She said:
“Music and Cooperation have so much in common. They both have a strong power to motivate and connect people, to change their feelings and to create emotions”.
The role of cooperation in Marta’s life
Like music, cooperation has a crucial role in Marta’s life and Organisation. “We want and we need to cooperate,” says the Spanish activist, “cooperating locally and internationally with other organisations and associations does not only give us good practices and many good ideas, but it gives Wazo Coop the opportunity to learn more about the different realities and to find solutions to a common problem.”
Wazo Coop’s projects to generate positive impact
In order to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations, Wazo Coop has recently launched two main projects: Joven-ESS and DESOPAEX.
The first project aims to achieve the 8th SDG Decent work and Economy growth by promoting the social & solidarity economy among young people of the rural area. The second project, DESOPAEX aims at the 11th SDG Sustainable Cities and Communitiesand encourages the sustainable development of rural areas of Extremadura through the appreciation of heritage and the social and solidarity economy.
Marta’s advice to aspiring entrepreneurs
Marta believes that everyone, in their day-to-day life, has the power to make the world a better place by generating positive impact and doing good for their community. She says:
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