My name is Rocío Nogales Muriel and although we haven’t met in person yet, I’ve been a member of SmartIb since it creation in 2013. I was a part of the launch of Smart in Spain after getting to know the model firsthand in Belgium through some research I conducted. I worked with the previous management of SMartIb as representative of the membership at the Managing Council although I left after several years due to substantial disagreement with the former president and closest collaborators. I recently came back to the Managing Council of SmartIb, again as representative of individual members, to ensure that the cooperative remained true to its values and support the radically new managerial team in the huge task in front of them. This introduction is to share with you my profound respect and admiration for a model that I’m determined to contribute to preserve, together with an incredible community of people within and outside the cooperative.

I’ve followed very closely, together with other stakeholders in Spain, the consolidation of SmartIb as well as the evolution and several iterations of SmartEU. I even devoted a long research period to studying the replication of Smart across Europe and SmartEU: this period gave me the opportunity to meet several staff and board members of SmartBe as well as representatives from other countries and understand the complexity of such undertaking.

Getting back to your response, it is a pity that you consider a “controversy campaign” the huge effort that we made to stick to facts and be transparent with our own membership base, with SmartBe, and with the rest of colleagues at SmartEU, as well as stakeholders beyond to whom we also feel accountable. It took a lot of extra hours and effort from all of us to structure, translate and publish that information, so we request that it is given the importance that it has not only for us but for the entire Smart community.

I’m afraid that the point of view expressed by the SmartBe Board member at the General Assembly cannot be considered on any basis as “the opinion of a particular person”.  We appreciate your recognition about our “big efforts” but there is a major flaw in your logic when you mention that they “still do not meet our financing criterias”. We want to make very clear that this is not a discussion point for us: we assumed SmartBe’s abrupt decision without any questioning and our General Assembly has already reiterated it formally. However, as we included in our last letter and all the information summarized for you in three languages, we cannot accept that this decision is justified on the ground of false information. Enough.

Of course, you’re responsible for the way you manage SmartBe can accountable to its members and you can take the decisions needed to ensure its financial sustainability but the reasons explaining decisions have to be truthful and transparent. Our efforts only show progress and commitment toward the four “guidelines” and this despite the fact that these guidelines were never formally explained in detail in any document agreed between the two parties. As a matter of fact, we have been awaiting a formal document from SmartBe detailing such criteria since last November as an intermediate step to clarify the situation of SmartIb vis-à-vis SmartBe but, most importantly, with the rest of our SmartEU colleagues.

In addition, there were flagrant mistakes in the information presented to your membership in the course of the SmartBe accounts workshop where it was stated that SmartIb had received 700,000€ from SmartBe in 2021, among others (please see Annex in the attached letter).

For all of this, I’m attaching a letter signed by all of us at the management and day-to-day operations of SmartIb reiterating our well-reasoned demands and requesting a meeting with your Board and SmartEU in October so the facts can be put on the table. If, as you state, it has never been the intention of SmartBe to have a climate of tensions, a lack of kindness and hospitality, then we urgently need constructive and transparent discussion for the sake of the future of a human, transparent and (ideally) co-governed SmartEU.

The summer holidays are around the corner, but please, together with the SmartBe Board, let us know when it would be convenient for you to hold such meeting. We could appoint one person from our teams to build together the agenda. We believe that such occasion will benefit the future of Smart across the countries where it currently exists.

Sending you and rest of colleagues a relaxing and replenishing holiday.