Activities in 2013-2014 : School projects and local conferences
Several hundreds of schools are participating this year again, in the Let's take care of the Planet project. Local meeting are being organized, along with and inter-regional conference, that will probably take place in Galicia. The national coordination Commission decided to organize national conferences every two years, so the next one will be next year.
Also, the creation of a national ESD 'network of networks' is currently being created, which will reinforce the already efficient project national coordination! More information soon.
Feel free to visit the Spanish version of this page to red the news of the project Spanish blogue and other informations... in Spanish of course!
The Spanish National Conference
January 26th and 27th, 2012
Vitoria Gasteiz– Basque Country
In Vitoria Gasteiz, European green city for 2012, delegations from five autonomous communities - Catalonia, Canary Islands, Galicia, Madrid and Basque Country took part in the first Youth National Conference, “Let’s Take Care of the Planet”. More than 150 people participated in this Spanish National Conference, among whom 101 were young delegates aged 13 to 17 years. The conference was held in a 13th century convent turned into an inn.
For two days, the youth took part in several activities liven up by a team of 8 great facilitators. They presented the regional dynamics and posters they made during local conferences, they debated the responsibilities stated in the International Charter of Brasilia and they organized think-tanks about School and the actors of their territories. After an interesting and well-argued debate, the youth voted for two responsibilities from the Charter of Brasilia they will stand for in Brussels in May:
- Responsibility n°7: "Foster responsible consumption and the 5Rs policy (reflect, refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle) through informative advertising, adapted to everyday life and thus constituting sustainable societies and lifestyles."
- Responsibility n°9: "Implement environmental perspectives and values, developing the people’s point of view in order to encourage an active citizenship."
Subsequently, the youth took part in communication workshops in which they wrote a manifesto for the attention of politicians; they designed posters to sensitize people on the responsibilities and actions they chose. They also created a fresco and a song, they made a radio program about the Conference and accounted on the regional dynamics and the general process.
The 101 Spanish youth then went to the seat of Basque Country Government in order to present the Conference results to several Secretaries of State. They met with Mr. Germán Alonso, responsible for Biodiversity and Environmental Participation from the Department of Environment, Territorial Participation, Agriculture and Fishing; with Mr. Cándido Hernández, responsible for School Innovation and with Mrs. Pilar Unzalu, Environmental Counselor from Territorial Planning, Agriculture and Fishing Departments.
Finally, the conference ended up with the election of Brussels delegates and a visit of Vitoria Gasteiz and its “green ring”.
Please find all the results of the conference on the Spanish Confint blog.
Read the final report redacted by the Spanish National Organizing Commission (in Spanish only).
What about the Spanish delegates?
I feel really lucky and i know that all of us _ from Catalonia, Canaries Islands, Galicia, Madrid and Basque Country_ we can change the world if we want to. Why do I know it? Because if you were able to change my life in only four days, why couldn’t you change the future in a few hours and years of efforts? To sum up, the conference has been an opportunity to make new friends, to experiment new things and over all to change the world little by little. And as we wrote in the manifesto we all drafted: “We know it won’t be only words because we are UNITED YOUNG PEOPLE ACTING FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE! Cristina, delegate from Catalonia.
When I stepped down the bus, I had a lot of ideas about how I was to present my ideas and the projects we studied, but everything went more smoothly than i expected. I loved listening to what you do to help changing things and to what you are ready to do in the future. I think all these who shared this experience can say we won’t stand idly in front of the people who govern the world. Noa, delegate from Galicia.
The National Conference has been an unforgettable experience for me. It helped me realize all the things other schools do at the national level in order to protect the environment, a subject that affects us all. Xavier, delegate from Basque Country.
Spain participation to the "Young Europeans, Let's Take Care of the Planet" process - 2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 academic year the conference has continued with local conferences in the schools and regional conferences, with more participation from the regions.
We have also had a State Conference in Vitoria, the European Green Capital, where for the first time at the Spanish state, we had reflection, exchange on how to transform our country, and prepared the European Conference and the Rio + 20 Summit .
More information in the Spanish Confint Blog
Important dates:
- October, 17 2011: National Organization Comission meeting
- January, 26-27, 2012: National Conference in Vitoria Gasteiz@@
The Let's Take Care of the Planet process continues in 2011!
During the year 2010-2011 young people diffused the charter in their communities and submitted the process to local authorities of their villages and towns. They also began to develop actions that were agreed in Brazil, global actions with a local application.
The Basque Country, also celebrated this year the regional conference in schools, held on May 14 in Sukarrieta.
Galicia, through the meetings of the School Agenda 21, the Xuntazas, continued the debate and developed further actions.
Catalonia regional discussions held with the participation of over 400 institutes, and produced a video to invite schools in the process: www.scea.cat /confint
Spain participation to the International Youth Conference Brasilia, 2010
In 2009-2010, the Spanish state participated in the process of the International Conference Let’s take care of the planet.
Four regions (Aragón, Galicia, Basque Country and Catalonia) organized school conferences to discuss which responsibilities and activities the touth wanted to take care of the planet. In three of these regions (Galicia, Basque Country and Catalonia) Regional Conferences were held, where young people wrote charters of responsibilities and chose delegates to represent them in Brazil, in June 2010.
The delegation consisted of eight delegates, three companions and a facilitator, who attended the International Conference, taking part in decisions and actions on environment and global actions and responsibilities involved in drafting the letter and workshops.
The balance:
Actively participated:
- 57 schools,
- about 1,750 young people
Once back in Spain, more energy and strength to continue the way begun!
The entities that coordinate this project are:
Basque Country: Inguruguela - CEIDA Bilbo. IRAES21: http://numrl.com/ingurugela
Galicia: Network of Agenda 21 for Schools: http://a21.medioambiente.xunta.es/escolar/
Catalonia: XESC: www.xesc.cat and SCEA www.scea.cat