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Arriba La Albufera! Pensando y luchando contra el cambio climático III

2023-3-ES02-KA152-YOU-0001782932023Mobility of young peopleongoing
Countries: ES|IT|SI|NL|MK|NO · Grant: €32,580
Green skillsEnvironment and climate changeHuman rights and rule of law

Objectives

Valencia is a city crossed and surrounded by water: the Turia, the Mediterranean, and the Albufera have served to forge the character of our city and serve as an economic, social, and ecological engine. In the Mediterranean waters, we bathe and half of Europe has been bathed; the waters of the Turia irrigate our fields and our orchards; the Albufera gives us its water to grow our rice and at the same time gives us a Natural Park in which biodiversity fills it with life and that, nevertheless is in danger due to climate change. When we think of a Natural Park, well-kept and largely remote natural environments come to mind and are protected from human action. In these places, wildlife roams freely. The Albufera in this sense is totally different. Our wetland, despite being a Natural Park, is subject to intense human activity and subjected to numerous pressures. The modernization of irrigation has caused a decrease in the flow of water that reaches it; contamination of water makes life difficult, both because of the pollutants, pesticides and fertilizers that the water carries and because of the plastics and waste that it drags, to which must be added the damage caused by strong storms and water polluted water that overflows the sewage treatment plants. On the other hand, the Albufera faces urban tensions as it is a Natural Park surrounded by a population of more than of a million people. To all this, we must add the pressure exerted by the industrial activities themselves and their discharges as well as agricultural activities, especially the burning of rice straw, subsidized so that it is not carried out and that nevertheless continues to be carried out despite being highly toxic and polluting. Finally, we must also point out the pressures that come from the coast. The regulation of the water level, makes the Saltwater incursions into the wetland cause salinization. Its consequences can be devastating in the middle term. And from the north comes a new threat to the already hit Albufera: the expansion of the Port of Valencia is causing the loss of sand from the beaches that serve as a protective cordon to the wetland. The so-called shadow effect prevents the arrival of new sediments on the beaches to the south of the port and the storms drag the increasingly fine line of sand. Each storm is a salty wound in the Albufera. For this reason, and for many other reasons, it is urgent that the environmental education of young people take a relevant role in the fight for the protection of the Albufera. We must take care of and save our beloved Albufera, declared a Natural Park on July 23, 1986, due to its high value. Beyond the conservationist arguments of primitive environmentalism, saving the Albufera and our beaches also has a social and economic sense that modernity must know how to take advantage of and that is the vanguard of the environmental movement and feminist. Care for each other and for the environment above economic benefit without control for achieving a lasting and respectful economic and social benefit. The needs are many (improve the uses of the water, control the use of fertilizers and pesticides, improve collectors and treatment plants, start-up more storms...etc) From Setting the Change, we believe that the role of young people is fundamental if we want to wake up society and avoid the disaster of climate change and the destruction of the Albufera as we know it. That is why we believe that there is the need to make them participants in the change we need, a more ecological future, respectful of nature and conscious. For all that has been said, and much more, we believe that environmental education is fundamental and is the heart of this initiative. Goals: -Reflect on the situation of the Albufera; discuss solutions, approaches, and relevant actions to improve the situation. -Increase your knowledge about green capabilities and the transition to a zero-emissions economy. -Use art and creativity as vehicles to articulate the participation and expression of young people. -Learn about human rights, social dialogue based on respect, and ecology as an inalienable part of our well-being. -Think and play to learn, share and progress from respect. -Gain skills to organize your own youth events. -use art, sports, and other activities of non-formal education as a vehicle for participation and expression -Motivate young people to organize their own inclusive green initiatives.

Project partners (6)