The 15th edition of the Seminar will be held on April 27 and 28 at the Víctor Jara Theater in Vecindario, after two years of absence due to the pandemic
The mayors of Santa Lucía de Tirajana, Ingenio and Agüimes, municipalities that make up the Commonwealth of the Southeast of Gran Canaria, presented this morning the 15th edition of the International Seminar on Sustainable Regions, which returns after two years of absence with the objective to continue being a reference in decision-making and “to mark the path on which the island of Gran Canaria must walk.”
“We find ourselves in a situation without comparison for the Canary Islands,” said the president of the Commonwealth of the Southeast of Gran Canaria and mayor of Santa Lucía, Francisco García: “While an important part of the institutions and citizens of the Canary Islands are clearly betting on a transition ecological approach for our islands towards a clean energy model, other interests remain committed to an outdated model based on the burning of fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases."
In that sense, the Seminar represents an “effort in the alliance between the professional and academic world, and the public policies of ecological and energy transition that the institutions are carrying out,” stated García.
The head of the Southeast Commonwealth highlighted the fundamental role of this institution, which has become a reference in terms of sustainability, since its municipalities came together to address the problem of water scarcity in the region. “The mayors of this area were not aware of the achievements that were going to be achieved over time and that have been visualized through numerous awards that the Commonwealth has received at an international level,” said the president.
“We have been pioneers and we are a benchmark in sustainability and in our commitment to new alternative energies, that is why we have to continue on the same path to have information and arbitrate a debate that helps us make decisions,” he added.
The mayor of Ingenio, Ana Hernández, valued the work that the Commonwealth of the Southeast does “from the local to the global” in terms of sustainability and recalled that the three municipalities “have been carrying out daily work for many years to have a “a strong region that knows how to live up to what society proposes.”
For his part, the mayor of Agüimes, Óscar Hernández, highlighted the Commonwealth's commitment to sustainable development, "a commitment that stems from the unity of the three municipalities," and invited citizens to attend this seminar, which will also be broadcast online through the website seminariocomarcassostenibles.com.
Program
In this edition, the Seminar will present two international experts who will show their experiences as examples of sustainable development: on the one hand, Dr. Michael Ben-Eli, founder of the Sustainability Laboratory and author of the 'Five Basic Principles of Sustainability', and on the other hand, Marta Rós Karlsdóttir, responsible for the sustainable use of natural resources at the National Authority of Iceland, who will talk about the model implemented in this country.
The International Seminar on Sustainable Regions will also have Tomás Romagosa, technical director of the Wind Business Association, to discuss offshore wind farms, and Alberto Ceña, technical advisor of the Wind Business Association, who will explain how hydrogen can be an alternative fuel in the decarbonization of the Canary Islands system.
The conference will also have the presence of José Juan Castro, doctor in Marine Sciences from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, who will put on the table the debate between Sustainable Development and Sustainable Balance. In addition, Jorge Méndez, professor of Applied Physics at the University of La Laguna, will delve into the concept of “rare earths” and explain how they can be applied in renewable energies, and Noemí Melián and Pedro Cabrera, researchers from the Research Group of Renewable Energy Systems from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and specialists in the integration of renewable energies in desalination processes and in intelligent strategies applied to water treatment, will address systems such as direct osmosis and the use of Artificial Intelligence in desalination plants.