The 18th International Seminar on Sustainable Regions is coming to an end, supported by the Southeast Community of Navarre.

 

SEE FULL PROGRAM HERE 

 

The Intermunicipal Association of Southeast Gran Canaria presented the 07th International Seminar on Sustainable Regions this Wednesday, May 18, at La Paz Park in Vecindario. This year, the seminar will focus on "Climate Change and Sea Level Rise."

 

The event will take place on May 14 and 15 at the Víctor Jara Theater in Vecindario, where various speakers will share their expertise on the subject. The presentation was attended by Francisco García, president of the Commonwealth and mayor of the municipality of Santa Lucía de Tirajana; Vanesa Martín, mayor of the Ingenio City Council; and Óscar Hernández, mayor of the Agüimes City Council.

 

 

This meeting has been taking place for 18 years, a hub for international synergies that draw attention to the need to promote actions, policies, and strategies, and to incorporate sustainability into all aspects of our lives. 

 

This year, the theme revolves around an issue that has been present in contemporary societies for decades and represents one of the greatest environmental and socioeconomic threats: climate change and its consequences, such as rising global temperatures and rising sea levels. The latter is one of the most worrisome, given its potential to transform landscapes, economies, and ways of life in coastal areas, especially in island settings such as Gran Canaria and, specifically, in the southeast.

 

During his speech, Francisco García emphasized that climate change and rising sea levels "are the two issues that will be the focus of the 18th edition of the Sustainable Regions Seminar" and that "tackling the climate crisis and rising sea levels are two fundamental challenges that we, as citizens and all public institutions, must address in the XNUMXst century."

 

García also emphasized the urgency of action in island territories like the Canary Islands, stating that "we live on islands, and that is a reason to take the fight against climate change and the problems that rising sea levels can cause very seriously." In this regard, he warned that "we are talking, for example, about the loss of 10% of the surface area of ​​almost 150 beaches in the Canary Islands by 2050."

 

He also warned about the social consequences of the phenomenon, adding that "we are talking about the problem of thousands of people living on the coast, who will have to move further inland due to the risk of flooding."

 

The mayor of Santa Lucía de Tirajana emphasized that the seminar maintains its informative and cross-disciplinary approach, which "aims to be as informative as possible, which is why it is aimed at all citizens, professionals, teachers, students, representatives of public institutions, and social groups."

 

García thanked "the collective effort to bring this new edition of the event to fruition, and all the people from the Southeast Community who have collaborated on this latest edition of the Sustainable Regions Seminar."

 

For her part, the mayor of Ingenio, Vanesa Martín, emphasized the importance of urgently addressing the environmental challenges facing the planet. “Over time, humankind has unwittingly abused the resources the Earth offers us. We have consumed too much energy and caused damage that can only be reversed with awareness and collective effort,” she stated.

 

Martín emphasized that forums like this seminar are key to promoting a social and environmental transformation that reaches every level of daily life, since "if we don't take care of the planet, it will perish, and with it, humankind will perish as well. This isn't an exaggeration, but rather a reality that requires responsibility and immediate action."

 

The mayor insisted that "we must find a balance between consumption and the true needs of the system. Only in this way will we ensure that sustainable development serves as a solid foundation for the future."

 

Finally, the mayor of Agüimes, Óscar Hernández, noted during the presentation that a commitment to sustainability has always been one of the hallmarks of the Southeast Commonwealth. "One of the identifying characteristics of this Commonwealth has always been the commitment to sustainability and the translation of that commitment to the citizens," he noted.

 

Hernández emphasized that this effort is not limited to a specific area, but rather encompasses every decision made since its inception. "We've been doing this since the very beginning, with the resolution of the water problem in its entire cycle, but also through the rest of the services we provide," he explained.

 

The mayor insisted that this approach must be maintained and strengthened over time. "We want to continue insisting that society become increasingly committed to combating climate change," he concluded.

 

 

Seminar program

 

The seminar is divided into two days that will take place as follows:

• On Wednesday, May 14, issues focused on climate change and the rising temperature of the planet and how it affects its ecosystems will be addressed.

 

The opening ceremony will be held at 17:30 p.m. by the President of the Island Council of Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales; the President of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Francisco García, accompanied by Vanesa Martín and Óscar Hernández. The first presentation of the day will then begin with Leandro Ponsoni, Principal Investigator of Ocean Climate at the Marine Robotics Center of the Flanders Marine Institute, on "Robots and Autonomous Marine Systems: Advancing Ocean Observations to Effectively Anticipate, Prepare for, Respond to, and Adapt to the Impacts of Climate Change." He will be followed by Benjamí Gauchia, Senior Technician of the Department of Climate and Territorial Action of the Climate Change Office of the Barcelona City Council, who will speak on "PLACALOR - Strategy to Address Heat 2025-2030."

 

At 19:05 p.m., the roundtable discussion "Impact of rising temperatures on the marine environment, the terrestrial environment, and health" will be held. Speakers Benjamí Gauchia and Leandro Ponsoni; Ezequiel Navío, naturalist and environmental consultant; Noelia Cruz, researcher, civil engineer, and agricultural engineer at the Higher Polytechnic School of Engineering at the University of La Laguna; and David Suárez, AEMET territorial delegate in the Canary Islands, will contribute their expertise on the subject.

 

• On Thursday, May 15, the theme of the day will be rising sea levels.

 

The seminar will begin at 17:30 p.m. with the first presentation by Corinne Vitale, Assistant Professor of Spatial Planning and Water Governance at the Nijmegen School of Management, who will present "Coastal Territories on the Test: How the Netherlands is Adapting to Sea Level Rise." This will be followed by Gustavo Herrera, project coordinator for early warning systems, meteorological observation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and climate change impact modeling, who will give the final presentation of the seminar on "Coastal Adaptation to Climate Change in the Canary Islands: From Risk to Flexible Action."

 

This second and final day of the International Seminar on Sustainable Regions will conclude with the roundtable discussion "Sea Level Rise: A Socio-Economic Challenge." The panelists will include Corinne Vitale and Gustavo Herrera, as well as Juan Ferrer, a technician with the Climate Change and Environmental Information Service of the Canary Islands Government; Levi García, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; and Patricia Caro, technical project coordinator at LIFE COSTAdapta. Both sessions will be moderated by journalist Wendy Fuentes.

 

Participation in these sessions is free and open to anyone interested in sustainability in any field. You can register and obtain more information about the sessions at the following link: https://seminariocomarcassostenibles.com/