The Formentera Offices of Education and Island Services are pleased to report that, based on requests from school administrative teams, parents' associations and student councils, assorted upkeep has been completed in local schools ahead of the return to classrooms this September. In recent weeks the Formentera Office of Island Services maintenance brigade has helped teachers and administrators at the Sant Ferran school and Escoleta des Camí Vell relocate to new buildings, and a cleaning company was brought in this summer to get everything ready for the start of the school year.

See below for an overview of operations:

CEIP Sant Ferran
New storage units were added to the primary school playground and a pergola was put up in the infant playground. The infant playground features material repurposed from the previous setup, and crews assisted with the move.

CEIP Mestre Lluís Andreu
Crews cleaned; applied fresh coats of paint to the school’s façade and exterior enclosure wall; trimmed vegetation; replaced tiles; performed upkeep on outside railings and outdoor port-a-potty; did light repairs on a goal-post and basketball hoop in the upper playground; repaired and repositioned outdoor lighting installations.

CEIP El Pilar de la Mola
In La Mola, crews touched up paint indoors and out; checked and repaired segments of fencing; cleaned and performed prep work in the garden; painted the P.E. shed and replaced separation ropes in the outdoor courtyard. Additional plans are in place to replace sink taps in infant restrooms.

Escoleta Sa Miranda
At Sa Miranda, classrooms and corridors have been painted, mosquito nets and awnings replaced and wooden fences around playgrounds repaired.

New Sant Ferran school
Crews helped move materials and set up the new centre.

Cleaning has also been done at all the schools ahead of children’s return to classrooms.

9 September 2021
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

In press conference today, Consell de Formentera president and tourism chief Alejandra Ferrer offered early details about the fourth Save Posidonia Project Forum, due to unfold on the island 24 and 25 September, as well as a new promotional and educational push dubbed ‘Let's keep our big secret' (Conservem el nostre gran secret). According to Ferrer, the 2021 forum, focused on reactivating tourism and protecting Formentera through smart sustainability, is “a space for showcasing ideas and exchanging experiences”. And she highlighted an aim shared by those taking part in SPP Forum: “To help Formentera down a path toward sustainability during a difficult year and amid ever growing strain on the island”.

At the presentation President Ferrer spoke about SPP Forum’s origins, describing the original driving impulse as protecting natural resources like Posidonia oceanica seagrass. But she emphasised the need to keep the initiative relevant, and applauded the individuals and businesses who have paid to sponsor over 250,000 m2 of posidonia since SPP Forum’s 2017 début.

New campaign
Designed by communications firm Viernes and backed by the Formentera Office of Tourism, ‘Let’s keep our big secret’ marks an attempt to educate around the key role of posidonia seagrass and why protecting it is so crucial. The campaign spotlights an inter-generational selection of islanders who share messages like preserving the air-purifying seagrass by not anchoring watercraft directly on top of it and by fishing responsibly.

Donations received since 2019 have enabled the Formentera Office of Environment to fund and coordinate ‘Antroposi’ —a project stewarded by the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA)— as well as an environmental diagnostic study of moorage on Formentera's coastline by the local environmental campaigners at GEN-GOB. With €90,000 in funding, the two projects were completed and presented to the public this year. The most recent call for proposals saw honours go to the University of the Balearic Islands for ImPeFora — a €112,000 analysis of the impact of emerging pollutants on posidonia.

Apart from numerous international experts in sustainability technology who are scheduled to contribute as speakers, in attendance at this year’s SPP Forum will be fifty journalists from a wide range of countries — “which should help to give voice to our secret and raise awareness about the importance of territorial preservation”, said President Ferrer.

Save Posidonia Project Forum

- Friday 24 September:
The first day will be divided into three segments. First up is a welcome address and opening remarks in which President Ferrer will lay out a roadmap for the year ahead and highlight findings from fieldwork completed during the Posidonia Mediterranean Network event which immediately preceded SPP Forum.

The second segment, ‘Smart sustainability: protecting Posidonia’, combines working groups and talks where experts address the present, future, new innovative models of ecological sustainability and success stories pairing technology with sustainability.

That same afternoon, the third segment, ‘Carbon Neutral Islands’, addresses local emissions and possible solutions, and concludes with a round-table dedicated to the leaders of the future of sustainable tourism and the closing event.

- Saturday 25 September:
Volunteer activities form the basis of day two: a cleanup of S'Estufador beach (9.30am) and guided visit of posidonia meadows, including boat trip, environmental explanations and diving activity.

The complete SPP Forum programme is available here.

8 September 2021
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera