Consell and Ibiza & Formentera Preservation take Sustainability Clinic to local students

plastic free aula sostenibilidad2The Formentera Department of Environment has teamed up with Ibiza & Formentera Preservation to launch an initiative called l’Aula de Sostenibilitat. The aim of the initiative, whose name translates roughly as “the Sustainability Clinic”, is to make educational materials about sustainability and environmental preservation more widely available.

“Initially we envisioned taking the project to island classrooms”, said environment conseller Antonio J Sanz. The ongoing public health crisis, however, meant that “as with arrangements to work or attend classes from home, we needed to tailor it to fit current needs”. “The Sustainability Clinic embodies these changes. We’re very excited about this project and see it as a very powerful tool.”

Also backing the initiative is the Eivissa-Formentera Education Office, which is collaborating to disseminate the clinic’s associated activities across schools on Formentera’s northerly neighbour. Various levels of the public administration can use the Sustainability Clinic.

Related educational materials can be downloaded using the Classroom tool. Plastic Free Eivissa & Formentera, Water Alliance, Ibiza Produce, Sustainability Observatory and Marine Forum all take part in producing content for the initiative, the goal of which is to touch on a range of different subjects whose common ground is the environment and the Balearic Islands. Content related to Plastic Free Eivissa & Formentera was produced with backing from Ferrovial.

Free to use and with versions in Catalan, Castilian Spanish and English, the material was conceived for use in a variety of subjects across primary and secondary education.

Resources are available in the following subjects:

· Climate change: ecosystems in the islands, biodiversity, geological attributes, climatology.
· Water: the water cycle, purification, reuse, pollution.
· Plastics and waste: plastic and bioplastics, how they affect the environment, the 3 R’s.
· Local produce: organic farming, other certified forms of agriculture, native produce and when it can be found, native species.
· The sea: posidonia, threatened species, marine reserves, water quality in swimming areas, polluting discharge, etc.
· Biodiversity: endemic flora and fauna, native species, invasive species, etc.

The material is potentially of interest to schools and teachers because it touches on a subject that students of a particular age are already familiar with and receptive to. Updates will typically occur on Mondays, although presentations may be uploaded more frequently.

Schools interested in using the educational material can get in touch by contacting the Google Classroom email auladesostenibilitat@gmail.com.


3 April 2020
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera