News

Formentera proves recycling pays

Thursday, 27 September 2018 14:23

foto projecte envasos At midday today, the former plenary hall of the Formentera Council played host to the launch of an initiative, Be Blue, that encourages islanders to toss their used cans and plastic bottles into any one of five stations on the island in exchange for points towards prizes.

The presentation was overseen by the Council's environment secretary and a spokesperson for the Be Blue project, Daisee Aguilera and Maria Vecino, as well as a number of the project's design, production and assembly specialists.

In Aguilera's words, Be Blue is about “showing islanders that litter is worth something”. “Keeping materials like paper, glass and plastics out of the bin means reducing the amount of material in the landfill”, said the secretary, “which in turn means slashing the bill footed later by the whole island”.

Maria Vecino described the impetus behind the initiative as twofold: incentivising recycling among Formentera's visitors and residents, and “getting commitment from Be Blue's participating businesses that they will match total points with a donation to Save Posidonia Project”.

Recycling stations

Islanders can recycle for points at the following locations:

• Carrer Sant Jaume, 28, on the school-side pavement (Sant Ferran).
• La Mola highway at km 6.2, opposite Ophiusa supermarket (Sant Ferran).
• Avinguda Vuit d’Agost, 90, opposite IES Marc Ferrer (Sant Francesc)
• Avinguda Miramar, 49, opposite the tourist information point (Es Pujols)
• Avinguda 8 d’Agost, 10, Sa Senieta car park (Sant Francesc)

How the system works

All five machines work in the same way and will only accept cans or plastic bottles. Users must insert objects one at a time and, when finished, press a green button to obtain a ticket indicating their points earned. Each recyclable can or plastic bottle is equal to one eco-punt.

Recyclers can cash in points for prizes, included in a catalogue available at www.formenterabeblue.com. Points can be redeemed at Sant Francesc and La Savina's offices of tourism, the department of environment (conselleria de Medi Ambient) in Sant Ferran, and at Vell Marí in La Savina.

Formentera gets new fire engine

Wednesday, 26 September 2018 18:31

foto-camio bombers1 The Formentera Council is preparing to reinforce its firefighting service with a €191,000 waterpump-equipped light lorry. The Balearic port authority (APB) will hand over the vehicle as part of a 2014 agreement between the agency and the Council.

Pitched as “safety enhancement” for La Savina's port, the deal covers fire prevention and extinction efforts, rescue and emergency preparedness. The Formentera Council will match the APB's material and financial support with the manpower and expertise of the island's fire brigade.

In addition to the fire engine, the Council will receive €10,000 for accessories specific to harbour operations. APB president Joan Gual de Torrella and CiF chief Jaume Ferrer made the deal official at a Wednesday September 26 signing at the agency's head office in Palma.

César Bona brings vision of children's education to Formentera

Wednesday, 26 September 2018 10:39

foto-cesar-bona1 The Formentera Council's offices of youth services and education report that at 7.00pm on Friday, César Bona will present his “Mira al teu voltant” conference to audiences at the local cinema. A teacher and writer, Bona was awarded the Global Teacher Prize distinction as one of the top fifty teachers in the world.

An educator in the multidisciplinarian tradition, Bona believes in trying to foster skills like empathy, teamwork and creativity, calls for the involvement of all children in ways that promote respect, teamwork and effort and give free rein to imagination. His method rests on uniquely practical approaches to teaching school subjects, and making well-working classrooms the business of every pupil.

Proposals
Bona preaches assemblies as a way to give children a voice. He encourages less homework, especially at the primary level, arguing that childhood is extremely short and, with classes running every afternoon until five and children expected to continue working at home, pupils run the risk of becoming alienated from a classroom environment from which they've scarcely had time to disconnect.

He proposes more flexible learning plans. Bona feels that school curricula are so structured that instructors barely have leeway to set aside textbooks and make use of other methodology. He believes there must be more time for teaching values, like respect for others and empathy.

Bona also advocates spoken communication, emotional intelligence, social commitment and using tech to improve learning processes.

In second 'strategy for children and young people', Formentera lays out 48-point plan to promote participation and wellness

Wednesday, 26 September 2018 15:59

foto-ies-marc-ferrer1 The Formentera Council's social welfare department and bureau of child and youth services has drafted its second “strategic plan” for children and youth. The product not only of collaboration between various Council offices but also participation from youth, local associations and island groups that work with youngsters, the strategy will be put to a vote at the Formentera Council's September plenary assembly.

Social welfare secretary Vanessa Parellada sees the new plan as “a tool to guide us in planning for children and young people” and says it creates “fixed terms of participation”. Parellada also highlighted Formentera's commitment to “defending and recognising the rights of the child as well as human rights” and described the administration's mission as “giving young people everything they need to become wholly developed human beings”.

The strategy stems from the findings of a school board-commissioned study by Fundació Pere Tarrés and identifies eight action areas (Relationships, values and coexisting on Formentera; Education; Transition to employment; Housing; Participation; Fitness, leisure and culture; Health and Mobility) as well as 48 specific proposals to be developed.

In its wider bid to guarantee the promotion and protection of the rights of Formentera's children, the Council hopes to consolidate and define the terms of local youth policies in tune with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The CRC's foundational premise is to treat children and teens not as objects in need of protection, but as rights-holding agents in their own destiny.

Rollout

The development phase will extend from 2018 to 2022 and one-, two-, three- and four-year action deadlines will be assigned for individual proposals.

The plan's engineers envision yearly reviews as a source of assessment and reflection in order for specific proposals to be carried forward or modified as needed.

The Formentera Council salutes the participation of wide cross-sections of the local community and the engagement of each actor involved. In Parellada's words, “we all feel like this thing is our baby”.

This autumn Formentera welcomes new faces to police force

Tuesday, 25 September 2018 16:01

foto policia local The Formentera Council reports that four contenders have successfully completed competitive exams and will be assigned to positions as career public servants for the local police force, an entity administered by the Council. In the weeks ahead the individuals will officially enter the ranks as funcionaris en pràctiques, or “civil servants in training”.

The Formentera Council was the first to embark upon this particular selection procedure since the December approval of a legislative tweaking changed how local police forces cooperate. That modification, sought by Formentera, meant a drastic streamlining of the selection process.

Bartomeu Escandell, who is head of the Council's “resident safety” department, heralded the news as “fabulous for those of us—and there are quite a few—eagerly awaiting additions to the force”. Escandell said the Council had already asked for authority to hire up to six new recruits, “so we've still got some lattitude if we decide to take on two more officers before the start of next season”.