The César Manrique Foundation (FCM) is organizing a workshop entitled La Geria: values of a fragile territory and opportunity to reflect on our contemporary ecosocial dramas, which will be taught by Fernando Sabaté Bel, professor of Geography at the University of La Laguna, expert in landscape and cultural heritage. The activity will take place next Thursday, April 3, between 6:00 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., in the José Saramago room of La Plazuela (Arrecife).
In this workshop, with a duration of three hours and fifteen minutes, La Geria will be valued as the valuable rural territory that it is, whose image has become popular worldwide. A cultural landscape resulting from the creative ingenuity of the people of Lanzarote and their capacity for cosmological discernment, but also from the imponderable need to subsist. La Geria is an agroecosystem created based on the understanding of the complex dynamics of the natural system. Its model has been subsequently replicated, adapting it, in other parts of the Island and the Archipelago.
However, La Geria is also today a touristified and landscape-altered space, at risk of trivialization. The rhythms and styles with which visiting groups travel through this valley and its dependencies often do not correspond to the respect that the values of the place deserve, the fragility of its landscape and the memory of those who, with effort, shaped it. Are we assuming, with due foundation, the responsibility of acting as executors of this heritage treasure? La Geria, in short, constitutes an opportunity to reflect on contemporary ecosocial dramas, the democratic deliberation of alternatives and the civic courage to make their real application possible.
Those interested in attending the workshop, which has a limited number of places, must register by calling 928 843 138 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Monday to Friday. The registration period opens on Friday, March 28 and closes on Wednesday, April 2 or when the capacity is full. Places will be awarded in strict order of registration.
Fernando Sabaté Bel, PhD in Geography, also studied Economics and Anthropology. He is currently a professor and researcher in the Department of Geography and History at the University of La Laguna. His research is focused on Historical-Cultural Geography and Rural Geography —with special emphasis on the study of vernacular agroecosystems— and on the recent and ongoing processes of transformation and reorganization of the territory of the Canary Islands. He has worked in the field of territorial planning and development. He is the author or co-author of ten books related to the territory and the socio-environmental situation of the Archipelago, as well as numerous articles (academic and popular). A citizen activist, he has participated in various social and environmental defense groups.
