The decision was made this Wednesday morning in the Plenary Hall of the Cabildo building, by a jury composed of the Councilor for European Affairs of the Institution, Juan Santana; the manager of Inalsa, Pedro Márquez; the director of the Island Education Office, Juan Lorenzo Valenciano; and Ricardo Reguera, representing the Teachers' Center, who awarded 128 points to the "Pluvialia" project, 125 to "Lanzarote, the abandonment of the culture of water saving", and 107 to "Water in Lanzarote".
The Cabildo of Lanzarote, through the Department of European Affairs, was the organizer in Lanzarote of this contest, whose primary objective is to promote the interest of young people in learning about the water cycle and promoting awareness of saving practices and efficient use, as well as raising awareness among citizens about the difficulty of water management. All students from public and private centers enrolled in the 2006/2007 academic year in the Fourth year of ESO, First year of Baccalaureate and in intermediate and higher level training cycles participated in this initiative.
Each work, carried out by a maximum of four students and directed by one or two teachers, should have a descriptive content about the water cycle in the region, municipality, locality or, preferably, island, with the aim of transmitting this knowledge to young people from other regions or islands. As a complementary work, the groups presented, in the format they considered, designs for a campaign on how to raise awareness among the local population about the true value of water.
This initiative is part of the AQUAMAC II project: "Techniques and methods for the sustainable management of water in Macaronesia", financed by the Interreg III B Azores-Madeira-Canarias Community Initiative Program.
In this second phase of the project, the lines of work have been specified in the deepening and knowledge of water resources, the specificities of Macaronesia and the definition of methods for compliance with the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC; in the optimization of the management of treated water; in the promotion of innovation and the incorporation of ICT for the management, dissemination and research of water resources; and in the reinforcement and innovation of the tools used for the dissemination of sustainable practices, bringing water management closer to citizens.