- The Forum, taking place at Infecar this Thursday and Friday, 2nd and 3rd February, still has tickets available for purchase on the website www.foro-ecoislas.es with the option to attend the full event or just one of the two days.
- Manuel Maqueda, Christian Felber, Bernard Fletz and Leen Gorissen make up the panel of international speakers who will lead the plenary sessions.
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Tuesday 31 January 2023-. Gran Canaria will become the international centre for reflection on the transition to a more sustainable socio-economic model with the first edition of the International Ecoislas Forum, an international event that will take place on Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd February at Infecar, featuring four international experts and over 60 speakers from academic, administrative, financial, business, and social sectors.
The International Ecoislas Forum was created with the intention of providing a space for discussion, proposals, and the promotion of measures aimed at enhancing the comprehensive towards a more profitable, more self-sufficient, more sustainable and more environmentally friendly socio-economic model, with a specific focus on islands.
Promoted and funded by the Cabildo of Gran Canaria and organised by Infecar, Ecoislas will bring together international, national, and local speakers in a single event to present best practices and discuss the needs and solutions in each of the main areas of focus: the circular and blue economy; energy, water, and mobility; climate change adaptation; and regenerative tourism.
The programme of the first International Ecoislas Forum will feature four plenary sessions by Manuel Maqueda, who teaches Applied Circular and Regenerative Economics at Harvard University; Bernard Fletz, Belgian biologist and philosopher; Leen Gorissen, biologist specialising in Ecology, Regenerative Design and Bio-inspired Innovation; and Christian Felber, proponent of the Theory of the Common Good Economy. Over the course of these two days, there will also be parallel sessions, practical case studies and the presentation of the annual Greening The Islands report, among other activities.
Tickets to attend either a single session or both days of the full programme are available on the website www.foro-ecoislas.es priced at €7.50 for one day and €15 for two days for students, and €15 and €30, respectively, for professionals.
Programme
The programme for the first International Ecoislas Forum will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, 2nd February, with the plenary session by Manuel Maqueda. Following this, from 10:30 a.m., three parallel sessions will be held: one dedicated to the block on Energy, Water, and Mobility, titled ‘Energy Communities on Islands’; another on Circular and Blue Economy, titled ‘Algae Cultivation as an Emerging Sector on Islands’; and lastly, a block on Climate Change Adaptation, titled ‘Energy Transition Agendas on Islands’.
At 12:00 p.m., the annual Greening The Islands report will be presented, and from 1:00 p.m., various practical cases will be presented in parallel sessions.
The morning session will conclude at 1:30 p.m. with the round table ‘Ecoislands: The Challenge of the Future’, featuring Antonio Morales, President of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, and Aurora Ribot, Second Vice-President and Executive Regional Minister for Sustainability and Environment of the Consell de Mallorca, which will be moderated by Francisco Moreno, sole administrator of RTVC.
On the afternoon of Thursday 2 February, at 4:00 p.m., Bernard Fletz will lead the plenary session. At 5:00 p.m., three more blocks of parallel sessions will be held: on Circular and Blue Economy, under the title ‘Best Practices in Circular Economy on Islands’; on Climate Change Adaptation, titled ‘How to Urbanise or De-Urbanise the Ecological Transition’; and lastly, the block on Energy, Water, and Mobility, titled ‘Sustainable Mobility on Islands’.
At the same time, various presentations of European Projects will be held, specifically the Circular Economy Practical Training Materials for Plastic Manufacturing Industries (CIRCVET); Masdunas; The Green Link Life15 CCA/ES/000125; and PLANCLIMAC projects.
Starting at 6:00 p.m., two new blocks of parallel sessions will be held: on Energy, Water, and Mobility, one of them on ‘Green Hydrogen and Storage: A Solution for Transitioning to Decarbonisation’ and another on ‘Present and Future Implications of Sustainability on Islands’.
Also, at the same time, some European Projects will be presented: Remote Sensing Oriented Nature-Based Solutions towards a New Life for Drylands – NewLife4Drylands [LIFE20 PRE/IT/000007]; Life Nieblas; PLANCLIAC; Mac Clima; and Mac Clima and International Cooperation.
On Friday, 3rd February, the day will begin at 9:00 a.m., with a plenary session led by Leen Gorissen. Following this, from 10:00 a.m., parallel sessions will start, this time on Regenerative Tourism, under the title ‘Perspectives and Experiences of Regenerative Tourism in Island Environments’; Circular and Blue Economy, on ‘Entrepreneurship initiatives in circular economy’; Climate Change Adaptation, titled ‘Smart Technologies for Fire Prevention and Forest Management’; and lastly, Energy, Water, and Mobility, titled ‘How Will Islands Save the Planet?’.
Later, four more parallel sessions will be held, from 11:30 a.m.: on Energy, Water, and Mobility, titled ‘Climate Neutrality in the Context of Islands: The Path Ahead’; another one on ‘Water and Energy: Strategic Allies’; one in the Circular and Blue Economy block, titled ‘Barriers to Entrepreneurship in Circular and Blue Economy’; and lastly, a block on Climate Change Adaptation, on ‘Opportunities for Coastal Areas’.
At 12.30 p.m., new practical cases will be presented, and at 1:00 p.m., Christian Felber will lead the last of the plenary sessions. In the afternoon, Greening The Islands will hold its awards ceremony, starting at 3:30 p.m.