Creating bike paths and investing in the rehabilitation of the public lighting network are just two of the objectives of the “Quarteira Ecolab”. The project, part of the government initiative “Laboratório Vivo para a Decarbonização”, has the idea of taking a site in the city of Quarteira, still to be defined, and turning it into aa space for testing and demonstrating technological and sustainable solutions that help reduce the ecological footprint.
And the ideas don't stop there: there is also the intention to create, for example, an application online called the “Ecolab Platform”.
The objective is, in all, to create a low-carbon urban environment, that is, a space where the emission of greenhouse gases is reduced, less resources are consumed and sustainable mobility is promoted.
At the presentation of this project, which took place this Monday, August 21, at the Municipal Center of Quarteira, Vítor Aleixo, mayor of Loulé, was visibly satisfied.
“This will be an experience in an area of the city. No recipe is given in advance to face global warming and so there are experiments to be done. A lot will be tested and even changed there,” he said.
The Living Laboratories for Decarbonization are an initiative of the Ministry of Environment, through the Environmental Fund. In total, 12 out of 25 ideas were chosen across the country, with Loulé's proposal being ranked 8th. Still, for now, there's just that: ideas.
By the end of the year, the work involves preparing a project, with funding of 80 thousand euros from the Government. Afterwards, some of these projects will be chosen to be carried out, with an available financing of 4 million, guaranteed by the Ministry of Environment.
João Matos Fernandes, Minister of Environment, went to Quarteira to present this initiative and confessed to the Sul Informação that «Loulé's tradition of working on these matters means that it is in a very privileged position for the next phase».
As for the “Living Laboratory for Decarbonization” project, the government official assured that it is “very important”. "We have to be more and more efficient from an energy and material point of view and this is achieved with government policy, but also with concrete cases and happy examples developed in cities," he added.
Vítor Aleixo added that this “Quarteira Ecolab” will use technology that will make it possible to “reorganize the lives of those who live there [in the site that will be chosen for the implementation of the project], in light of environmental purposes”.
The ideas also involve the creation of artistic and sensorial tours, as well as a passive rainwater management system.
For the minister of the Environment, there is no turning back: "the future will pass through sustainable and shared cities", he concluded.
Photos: Pedro Lemos | Sul Informação
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