The University of Algarve received, this Tuesday, around 200 students from the 3rd cycle of schools in the municipalities of Loulé, Silves and Albufeira – territory of the Algarvensis, the aspiring UNESCO World Geopark – to participate in an awareness-raising campaign about water resources .
Between presentations, dance, quizzes and music, but above all interactive moments with strong participation from young people, it was a morning in which we learned a lot about water: its origin, its importance for life on earth, the risks and threats of its scarcity and severe drought in the current context of climate change, particularly in regions such as the Algarve. And of course, the relevance of this natural resource in what is the geographic space of the aspiring Geopark.
Right at the opening of the session, an “aquafilm” brought a short film about the value of water. This was followed by some activities led by Manuela Moreira da Silva, professor at UALG, and Cristina Veiga-Pires, scientific coordinator of the aspiring Geopark, both with a pedagogical role and in awakening consciences throughout the morning. “One third of the population around the world lives in a different reality from ours. For example, in Cape Verde, many girls, in order to have water, have to carry it, because there is no water running from the tap”, noted the University professor.
In turn, the students were able to show their knowledge about the origin of the water that reaches our taps. Or assess the direct and indirect value of your water consumption and how much your choices cost, whether in terms of cleaning habits, hygiene, food or clothing. N
In the municipality of Loulé, the average daily value is 189 liters of water per day and, among the participants, there were cases in which consumption even surprised on the positive side, even being below what is ideal: 50 liters per day.
In a foray into the theme of water and nature in the Algarve, particularly in the territory of the aspiring Algarvensis Geopark, Cristina Veiga-Pires spoke of the importance of this project for achieving sustainable development objectives, a geopark “made for people and with people ”.
And he explained the evolution of this territory that was once sea in its entirety. “It is the result of a geological history and four different seas.” They are the deep sea of the Rheic Ocean, the Tethys Sea, the Young Ocean Tropical Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
In a region where the Querença-Silves aquifer exists, water was and is important in creating the landscape itself, for example in some “wonders” that exist here such as Fonte da Benémola or Fonte de Alte.
But today, the drought is leading to the disappearance of biodiversity and the alteration of the landscape itself, a situation that deserves a careful look from this aspiring Geopark, which is why this warning was also left.
The end of the session was filled with the presentation of the work carried out by the classes from Loulé, Silves and Albufeira, especially creative videos and posters, presented as a response to the challenge launched under the motto “How do I avoid wasting water in my daily life” or “Water and natural ecosystems in the Algarve”.
Small everyday gestures, such as turning off the tap while brushing your teeth or soaping your body while showering, washing cars with buckets instead of a hose, reusing the water left over from boiling eggs to water plants were, moreover, , some of the ideas and suggestions portrayed by the students in a playful and fun way.
One of the most “out of the box” moments presented was the creation of the RAP song: “Eu sou a Água”, written and composed by school students in Albufeira and performed by one of them.
It was also up to the technical managers of the three local authorities to give a word of encouragement to young people. On the part of the Municipality of Loulé, Dália Paulo recalled that this territorial project “is based on the objectives of sustainable development”. “All of us – and you more than us – have to make a difference! These SDGs are what will guarantee us a Planet Earth with a future, and one of them is precisely the issue of water, which concerns us all!”, she considered.
Luís Pereira, from Albufeira, spoke of a territory that “has an environmental concern and conservation of geodiversity (of rocks and landscape), biodiversity (of plants and fauna), based on three major pillars – geoeducation, geoconservation and geotourism”.
For her part, Telma Caroço, from the Municipality of Silves, referred to these students as “ambassadors of the message”. “You are younger, you will certainly live longer than us, and let’s hope you can try to repair (or at least mitigate) the damage, something this older generation was unable to do.”
This was the final activity of the project “Biennium for Climate Action in Portuguese Geoparks (2022/2023)” of the aspiring UNESCO World Geopark – Geoparque Algarvensis Loulé-Silves-Albufeira.
This is a network that has 5 UNESCO World Portuguese Geoparks and 3 aspiring ones that, through this action, intended to contribute to increasing awareness about mitigation, adaptation and impact reduction measures and early warning regarding climate change.
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