The Delegate for Education, Environment and Emalgesa (Water Company) of the Algeciras City Council, Javier Vázquez, accompanied by the Head of Education, Manuel Navarro, and the Head of the Department of European Funds, Begoña Oliva, visited the orchard and the botanical path of the IES "Levante" Secondary School. During the visit Ms Estefanía Pérez, professor at the institute and coordinator of the Ecoescuelas project (Ecoschools), and Deputy Director Francisco Guzmán illustrated the initiatives related to orchards carried out by the teachers and students. The school’s garden has been selected as a case study by the ULG (Urbact Local Group) of Algeciras.
The Transnational Meeting of Algeciras, taking place next 15-17 December, will include a visit to the school garden by representatives from the network cities of Rome, Alexandoupolis, Carlow and Split. The meeting foresees sessions to transfer knowledge, experiences and good practices that will allow the City Council, in the near future, to set up urban gardens that will have a positive impact on health, environment, community and social inclusion. Hence the importance of starting from the experiences of educational centers as a process to promote citizen participation.
The mayor of Algeciras, Mr José Ignacio Landaluce, shows great pride in the educational centers of Algeciras stating that “they are great connoisseurs of the importance of being involved, beyond the classrooms, in the achievement of the development of young generations at academic, professional and, above all, human level”. In addition, the Mayor added that "the schools and institutes of Algeciras, such as the IES Levante, offer a very dynamic life for their students thanks to the multitude of environmental, cultural, sports and innovative activities included in their programme”.
