The Biodiversity Foundation, a public foundation of the Government of Spain, under the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, will have an active participation in the ninth edition of the National Congress of the Environment, CONAMA 9, which opens next Monday, December 1, at the Municipal Palace of Congresses of Madrid.

The motto of CONAMA 9, which is held from 1 to 5 December, is “The challenge is to act”, a spirit that will be conveyed in the 120 planned activities, including contributions from specialists and senior officials from the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, as well as representatives of the Biodiversity Foundation.

The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Ana Leiva, will speak, on Tuesday, December 2, at 10:00 a.m., at the inauguration of the dynamic room organized by this institution “From awareness to action: the role of the media and the film industry in mobilizing the environmental awareness of citizens”. During this event, the medium-length film “The end”, by Eduardo Chapero-Jackson and the short film “El castaño de San Esteban” will be screened.

Ana Leiva will also participate, on Tuesday, December 2, at 10:30 a.m., in the debate “Nature conservation: The role of administrations”. For his part, the president of the Biodiversity Foundation, Josep Puxeu, will chair the meeting on “Rural development, population and territory”, that same day at 4:30 p.m.

“Sustainable water management, two years later” is another of the issues that those responsible for water management in Spain and specialists, together with representatives of environmental NGOs, will also discuss on Tuesday, December 2, starting at 4:00 p.m.

In the Dynamic Room of the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, on Thursday, December 4, at 10 a.m., the topic of “Development and Conservation in Spain. Policies of encounter between the environment and the rural and marine environment”.

The National Environmental Congress is held every two years and is proposed, above all, as a network of networks, which makes it possible to give visibility to the work of more than 1,500 professionals in the environmental sector. The previous edition of CONAMA brought together more than 10,000 participants.

SUSTAINABLE PARTICIPATION

In their participation in this important meeting, the Biodiversity Foundation and the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs have opted for a stand that is based on the principles of eco-design to minimise environmental impact. Thus, the most environmentally friendly materials and suppliers located in Madrid and its surroundings have been chosen, with preference for those with ISO 14,000 certification or a recognised eco-label.

In the realization of the stand, energy consumption, the use of printing inks and the use of paper have been reduced. In the same way, the wood used is 100% certified, the materials used are recycled, have eco-labeling and have been made by local and national production suppliers. Once the Congress is over, all the components of the stand will be reused or recycled.

To reduce paper waste, attendees will receive a pen-drive, made with PEFC certified wood and RoHS certificate – ecological certification of electronic components – and will have access to a computer station to download or send by email the available documentation. Likewise, visitors are presented with young specimens of native flora from the “Río Guadarrama” Nursery School of the Autonomous Organization of National Parks, as well as other gifts such as econos (water-saving devices for pots), corn pens and bags from potato starch, all eco-responsible products.

The stand has been designed to create practically no waste and with easily dismantled and reusable components (tables and chairs made from straw bales, or made from port pallets and tubes, carpet carpets and fair carpets, recycled; the hostesses’ uniforms are produced by reusing old shirts, re-patterned and printed with 100% vegetable inks, and the images will be reused for other events).

With the collaboration of the Giga Working Group of the Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona, an evaluation of the environmental costs of the stand will be carried out, in order to obtain guidelines for action that allow greater sustainability in institutional participation in this type of event.

Through this stand, the Biodiversity Foundation and the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs intend to show the functionality of products with low environmental impact, their viability as an alternative to other more polluting products and promote their introduction into the market through the application of responsible purchasing policies. Eco-designed products favour the conservation of natural resources and the environment, in a demonstration of coherence with the objectives of the Congress to be held next week in Madrid.