Santanyi is home to several villages, including Es Llombards, Calonge and s’Alqueria Blanca. Last week, the latter hosted a new edition of the Energy BYD Challenge, an initiative promoting environmental conservation values that visits different municipalities throughout the school year and is aimed particularly at schoolchildren.
Last week energy made a firm commitment, in close collaboration with the Santanyí Town Council, to smaller towns. With the participation of schoolchildren from both s’Alqueria Blanca and Es Llombards, the initiative aimed to take its various workshops on recycling, sustainable mobility and clean energy to every corner of Mallorca.
The large terrace next to the town’s community centre was filled with Energy’s installations, awaiting the arrival of the pupils. There were 71 pupils in total, from the CEIP Mare de Déu de la Consolació, comprising pupils in Years 3, 4 and 6, and from the CEIP Sant Domingo, comprising Years 3 and 5, all of whom were in primary education.
On arrival, they found a wide range of activities, which even caught the attention of some of the older residents at the care home, who came over to enjoy the morning’s activities too. First up was Energy’s classic attraction,the electricity-generating exercise bikes, which, when connected to a wireless device, displayed all the information about the children’s efforts on them, including both the distance covered and the amount of energy generated.
Next to the two marquees for this activity was the area dedicated to electric mobility, featuring a vehicle as an example and a television screen showing an interactive audiovisual presentation in which the pupils had to demonstrate their knowledge of the subject. Using a similar system, another projection area provided the children with content on renewable energy and showed them a vehicle specially designed for medium-range maintenance work.
The programme was rounded off by a relay race game with an environmental theme. As well as taking part in the sport, participants had to correctly place cards featuring different types of waste into the appropriate bins for recycling. Santanyí Town Council took the opportunity to organise its own workshop, run by several environmental experts. In the marquee set up for the event, the children were shown a game similar to Snakes and Ladders, but with a special focus on caring for nature. As well as playing a few rounds, all participants were able to take home a board and tokens to continue playing at home.
Pupils from the two schools, CEIP Mare de Déu de la Consolació and CEIP Sant Domingo, also received a seedling as a gift to watch grow at home, this time a pepper plant. As if all this were not enough, the organisers provided cold water to help them cope with the almost summer-like temperatures of the day, and fresh, locally sourced fruit to recharge their batteries.
The Energy BYD Challenge’s visit to s’Alqueria Blanca received exceptional institutional support. The mayor of the municipality, Maria Pons, was accompanied by Alicia Adrover, councillor for Nurseries and Kindergartens, Health and Welfare, and also mayor of s’Alqueria Blanca; Vanessa Estévez, councillor for Day Centres and Care Homes; and Martí Bonet, councillor for Youth and Sport.
Also taking an interest in Energy was Llorenç Galmès, president of the Council of Mallorca, who showed great interest in everything taking place during the event. “I would like to congratulate the organisers for taking this initiative to the various towns of Mallorca, which provides comprehensive information on climate change and how to reduce its effects,” he said.
“Children can see practical demonstrations of how to save energy and find alternatives to fossil fuels,” he added, also highlighting the Council of Mallorca’s commitment to these issues: “One of the main activities we carry out through our institution is recycling. We are responsible for organising waste management, so during this term of office we have promoted awareness campaigns to ensure that all the objectives covered in the Energy workshops are achieved, which demonstrates that we are joining forces to ensure this information reaches Mallorcan society, in this case through the youngest members of the community.”
For her part, Maria Pons highlighted the commitment to Energy from the very beginning so that “children understandtheir role as messengers of these key messages to their families”. She also emphasised the importance of holding the event in a place like s’Alqueria Blanca: “We are a municipality with many villages and many schools, and it is very important to diversify this type of activity so that it reaches them all”.
Councillor Martí Bonet stated that the event was “a complete success”. “It is always a pleasure to spend a morning like this on an activity that goes beyond sport and promotes environmental awareness,” he emphasised. Alicia Adrover, mayor of s’Alqueria Blanca, highlighted that “the fact that we have smaller villages and schools means thatinformation can reach them more easily, as pupils can receive more personalised attention”.
Energy BYD Challenge was made possible thanks to Santanyí Town Council, the Balearic Islands Government’s Department of Enterprise, Employment and Energy, and BYD Quadis Dream, with the collaboration of Qwello, TBC, Fundació Saica, Viveros Can Juanito, GRAM and Scoobic.