The IV Conama Sustainability Award shows how to save and create jobs by investing in efficiency

First prize (5,000 to 30,000 inhab. category): Saving through public lighting
 
The first prize of the Conama Sustainability Awards, in the 5,000 to 3,000 inhabitants category, went to the Service Commonwealth of Txorierri (Vizcaya) for a project that achieves significant economic savings by improving the efficiency of public lighting. During the test phase, which lasted one year, the energy bill was reduced in the six municipalities in the commonwealth (Derio, Larrabetzu, Lezama, Loiu, Sondika and Zamudio) by 120,000 euros, CO2 emissions were cut by 322 tons and four new permanent jobs were created.
 
One of the key points of the project was the creation of a control centre in Sondika, known as an Eco-Enercentre, from where the lighting of all the towns can be monitored and managed. This centre employs four formerly unemployed people who have been trained as energy efficiency experts. And the same infrastructure is being used to improve the efficiency of public lighting systems in other towns in the area that do not belong to the said commonwealth. Overall savings of 600,000 euros are expected by 2012. This would exceed, in one year, the total investment dedicated to the project. "We are saving energy and, at the same, we are generating green employment", says Alberto del Prado, one of the coordinators of the initiative, stressing the importance of this type of action in the current economic context.
 
First prize (under 5,000 inhab. category): Social participation against unemployment
 
The first prize of the Conama Sustainability Awards in the under 5,000 inhabitants category went to the municipality of Genovés in Valencia for a wide-ranging local sustainability project based on social participation. The plan put together by this town of 2,637 inhabitants features six strategic lines and 58 specific actions that seek to respond to the priorities set out by the villagers themselves, in particular, the fight against unemployment and the value placed on the natural heritage of the area.
Based on an audit and using Agenda 21 methods, they have defined a whole range of projects with which they have managed, among other results, to provide training and employment guidance to 420 people and create 120 jobs in areas with potential for the future as an alternative to the building sector. "Knowing the priorities of towns enables you to manage the limited resources available better", stated Joaquín Masip, Councillor of Governance, Finance and Land Development of Genovés.
 
Other prizes for edible gardens, ecological olive groves or a vulture vantage-point
 
In addition, the Conama Foundation has also granted six additional prizes. In the 5,000 to 30,000 inhabitants category, the first two have gone to the municipalities of Astillero (Cantabria) and Alcàsser (Valencia). In Astillero, the prize was awarded to an environmental recovery plan for degraded areas formerly used for shipbuilding and mining activities; an initiative that includes an agreement with the Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO/BirdLife) to protect the area. In Alcásser, the award has been granted for their local sustainable development programme that includes training, environmental education and the restoration of natural areas or the recovery of the local economy.
 
In addition, a third prize was also given in the 5,000 to 30,000 inhabitants category to the project that received most votes on Internet and which turned out to be for Sierra de Las Nieves (Malaga). On this occasion, the winning project is an ecological olive grove: 140 farmers have converted to ecological farming methods, totalling over 1,000 hectares of land. 
 
In the under 5,000 inhabitants category, a prize was given to Piñel de Abajo (Valladolid) and Arnedillo (La Rioja). Piñel de Abajo, a municipality of 187 inhabitants where the school has been closed for over 20 years, has been distinguished for the project: "Feeding Towns. Piñel de Abajo Event", a number of training, educational and cultural activities. In Arnedillo, the award has been granted to acknowledge a project based on watching griffon vultures as an attraction for sustainable tourism. The initiative includes the establishment of a vulture viewpoint based on an old hut in an abandoned quarry and the installation of a camouflaged video camera in the cliffs where the colony nests.
 
In addition, the prize for the project that received most votes on Internet, in the under 5,000 inhabitants category, went toCarcaboso (Cáceres) for its Agro-ecological Centre. This centre promotes a number of activities related to organic farming, such as "edible gardens" in municipal green areas, ecological hen coops and the availability of organic vegetable gardens.
 
For more information:
 
Conama Foundation 91 31 07 350