Pope Francis blesses the project of Latin America's ecocities

Pope Francis receives a soccer ball from Jose Maria del Corral, president of Scholas Occurrentes.Associated Press/LaPresseAndrew Medichini (APN)

Dozens of Ibero-American cities have proposed to bet on sustainable development as the only possible way to combat climate change. Fifty mayors from different Ibero-American countries have met in Rome for three days to advance this goal. Together, they have created a community of work and exchange of ideas to share experiences and train in environmental protection, biodiversity, socioeconomic development, social inclusion or welfare of citizens, among other topics.

In the framework of the first World Congress of Educational Ecocities, which ended this Thursday, and which was organized by the Scholas Occurrentes Foundation, which has a network of more than half a million schools around the world and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, the councilors have participated in different activities such as group dynamics, workshops, spaces for the exchange of ideas and discussions with international experts to strengthen their management and leadership capacities and to seek solutions to the great development challenges facing cities.

The meeting served to identify the main problems and put on the table answers to the major challenges facing cities, especially those related to environmental protection and the promotion of the well-being of citizens. "Mayors live closely the day-to-day life of their cities, they are the ones who are closest to the people and the ones who provide solutions to the people's problems. In this meeting a community has been generated between them, they have connected and found common points in their vocation of service to change their cities and have created a network to share solutions. It doesn't matter if it's Argentina, Ecuador, Portugal or Panama, the problems of the communities are very similar," Christian Asinelli, CAF's Corporate Vice President of Strategic Programming, told this newspaper.

A two-hour meeting with the Pope

Despite the wide variety of realities they represent, all municipalities have encountered common problems, such as migration, violence, crime, climate change, social inclusion, work with young people or democratic strengthening. "We all understood that from the proximity of local governments we can do many things. One of the ideas is to work training our people and through CAF implement concrete solutions," said one of the participants of the meeting, Yamandú Orsi, mayor of Canelones, Uruguay.

A group of Latin American mayors and CAF Vice President Christian Asinelli pose this Thursday with Pope Francis at the Vatican.Courtesy CAF

As Asinelli explains, the mayors agree that the main challenge is to "activate in the new generations participation mechanisms that make them get involved in the public policies of their communities and look to the future with optimism." "Education is the basis for building the future," says the CAF vice president, who calls for a fairer and more inclusive world that gives young people a better voice.

As a culmination of the congress, the group of local authorities presented their conclusions and purposes to Pope Francis, who met with them for two hours and symbolically blessed their project, with words of encouragement.

"The meeting with the Pope was very emotional, there was an incredible connection, Francis greeted all the mayors one by one and left messages for everyone," says Asinelli, also Argentine, who has known the pontiff since his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires and who has participated in numerous initiatives with him. "The Pope pays attention to all sectors, believes in the peripheries, shared with us two hours of talk, listening, sent messages, and stressed that it is important to find spaces to be able to work with those who are closest to the communities, such as mayors," explains the CAF vice president, who found Francis "very well, jovial, with a great sense of humor."

"Integral ecology", the term used by Francis in his green encyclical, Laudato si, to describe the whole of human, environmental, economic, social and cultural ecology and with which he suggests a renewed conception of human relations and with nature, was one of the guiding threads of the congress.

At the meeting, the pope also confirmed that he wants to travel to his native Argentina, next year, although he said he hopes it will be possible. "My idea is to travel next year. We'll see if it's possible," he said tersely when asked by the host of the event.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú also participated in the work of these days, who shared her impressions on youth leadership, new technologies, migration processes, community empowerment and the dichotomy between the global and the local. "People cannot continue to be deeply materialistic," the Guatemalan indigenous leader and activist told the mayors, referring to the problems facing modern societies. "Today leaders are multidisciplinary, they have to know how to plan, they have to know about law, they have to have practical experience. The universal dynamic is in your hands. I admire mayors. The hope in people is in whether or not we solve their problems. The local leadership is extraordinary," Menchú added.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner also said in her speech that global warming is generating new migrations due to poverty, insecurity and the effect of climate change on agricultural land. "Mother Earth is the only home we have," Menchú said. The Guatemalan advocated "resuming the multilateral policy of the planet," and suggested to the authorities that alliances be forged with organizations, movements and self-managed initiatives.

Pontiff criticizes lack of sex education

CAF-development bank of Latin America has promoted the Biodiverciudades Network with the aim of integrating the concepts of cities and biodiversity, creating new positive links between rural and urban areas and prioritizing circular economy scenarios, with the aim of transforming cities into spaces that coexist harmoniously with nature. where you think of clean transport systems, resilient infrastructures or a greater number of urban parks or gardens in the heart of metropolises. This network of cities, which was the germ of the Rome congress, is currently composed of 119 cities from 17 countries in the region. And it aims to integrate the preservation of biodiversity into the management and planning of urban policies, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In the meeting with the pontiff, who also connected by videoconference with young people from Argentina, the United States, Mexico and the Colombian Amazon and a group of elderly and young people from a residence in Spain, various current issues of interest to young people were also addressed, such as the scarce sexual formation, which he defined as a "problem" for youth. Responding to a question from a boy from Mexico about sexual violence and the education system, Francis said that education "is a duty of society and of parents," who must prepare the youngest so that they know "what love is in life." And he criticized that pornography, which sometimes replaces education and affects the way young people relate emotionally and sexually, is "the grossest commercialization of love." "For lack of sex education, it ends up in the commercialization of love. Love is not for marketing and boys should not be used," Bergoglio added.