Pope Francis receives a soccer ball from José María del Corral, President of Scholas Occurrentes. Associated Press/LaPresse Andrew Medichini (APN)
Dozens of Latin American cities have suggested that sustainable development is the only way to combat climate change. Fifty mayors from different Latin American countries met in Rome for three days to advance this goal. Together they have created a working and idea-sharing community to share experiences and train on issues such as environmental protection, biodiversity, socio-economic development, social inclusion or citizen well-being, among others.
As part of the first World Congress of Education Eco-Cities, which culminated this Thursday and organized by the Scholas Occurrentes Foundation, which has a network of more than half a million schools worldwide, and the CAF-Development Bank of America Latina, the city councils have participated in various activities such as group dynamics, workshops, spaces for exchanging ideas and discussions with international experts to strengthen their managerial and leadership capacities and seek solutions to the major development challenges facing cities.
The purpose of the meeting was to identify the main problems and present answers to the major challenges cities are facing, particularly related to protecting the environment and promoting the well-being of citizens. “Mayors live closely with the everyday life of their cities, they are the ones closest to the people and the ones who provide solutions to people’s problems. At that meeting, a fellowship was formed among them, they bonded and found common ground in their vocation to serve the transformation of their cities and created a network for sharing solutions. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Argentina, Ecuador, Portugal or Panama, the problems of the communities are very similar,” emphasized Christian Asinelli, corporate vice president of strategic programming at CAF, in an interview with this newspaper.
A two-hour meeting with the Pope
Despite the wide variety of realities they represent, all municipalities face common problems such as migration, violence, crime, climate change, social inclusion, working with young people or strengthening democracy. “We all understood that being close to local governments allows us to achieve many things. One of the ideas is to train our employees and implement concrete solutions through CAF,” 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 with Pope Francis at the Vatican this Thursday. Courtesy of CAF
As Asinelli explains, the mayors agree that the main challenge is “to activate participatory mechanisms for the new generations that will lead them to participate in the public policies of their communities and to look to the future with optimism”. “Education is the foundation for building the future,” says the Vice President of CAF, who calls for a fairer and more inclusive world that empowers young people.
As the highlight of the congress, the local authorities group presented their conclusions and goals 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, an incredible bond was formed, Francisco greeted all the mayors individually and left messages for everyone,” says Asinelli, also Argentinian, who has known the Pope since his time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires and those with him participated in numerous initiatives. “The Pope is attentive to all areas, he believes in the peripheries, he spoke to us for two hours, listened, sent messages and stressed the importance of finding spaces to work with those closest to him.” the communities, like the mayors,” explains the vice-president of CAF, who found Francisco “very good, cheerful and with a great sense of humor”.
“Integral ecology”, the term used by Francis in his green encyclical “Laudato sí” to describe the totality of human, ecological, economic, social and cultural ecology and with which he proposes a renewed conception of human relationships and nature , was one of the guides of the Congress.
At the meeting, the Pope also confirmed that he would like to travel to his native Argentina next year, although he stressed that he hoped it would be possible. “My idea is to travel next year. We’ll see if it’s possible,” he said briefly when asked by the event’s moderator.
Also participating in the work of these days was Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú, 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 mayors, citing the problems facing modern societies. “Today’s leaders are multidisciplinary, they need to know how to plan, they need to know the law, they need to have hands-on experience. The universal dynamic is in your hands. I admire the mayors and the mayors. People’s hope is whether we solve their problems or not. The local leadership is exceptional,” Menchú added.
In her speech, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate also assured that global warming is leading to new migration flows due to poverty, insecurity and the effects of climate change on agricultural land. “Mother Earth is the only home we have,” Menchú said. The Guatemalan endorsed the “resumption of the planet’s multilateral politics” and suggested the authorities forge alliances with self-governing organizations, movements and initiatives.
The Pope criticizes the lack of sex education
The CAF Latin America Development Bank has promoted the Biodiversity 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 do this do coexist harmoniously with nature, considering clean transport systems, resilient infrastructures or a larger number of urban parks or gardens in the heart of the metropolis. This network of cities, which formed the origin of the Rome Congress, currently consists of 119 cities from 17 countries in the region. And it aims to integrate biodiversity conservation into urban policy management and planning in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
During the meeting with the Pope, who also connected via videoconference with young people from Argentina, the United States, Mexico and the Colombian Amazon, as well as a group of elderly and young people from a place of residence in Spain, various topical issues arose of interest to young people discussed, such as poor sex education, which he defined as a “problem” for young people. When asked by a boy from Mexico about sexual violence and the education system, Francisco replied that education is “a duty of society and of parents” who must prepare the youngest “for what love is in life”. And he criticized that pornography, which sometimes replaces education and affects the way young people relate to each other on an affective and sexual level, is “the crudest commercialization of love”. “Because of a lack of sex education, we get caught up in the commercialization of love. “Love must not be commercialized and boys should not be taken advantage of,” added Bergoglio.