The 2023-2024 academic year is the one with the highest recorded participation, with more than 680 activities and 17,000 participants in the different activities of the Maresme Waste Consortium’s educational programme
The increase in participation is due to the incorporation of two new activities aimed at pre-school and primary school pupils, which have been very well received
This year the offer has also been extended with the RAEEsidus and RAEEcursos workshops, a new activity aimed at secondary school students to raise awareness of the environmental impact of electronic devices
More than 90,500 people have already taken part in the ‘Un volt als residus’ programme since it was launched in 2013
In the framework of the World Environmental Education Day to be held on 26 January, Maresme Circular highlights the significant growth experienced in its environmental education programme during the 2023-2024 period. In the last school year, the Maresme Waste Consortium has increased the number of participants by 45% compared to the previous year in its programme ‘Un volt als residus’ (A tour of the plant), consolidating its position as a benchmark.
The 2023-2024 academic year had the highest participation recorded since 2013 with a total of 682 educational activities and 17,064 attendees. This success is mainly due to the incorporation of two new activities aimed at infant and primary school students, which have been very well received, making the infant education group the second largest segment of participants, representing 26.6% of the total, with 28% of participants in the first cycle of ESO.
Guided tour of the Maresme Integrated Waste Recovery Centre / Marga Cruz
‘Want to have superpowers?‘ is a virtual visit aimed at the youngest children and designed to show them what happens in a waste treatment plant. ‘Let’s take care of our house!‘ is an educational workshop designed to discover, through different game dynamics, the concept of waste as a resource, and how to separate waste in order to recycle it.
In the eleven years that the programme has been running, 90,530 people have taken part in the different activities organised by Maresme Circular, including workshops, visits and other activities at fairs and events. ‘This growing success reflects the interest of schools in promoting sustainability values among children. We are very satisfied with the response of the area and with the positive assessment made by the participants, who mostly rate the activities with a score of more than 9 out of 10’, highlights the director of Maresme Circular, Carles Salesa.
In terms of territorial distribution, Maresme was the region with the highest participation, with 59% of the total number of activities, followed by Vallès Oriental (20%) and Barcelonès (13%), among others.
Baccalaureate students carrying out the workshop ‘RAEEsidus i RAEEcursos’ on the environmental impact of electronic devices / Maresme Circular
New for this year
With the aim of continuing to expand the programme and reach the public even more, this year a new activity has been added aimed at secondary school students, focused on encouraging critical reflection on our technological consumption. This proposal, entitled ‘RAEEsidus and RAEEcursos’ in reference to the acronym for waste electrical and electronic equipment, aims to raise awareness of the environmental and social impact of the use of mobile and portable devices, as well as explore different ways to minimise the negative impact of these devices.
The workshop includes the ‘dissection’ of an electronic device to identify its components and then learn about the materials and social and environmental impacts of each one. After seeing the current problems derived from the manufacture of electrical and electronic devices and their management once they become waste, exercises are carried out to learn how to increase the useful life of mobile and portable devices in order to reduce the negative impact of these devices.
Immersive experience with Virtual Reality goggles to discover the present and future of recycling / Marga Cruz
‘The incorporation of innovative activities adapted to different age groups is essential to continue connecting with citizens and multiplying our impact’, emphasises Salesa. For this reason, since 2022 Maresme Circular has incorporated Virtual Reality in the guided tours of its waste treatment plant through an immersive experience with Meta Quest 2 glasses that allow visitors to take a trip to the present and the future of recycling.
‘Un volt als residus‘ (A tour of the plant’)
The environmental education programme ‘Un volt als residus’, was created by Maresme Circular in 2013 with the aim of raising awareness of the problematic production and consumption models that have led to the current climate emergency and how waste management, together with the co-responsibility of society as a whole, plays a key role in rebuilding the future.
Aimed at children, young people and adults, it encompasses different free activities: from educational workshops aimed at schools and covering the different educational stages, guided on-site and virtual visits to the waste treatment plant in Mataró, to other activities such as the ‘Ludobrossa’, a toy library on waste, the exhibition ‘An economic model hanging by a thread’ and the waste bingo workshop ‘Tin, carton… and shout bingo!’ aimed at the Town hall members of the Consortium.
Guided tour of the Maresme Integrated Waste Recovery Centre / Marga Cruz
