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Reference Date: 26-07-98
Experience selected in the 1998 Dubai Award for Best Practice, and catalogued as GOOD.
(
Best Practices Database.)
País/Country: Spain
United Nations Region: Europe
Ecological region: continental
Activity: City/Town
Partnerships: Local Authority. Community-based organisation (CBO).
Foundation. Academic/Research.
Themes = Environmental Management: ecological sustainability;
environmental health; environmental remediation; environmentally
sound technologies; pollution reduction; resource management. Land
Use Management: land development; land-use planning; open space
conservation; urban/suburban renewal. Production and Consumption
Patterns: consumer awareness; producer responsibility;
production/consumption cycles; resource conservation; water use and
consumption.
Main contact:
Ayuntamiento (Local authority)
Pilar Quintana Alvarez, town councillor
Plaza de la Constitución s/n
Aranjuez
Madrid
Spain
28300
Tel: +34-91 892 07 13
Fax: +34-91 892 32 57
E-mail: alcalde@ribernet.es
Partner:
"Life" Farmers Association of Aranjuez (Community-based
organisation (CBO))
Gregorio Ballesteros
Stuart, 91
Aranjuez
Madrid
Spain
28300
Tel: +32 91 656 32 66
Fax: +34-91 656 32 66
E-mail: gballesteros@gea21.com
Partner One Support Type: Other/Implementation of the changes in
agricultural production in their daily job.
Partner:
Natural Aranjuez Foundation (Foundation)
Juan Pedro García Cernuda
Infantas, 55
Fundación Aranjuez Natural
Aranjuez
Madrid
Spain
28300
Tel: +34-91 892 08 21
Fax: +34-91 892 46 56
Partner Two Support Type: Administrative Support
Partner:
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos (Politécnica
University) Academic/Research
Manuel González, agricultural engineer
Avda. Complutense s/n
Esc. Téc. Sup. Ing. Agróno. / U.Politecnica
Madrid
Spain
28040
Tel: +34-91 336 57 75
E-mail: mgonzalez@pvb.etsia.upm
Partner Three Support Type: Technical Support
Nominating organization
Spanish National Committee
D. Marta García Nart
Paseo de la Castellana 67
Ministerio de Fomento
Madrid 28071
Spain
Tel: +34-91 597 75 72
Fax: +34-91 597 86 04
E-mail: mgnart@mfom.es
Financial Profile:
Total budget: 416 Mpta
European Community - DGXI: 43,23%
City of Aranjuez: 32,51%
Regional Author. of Environment in the Region of Madrid: 24%
"Life" Farmers Association of Aranjuez: 0,26%
In recent decades, the area has suffered a slow but deep decline:
this richly fertile valley has been polluted by subsidized
intensive agriculture and is each day more prone succesive waves of
pests.
The lanes and tree areas are degraded by lack of maintenance and
impact of traffic and pollution, and see little use. Finally, the
abundance of trees is the cause of a problem with vegetable waste,
which either accumulates in dumps or burns in dangerous spontaneous
fires.
There is also a high level of unemployment in the city, but
agriculture is not seen as a professional future for the young
people in Aranjuez. Products cannot compete with other Spanish
areas with best climate conditions.
This Life project here presented, wich started in 1997 with the
support of the European Commission is leadered by the City of
Aranjuez. It seeks to recover the urban environment and biological
diversity of this privileged location, taking advantage of the
posssibilities presented by having a market such as that of Madrid
so close, as well as the prestige traditionally associated with the
fruits and vegetables of Aranjuez, to get an economically and
social issue which helps to conserve the environment of this
outstanding setting and reinforce the local development of
Aranjuez.
The project is supported by the local professional farmers, who
have formed themselves, as a first result of the project, the
Asociación de Agricultores Life de Aranjuez which receives advice
from two Madrid universities (Agricultural Engineers in biological
control of pests and Environment in monitoring and control of water
and soil conditions). This first association for a common marketing
of the products and cooperation in the methods includes 10 of the
40 active farmers of Aranjuez and almost all of those who continue
to grow fruits and vegetables at present times. In a slow process
of explanation and capacity building, these farmers have agreed to
change their cultivation methods of their farms, amounting some 80
hectares, over to integrated agriculture, more in accordance with
nature: integrated pest control. This would be considered the first
step towards an organic agriculture. It consists in using the least
amount of pesticides possible, confiding in the biological wealth
of the farms (natural predators, or in some cases, imported to the
farms) to defend the crops against pests. Each farm is weekly
monitored by a research team: The Crops Protection Unit from the
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Agricultural Engineering) who
provides solution to whatever problem could arise and identify
predators or, in case of emergencies, advise the use of harmless
defence products.
The ecologically cultivated products are directly marketed in
Madrid and Aranjuez, fresh and with all their vitamins and natural
flavour, house to house, through a distribution company of other
quality products and other responsible consumer networks. An
agreement exits with a distribution company in Madrid. A great
interest on the part of consumers has been detecter in Food fairs
and other information events carried out, and promotional
activities have been started in order to get a sufficient number of
consumers to make the operation economically viable. Sales in
Aranjuez and other quality chains in Madrid is planned and
negotiated; up to now now each farmer has poorly individually sold
on this now. The inmediate and fresh commercialization is a great
opportunity to sell it better. It is well known that the nutrients
in fruits and vegetables have a short life due to oxidation or
contact with air and light. A media duration of 6 days after
harvest is calculated, so that a inmediate marketing is a good way
to maintain all the vitamin and mineral wealth of the product,
obtaining the most healthier offer. A good economic result of the
agricultural production is the best guarantee for the best land use
in this fertile valley.
Other action of the project is the set-up of a compost Plant for
vegetable and livestock waste which is beeing built with the double
objective of generating fertilizer to improve agricultural soil,
recovering the nutrient cycle while mimimizing local waste and
avoiding pollution and risk of fire destruction. As it was said
before, the abundance of trees in Aranjuez presents problemes in
storage of vegetal and agricultural waste. The installation of the
compost plan open the possibility of doing a complete selective
waste recovery in a medium size town , with the aim to compost all
the organic waste in the future.
As for the urban environment, studies from a demonstration project
are underway to help guide maintenance of this priceless landscape,
recovering one of the most important tree-lined street and allowing
for its recreational use without endangering the surroundings. A
botanical and ecological approach to this historic and natural
value has been made by a multisectorial expert team. A G.I.S has
been made with a beautiful map of the historical area inder its
present circumstances (estate of the trees, impacts, sanitary
problems,..) including the complete area of 87 hectares. A
programm of preservation and enhancement of the area is beeing
implemented in order to facilitate the use and enjoyment of this
natural inheritance whiithout risks.
Such a complex project requires the involvement of every
stakeholder related to these areas of local developmente in
Aranjuez. It has been reached via the creation of a large
partnership, called Fundación Aranjuez Natural, with the aim to
developing this project and others along the same line when the
future when European financing comes to an end. The City of
Aranjuez leaders the Fundación, where regional institutions,
financial entreprises, professional associations, business and
other institutions as the Railway or the River Tajo company are
represented. The Fundación guarantee local involvement and open
debate in itinere on the project.
The basic ideas of the integrated approach of this project are:
Local development: The project is totally based in the
characteristics of Aranjuez: an outstanding natural setting plus a
historic inheritance linked to this environmental value. The search
for a viable alternative to the corn monoculture in the valley of
the Tajo river is the way to link the development of this community
to the environment friendly future. The recovering for recreational
uses of a high quality espace is another way. The expected results
are, in summary, a increasing of the biodiversity in this area,
which creates local employment or enhance the best farmers's
activities, benefiting from its own welth while improving the
economy and the local quality of life.
Problems in the process: The programme is very ambitious and with
many partners involved. it has been hard to get the necessary
financial support from different institutions in such a short time
to develop it.
Results achieved
There is a great interest from the regional and national
authorities in this project. Also in the European Community which
is the most importan financial partner for developing the
project. The compost plan is financed by the regional
government of Madrid.
The farmers are collaborating with their daily work and time for
meetings, workshops etc, and they are also investing in the
improvement of plants and soils. The impact of the project in their
change of mind is one of the more appreciated lessons learned by
the coordination team of the project.
The collaboration between the consultant team of the project, gea21
SL, the Foundation and the head of the project, the city councillor
for developing such a complex programm has been excellent and
that is the only way to achieve it.
Sustain
This project is realted to four big problems which appear in many
cities of the world: the maintenance of the periurban landscape,
the pollution generated by the agricultural intensive methods, the
waste accumulation and the managing of historic inheritance of
great value.
Transferability
This Life project proposes a circular solution to these and other
related problems, which could be appropiated for other areas with
coincident problems. Some spanish cities as Orihuela, near the
tourisic resorts of Alicante, are thinking about developing similar
approaches to the preservation of the agricultural land and
production of fresh fruits for iinmediate marketing. The french
city of Aubagne, near Marseille, has started with a campaign of
quaslity products called " Les Jardins d'Aubagne".
The project is only in its first phase, which some concrete
results, but the idea is transferable right now.
References:
See press dossier
Velazquez I. and alt. 1997 "Esplendor y declive de la Huerta y
Paseos de Aranjuez". Boletín agrario n. 6- Julio 1997. (7 pages).
Dpto. de Urbanismo 1997 "Sotos y paseos históricos en Aranjuez"
Urban n. 2- Abril 1997. Dpto. de Urbanismo. Univ. Politécnica de
Madrid. Mayo 1998. At the printers.
Several press clips in national (El País, El Mundo and ABC) and local press speaking about different actions of the projects.
| 1998 Spanish Best Practices selected by the International Jury > http://habitat.aq.upm.es/bpes/onu98/bp441.en.html |