Race For Water Odyssey 2017-2021 - Peruvian stopover in Lima
by Race For Water 20 Mar 2018 06:18 UTC
Race For Water Odyssey © Race For Water
After setting sail from Panama City on 28 February, the Race for Water catamaran is now moored off the Yacht Club Peruano de la Punta in Callao, Peru, for a stopover that will last nearly two months.
The first part of this stopover (from 16 to 30 March) is dedicated to the Foundation's global programme: Learn (sciences), Share (tours and exhibition aboard the vessel) and Act (workshop and presentation of the solutions).
A second part, due to extend through until 20 May, will give concrete expression to the discussions initiated nearly two years ago with manufacturers, politicians and entrepreneurs, in a bid to action "the machine developed with our partner ETIA", which enables plastic waste to be transformed into energy. In this way, we can help to make practical and virtuous progress in the treatment of plastic waste on a local level, so that the ocean and various waterways are protected.
Race for Water Foundation: learn, share, act on the programme!
This stopover is synonymous with a packed programme, drawn up in collaboration with L+1, a network of entrepreneurs committed to sustainable development in Peru.
Already, an inter-ministerial commission has been welcomed aboard the Race for Water catamaran, which is coordinating the implementation of various environmentally-friendly projects geared around the protection of coastal zones. Indeed, Lima, Peru's capital, is a thriving metropolis, which ranks among the largest in South America. Boasting nearly 11-million inhabitants, the city generates 40% of the country's waste, which equates to more than it is able to treat. Fewer than 5% of town councils have a waste recovery strategy. For the majority of them, dealing with solid waste is not a priority, which means that their waste ends up in botaderos (open landfill sites), beside rivers or in the sea.
Marco SIMEONI, President of the Race for Water Foundation: "It was very interesting to be able to attend a meeting on this scale under the aegis of the Ministry of the Environment, with several ministers coordinating projects benefiting the environment and the conservation of marine zones. The topic of micro-plastics formed the core of the debates. The words collaboration and anticipation often cropped up in the discussions, with the aim of favouring the quick and effective implementation of new projects. It's very encouraging! We're now going to move forward with the implementation of solutions to transform plastic waste into energy. By giving this waste value, we are encouraging their collection and thus reducing the amount of waste you see in the environment. This solution also benefits the creation of jobs in zones that are often in underprivileged spots. Finally, plastic waste is then transformed into a resource that enables energy to be produced locally."
Collaboration with Professor Gunter PAULI's ZERI Foundation
In a bid to take action, in early 2018 we also began to work on an international level with the ZERI Foundation run by Professor Gunter Pauli, father of the Blue Economy.
Marco Simeoni: "With his Foundation, Gunter Pauli is keen to make the iconic Easter Island self-sufficient in terms of energy. The Race for Water Foundation is joining forces with this project and is doing its bit to assist the waste recovery. We're absolutely delighted about this collaboration, which we hope will inspire other similar projects to see the light of day on remote islands."
Bolstered by this partnership, the ZERI Foundation has teamed up with Race for Water to organise a unique event gathering together nearly 60 LATAM Business Angels around an ambitious objective: to anticipate, build and finance a practical solution using a mixture of energy for Easter Island, akin to the policy of self-sufficiency utilised by the Race for Water vessel in its own energy supply, and definitively freeing itself of fossil fuels. An innovative model, it could then be duplicated on a wide scale across numerous islands.
Gunter Pauli: "Marco Simeoni is a man with whom I share the same culture of taking action and integrating practical solutions where the environment is the main focus. The Race for Water boat is highly symbolic. This is not a mere technological tool propelled by a mixture of energy. This catamaran enables a strong message to be conveyed. We can gather together presidents, heads of business, representatives and so on here. The latter are immersed in these technologies for a matter of hours and can then envisage how we can change the world through their development and application on the ground."
Our next meetings over the coming days during our Peruvian stopover:
- 20, 21, 22 then 27 and 28 March: Visits from students aboard Race For Water (nearly 400 children expected)
- Wednesday 21 March: "Plastic Waste to Energy" Foundation Workshop at the Club des Regattas in Lima
- Friday 23 March: R4W conference at the UTEC University and tours of the vessel for students
- Saturday 24 March: Beach Clean Up, in collaboration with the WWF and the Club de Regatas Lima Chorillos – Barranco – Agua Dulce beach.