The mayor inaugurates these days entitled 'Benidorm, open and multicultural city of the Mediterranean', which will also address sustainable tourism model
Benidorm hosts the XXXI State Meeting of UNESCO Schools
The International School Lope de Vega is the host of the meeting, which will last until Thursday.
Benidorm welcomes from today and until next Thursday the XXXI State Meeting of UNESCO Schools, in which XX centers from all over the country participate and which has as its motto 'Benidorm, open and multicultural city of the Mediterranean'. The mayor, Toni Pérez, has inaugurated this meeting, in which the International Lope de Vega School acts as host and in which the participating centers will present the projects they have designed linked to the 'European Year of Cultural Heritage'.
The inauguration was attended by the territorial director of Educational Policy of the Generalitat Valenciana, Jaume Fullana; the deputy general secretary of the National Commission of Spain for Cooperation with UNESCO, Carmen Pinar; the coordinator of the international network of UNESCO Schools, Sabine Detzel, and the state coordinator, Salvador Jorge Pagán; the owner of Lope de Vega and the center's educational director, Vicente Fuster and Áurea González; and Rafael Alemany, professor of Catalan Philology at the University of Alicante (UA).
During the opening ceremony, a group of girls and boys accompanied by 'xirimita' and 'tabalet' have danced 'El Peuet', a typical Benidorm dance performed every year by the Queens and Ladies of the Major Festivities, also present at the event. . In addition, several 'copletes' dedicated to the Virgen del Sufragio have been sung, showing the participants part of the cultural heritage of Benidorm.
This local heritage -along with the district- will be one of the topics that will be discussed during the meeting, which will also delve into the resources that make Benidorm the paradigm of sustainable tourism in Spain, and the role played by the city in the tourism industry and its impact on the national economy.
The mayor invited all those attending the meeting to "soak up all that Benidorm has", from its material and immaterial "important heritage" to its natural resources and commitment to sustainability, and wished that "the conclusions "that they extract from these days of work" help to improve "the educational management and to advance in the fulfillment of the objectives of the programs of UNESCO. He also begged them that "when they return to their schools, to their educational centers, they resist teaching their students what to think", and instead teach them "to think" the values and principles that guide the action of the UNESCO; In short, "teach thinking to build a world free and equal for men and women."
After the opening ceremony, Professor Rafael Alemany offered a talk about 'The birth of Benidorm as a population nucleus'; and the City Council has invited attendees to the opening concert of the XXX International Music Course, starring the winner of the XIX Benidorm Music Contest.
The activity of the meeting will continue on Tuesday at the social center La Torreta with talks, presentations and working groups. Already in the evening, a cultural event has been scheduled at Benidorm Palace. On Wednesday, July 4, the tourism project 'Emocions Joves' will be presented; the conclusions of the working groups will be transferred; and the General Assembly of Schools will be held. On Thursday, attendees will enjoy excursions in the region.