Everything is interconnected when taking care of the planet

As part of the Comillas Pontifical University's activities for the celebration of Book and Earth Week, the Integral Ecology Unit organised a round table discussion entitled "Todo está interconectado en el cuidado de la Tierra: arte, ciencia y consciencia". The meeting was open to the entire university community and was an opportunity to share, reflect and seek environmental solutions from a plural and interdisciplinary perspective.

The main course of the day was a round table discussion with the participation of Antonio A. Garrido Salcedo, head of communications and public relations for the Laudato Si' Movement ; Heike Pintor Pirzkall, coordinator of the Integral Ecology and Sustainability Programme at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (Comillas CIHS); Mar Cledera Castro, lecturer and coordinator of the "Contaminantes Emergentes y Valorización de Recursos" research group at Comillas ICAI, and Mar Muro, artist and president of MUMUAR.

The director of the Ecology Unit, Jesús Sánchez Camacho, was in charge of welcoming and introducing the different speakers. Quoting Pope Francis and his encyclical Laudato Si ' -very present during the meeting-, he recalled that we often forget that we ourselves are earth. "Throughout this event we are going to see, judge and try to act in the face of what is happening, a methodology that is very typical of the Church's social action," he said.

"When I started studying engineering, the environment was something to use," recalled Mar Cledera, the first speaker. "We used to talk about a linear economy. That has changed completely and what is important now is the circular economy. Our obligation is to transmit in the classroom the importance of recycling and reusing, and to disseminate the advances and discoveries we are researching to make people aware of the importance of change", she concluded.

"Artists give a voice to things that don't have one," said Mar Muro. "Art is always one step ahead and for some time now there has been a demand for a change towards more sustainable practices", she said. Antonio A. Garrido, for his part, recalled that the Church has been defending the environment for decades. "The time has come to speak out," he said.

Heike Pintor took the floor to bring the concepts of international cooperation and peace to the discussion table. "The fragility of countries is interconnected with the fragility of the Earth. The great powers fight for control of natural resources that are finite. This generates conflicts that lead to the degradation of nature and human beings. It is very important to reach an international consensus through cooperation and co-responsibility," he stressed.

During the event, which sought to link awareness, science and art, several poems were also read by Azucena de la Fuente and Blanca del Castillo.