2021 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"
15th Edition 2021
Supports are subject to the following rules:
- You can support up to 5 proposals.
The Pantanos de Villa is one of the most important wetlands in the middle of a city in Latin America, and its conservation is at risk due to human activities that affect its environment.
Therefore there is a public very committed to environmental care and he demonstrates it with its majority attendance to natural spaces such as the wetlands. Between 2015 and 2018, 6 out of 10 people who visited the Pantanos de Villa were children. They are also citizens, however, during that time, the participation of this group in any space where they could give their opinion or proposals regarding the conservation of the Pantanos de Villa Wetland has been null and void.
We had to generate urgent changes to ensure not only the sustainability of the wetlands but also to start promoting citizenship and action from childhood. For this reason, since 2019, the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima has been promoting the practice of "Guardians of the Pantanos de Villa".
It is the first experience in Peru, and one of the first in the world, that gives a decisive voice to children to act in favour of the conservation of a natural area, through active participation in the Board of Directors of PROHVILLA.
With "Guardians of the Pantanos de Villa", a group of 40 children between 8 and 12 years of age has been formed on an equal basis (20 girls and 20 boys), in compliance with article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and in the framework of the adhesion of the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima to the International Network of the City of Children. They come together to propose alternatives that promote better protection and gentler activity in the marshlands.
The presence and advice of children is an important contribution to PROHVILLA, as its officials and staff learn from the children's perspective to be more sensitive, creative, attentive and empathetic in the work of wetland conservation and promotion.
The impact of this experience on the management of the area has been significant with 31 face-to-face and virtual sessions, learning and generating proposals; 5 acts of public advocacy with authorities or decision-makers, which came to fruition as Ordinance No. 2264 and Deputy Management Resolution No. 7656-2019-MML/GTU-SIT, on the protection of biodiversity in the area and accessibility measures that come to benefit the more than 25 thousand people who have visited the Pantanos de Villa since this experience was created. Along with these actions, the guardians have been carrying out awareness-raising, sensitisation, education, research and promotion of the wetland; they have also undertaken campaigns against the use of fireworks, cleaning and recovery of public spaces, through actions that have had a great impact on the community.
This proposal has been accepted because:
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Conversation with Angela
Como docente de educación primaria, me gusta como estos niños y niñas pueden tener una voz política para mejorar un área natural protegida. Me gustaría saber más para ver si es posible replicarlo en mi centro educativo.
Estimada Angela: Puede escribirnos al correo de ciudadania.ambiental@prohvilla.gob.pe y con gusto podemos informarle más sobre la experiencia realizada en los Pantanos de Villa.
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