11.1 access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services
11.3 inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning
11.6 attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management
11.7 universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces
Last year, Centro Santa Angela wrapped up five years of work in the marginal urban neighbourhood of Urrunaga, leaving in place an ecological library for children, an Eco Club for youth, a nursery run by women, environmental committees for each of the neighbourhood’s 21 streets and a coordinating committee that will work with neighbours and with city hall to ensure Urrunaga continues to take steps to protect the environment and promote sustainable, healthy habits.
In 2022, Centro Santa Angela’s work to “green” urban neighbourhoods in José Leonardo Ortíz has moved to the neglected and underserved pueblo joven of San Miguel, whose public park had barely a single plant growing in it. This project is the first half of a two-year initiative.
Centro Santa Angela will run programs for children and youth to teach them about the importance of protecting our environment as well as what they can do to help. Participants in these programs will develop their own environmental initiatives, such as cleaning garbage from their streets, recycling, planting trees and community gardens or rescuing parks, and also promote good practices among their peers. Organizing families into block committees dedicated to caring for and improving their immediate environment was very successful in Urrunaga, so the centre will follow the same strategy in San Miguel.
An environmental committee of community leaders will seek accreditation so they can press municipal authorities to assume their responsibilities in garbage collection and other basic services. Through these efforts, the people of San Miguel hope not only to make their neighbourhood a happier and healthier home for themselves and their children but also to set an example other neighbourhoods might follow.