The Formentera Council's Office of Environment has reported today that in every classroom of every school on the island students will now find an "ecology spot" — a station where rubbish and recyclable material can be binned. Department head Daisee Aguilera explained the measure and pointed out new high volume bins installed on school playgrounds by the Ecoembes company.

Calling it an effort to give kids “first-hand experience recycling" and a "good reminder of recycling's environmental importance", Aguilera says starting with young learners is "an investment in a more sustainable future". Now in its second year, the project gives children a chance to visit the island's rubbish tip (Deixalleria) and transfer station. As the councillor points out, the experience provides a close-up look at what happens to the things we throw away on the island.

Composting workshops
Last week composting classes began across the island. All told, Formentera's three primary schools will see ten composting workshops tailored for students' practical use on school vegetable patches. The lessons are funded by the Formentera Council and the Govern's ministry of environment. "Our hope," said Aguilera, "is that we can get children in the habit of recycling early and make sure they take an active role in sustainable waste management."

The Formentera Council's Offices of Cultura and Social Welfare, alongside the NGO Progreso y Desarrollo Humano, have launched Formentera amb Síria (Formentera with Syria). The keynote act, Saturday February 18, gets going at 2.00pm with a fundraiser paella in the festival tent at the car park of Sa Senieta. A recent addition to the day's programme is a concert by Syrian artist Ashti Abdo (Aleppo, 1982), scheduled for 5.30pm.

During the performance, Abdo will show BEJA, his own video reflecting on the war raging through his country. He spent five years writing the piece, and provides his own accompaniment on a typical Syrian saz. He also interprets traditional Kurdish airs, songs that grapple with the lives of Kurdish people, the tales of refugees and, even, love stories.

The Formentera music school's clarinet ensemble performs at 5.00pm, before Nieves Portas leads a show by students of the municipal dance centre. Next up are Lunares, Voice & Senses and La 22, leaving the final spot for the “solidary discomobile”. The party stops at 1.00am.

Visit from Nadia Ghulam
Artist and refugee Nadia Ghulam gives a talk on Wednesday, 7.30pm in Centre Antoni Tur Gabrielet. She will also be at the festival's point of sale, which the centre hosts Monday through Friday next week, 12 noon to 2.00pm and 6.00 to 8.00pm. All proceeds go to benefit Progreso y Desarrollo Humano.

Cinema and theatre for a cause
Recall that next February 17, Friday at 9.00pm, a screening of documentary filmmaker Jordi Évole's Astral will be held in the municipal cinema (Sala de Cultura). On February 19, Sunday at 5.30pm in the same venue, Iguana Produccions present their Hanna dels tres països to audiences six to twelve. The same day at 8.00pm there will be an additional screening of Astral. Tickets for the event cost three euros and benefit the NGO “ProActiva Open Arms”.

Organisation of the events was shared between the Council and Progreso y Desarrollo Humano, a local association founded in 2012 to work on social issues and cooperation in the Global South. All money raised benefits ADSN, a group working with Syrian refugees in Greece. Other sponsors include the Pityusic Islands cooperation fund, Carlin, Baleària, Dignitis, Acción Directa Sierra Norte, Formentera Service and comunica360.

The Formentera Council's Office of Sport has reported that tomorrow, Saturday February 11, the island will host two events: the Balearic Islands' final cross country meet for youth runners and Formentera's first cross country running fixture. Field trials will be held in the recreational area of Can Marroig from 11.00am and local access will be restricted thirty minutes prior.

The directorate general of sports and the Balearic athletics federation headed up organisation of the meet, the final elegible event in the region before the national championship. For its part, Grup Esportiu Espalmador will host a cross country meet for adults and children. Signups will be held from 10.00am in Can Marroig and are at no cost. The Council also took part in organisation for the events.

The Formentera Council has announced that this Saturday, February 11 at 9.00pm, theatre troupe La Impaciència will perform 'L'etern mecanoscrit' before Formentera audiences. Recommended for adults and young theatregoers over eight, the sixty-minute show turns on the importance of reading and preserving the world heritage it represents. Admission to the production, to take place in the cinema (Sala de Cultura), is five euros for adults and three euros for those under 25.

Using Salvador Oliva's 4.000 anys després de l'eternitat and Manuel de Pedrolo's Mecanoscrit del segon origen as a starting point, La Impaciència provides a reflection for the young and old on the importance of books and reading and the need to conserve and appreciate this global heritage.

Two characters taken from de Pedrolo's work, buttressed against the theatrics present in both Mecanoscrit del segon origen and 4.000 anys després de la eternitat, symbolise the world as it exists in L'etern mecanoscrit. To the bemusement of spectators, the two characters actually drape their own reflections on their surroundings in an explanation of de Pedrolo's novel. Those reflections, together with the characters' own lived experiences, present a critical review of the world and social relations. With performances by renowned actors Rodo Gener and Luca Bonadei, L'etern mecanoscrit picked up the Bòtil 2012 prize at Vilafranca's child and youth theatre festival.

Theatre company
Brought up on the shores of the Mediterranean, La Impaciència is a professional troupe founded by Luca Bonadei, Rodo Gener and Salvador Oliva, three renowned actors who share not only a history on the Balearic theatre scene, but also similar artistic inclinations. They have been behind big productions like Una nit vaig somiar que mon pare era Déu (2004), Radiografies (2006) and In-conciencia (2009) and have, over the course of their professional career, snagged numerous accolades.