Aridane is the name of the project promoted by the La Palma Island Council and the University of La Laguna, along with its General Foundation, within the framework of the "la Caixa" Foundation's call for proposals for "social action in rural areas." The project aims to foster community-based initiatives that contribute to organizing the public response to the demographic challenge in the Aridane Valley. The municipalities of the region and the Biosphere Reserve have joined the project, which also maintains close ties with the Government of the Canary Islands.
The initiative seeks to launch a methodologically sound community participation process with a demonstrative effect on the rest of the archipelago, aimed at the design, development and evaluation of a public policy that allows addressing the different dimensions of the demographic challenge and that contributes to social and territorial cohesion in the Aridane Valley.
In its initial phase, the project conducted extensive community outreach in the region, involving approximately 250 people. In this second phase, following the completion of the qualitative analysis of these inquiries, six sectoral technical workshops will be held focusing on Housing, the Economy and Labor Market, Education and Vocational Training, Culture, Governance, and Social Welfare.
These roundtables will serve as a forum to share and discuss with professionals from each sector the main issues and proposals that emerged from the listening process. This shared knowledge will help prioritize needs, identify existing actions, resources, and experiences, and collectively move towards developing a community action plan for the region. This will be the precursor to community meetings to be held during the latter part of the year in the three municipalities of the Valley, open to general participation.
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The first two technical working groups addressed highly topical and relevant issues on the social and political agendas, such as housing and the economic situation and its impact on the labor market in the Valley. They were comprised of technical staff from the Island Council, the municipalities of the region, the Biosphere Reserve, social organizations, and entities that have been working in Aridane since the volcanic eruption. These sessions were characterized by a rich dialogue focused on validating the results of the social consultation already conducted, while also welcoming new contributions that could enrich the process.
For the Rector of the University of La Laguna, Francisco García, the work being carried out in conjunction with other institutions and organizations within the framework of the Aridane Project reflects a model of public university presence in the region designed to foster collaboration and action among diverse stakeholders who reflect on the best way to address their main challenges. “This unique experience in the regional context represents a very positive initiative that strengthens and enhances our presence on the island, deepening the collaboration we maintain with the Island Council, municipalities, and the Biosphere Reserve, along with the 'la Caixa' Foundation,‘ he emphasized.
The President of the Island Council, Sergio Rodríguez, praised the potential of this forum. “The opportunity for professionals from different institutions and organizations to meet and discuss the regional realities of the island is excellent news, because we are making progress by leveraging their expertise to define viable solutions to our main challenges.” He added his hope that Aridane's work will continue to advance in the coming weeks and months to collectively define the best course of action to address the demographic challenge, “and that, in this way, La Palma will continue to be a benchmark in these types of processes at the regional and national levels.”.
The Aridane project will initially run until 2028 and is one of 64 projects co-financed by the "la Caixa" Foundation at the national level, encompassing all the autonomous communities. La Palma is the only Canary Island representative and aligns with the Canary Islands Strategy for Demographic Challenge and Territorial Cohesion. In fact, it directly contributes to measure number 26, which aims to promote initiatives that allow the strategy to be implemented in specific areas of the region, "in order to reflect the particularities of each island and design responses adapted to the diversity of the territory.".
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