On 10 October, at the opening night of the European Academies Cup, Centro Velico Caprera presented and signed Sea.ste.ma, acronym of Sea Stewardship Manifesto, the project forthe protection of the marine environment for the main sailing schools in Europe.
Sea.ste.ma is the first major alliance of Europe's leading sailing schools in the name of the environment and incorporates a programme of concrete actions to reduce the anthropogenic impact on the environment on which the CVC has asked all the most influential European sailing schools to converge.
Sea.ste.ma is a project that, through the sailing schools, speaks to an important audience represented by the students and their communities," explained Centro Velico Caprera President Paolo Bordogna. The programme consists of a few simple points that can make a big difference. Today we have set an important milestone that sees, for the first time in history, Europe's leading schools committed to working together to reduce environmental impact and, above all, to become promoters of awareness and knowledge on the subject among the younger generations. We are extremely satisfied with this first goal, since all the schools present signed the document and joined the initiatives it contains with enthusiasm".
The project aims to create greater information and awareness on issues related to theenvironment and at the same time to commit companies in the sector to a progressive but continuous reduction of their environmental impact, for example by implementing the ban on single-use plastics in advance of EU directives or by reducing water and energy consumption or applying best practice principles in the recovery, reuse and recycling of all potentially polluting materials.
The teaching of the culture of the sea," continues Bordogna, "which is the focal point of the CVC's mission, cannot but start from respect and love for the marine environment, which become essential moments in the training of each individual student.
Since time immemorial, CVC has paid great attention to the environment, to the point that even its site on the island of Caprera, which can accommodate over 3,500 students each season, has been repeatedly followed as a model of reference for its exceptional visual integration and very low environmental impact. For about three years now, this vocation has translated into an urgent need to do more for the environment and for the wonderful places where the School is located.
In this context," concludes Bordogna, "after having been a signatory and promoter of the Charta Smeralda, the code of ethics for the protection of our seas produced by the One Ocean Foundation, a foundation of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, Centro Velico Caprera wanted to design, with the support of the YCCS, an operational project capable of
involve sailing schools from all over Europe from below. Sailing schools are a privileged point of contact with the new generations; already by next season we will be able to bring the training contents of Sea. Ste.ma's training contents to the more than 25,000 students who will attend a course in the schools signing the document all over Europe, but also to talk to the large community of students who over the years have exceeded one million people. Sea.ste.ma is also an important moment of confrontation and experience sharing, in order to treasure all experiences and cultures, to achieve results that individually would not be possible to approach".
The schools signing the project are:
CVC Centro Velico Caprera
DHH Deutscher Hochseesportverband HANSA e.V
LGL Les Glenans;
GKSS Göteborgs Kungl. Segel
Sällskap
China Centro International de Navegaciòn de Arousa
RNYC Kongelig Norsk
Seilforening.
