As a result of this path, the Integral Ecology Project was established and presented in June 2024. Its objective is to promote environmental awareness based on Ecological Spirituality and Don Bosco's Preventive System. This project also responds to what is established in process 7 of option 2 of the Overall Province Project (OPP) 2023-2029: "Accompanying young people towards a sustainable future, especially by promoting an ecological spirituality".
"Through this Project, the Province seeks to promote Integral Ecology for the future with actions that contribute to defending the environment. What we are looking for is not just activism, but a system that is connected to all planned activities, and that can follow up on them," says Gabriela Haro, ECU environmental management technician.
To achieve this goal, three fundamental options have been defined as part of the construction of the Integral Ecology Project:
1. Ecological spirituality: linked to the entire theoretical foundation of the project;
2. Environmental education: focused on the formation of an ecological conscience in communities and works, through education;
3. Environmental management: creation and consolidation of environmental committees, both at the provincial and local level, through a management system.
This document responds to the appeal for the care of our Common Home launched by the Church through Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si', and to the eighth General Chapter 28 action guideline which underlines the need for the Provinces to generate concrete proposals for the care of the environment, integrate the use of renewable energies and promote a reflection on the relationship between Ecological Spirituality and Salesian Youth Spirituality by 2032.
In a first phase, the Province, through Fr Leime and his team, has started a process of raising awareness among Salesians, lay people, young people and groups of the Salesian Family on the importance of protecting the planet, responding to the call to leave a better world for future generations. One of the first activities carried out was the webinars coordinated with the Salesian Youth Ministry Sector team.
Establishing Local Environmental Committees was then promoted and, together with a team of teachers from the Salesian Polytechnic University in Ecuador, a first diagnosis of environmental management was carried out in about 40 Salesian works and houses. The objective was to measure energy and water consumption, waste management and green areas, as well as several other aspects, laying the first foundations and actions to mitigate environmental impacts.
The next step was the implementation of the Provincial Committee for the Environment (CIMA, in Spanish), in charge of managing all the reflection on the care of the Common House, promoting environmental initiatives and coordinating the implementation of plans and programs in this sector. Finally, the Province Technical Committee for the Environment (CTIMA) was established, composed of UPS teachers who are experts in soil, water, energy and waste, who analyse the local proposals that are generated and ensure that each project has solid technical support, technical planning and continuous research.
Several Salesian ECU works have already carried out innovative ecological programmes that combine education, community commitment and concrete actions in favour of the environment. These are initiatives that involve the participation of young people, raise awareness in the surrounding communities and have a positive impact on them.
For example, in the "Ecoschool" programme, students and parents from the Dominic Savio Educational Unit in Guayaquil collaborate on the collection and separation of electronic waste, promoting responsible recycling. This initiative, led by a teacher, is supported by the Ministry of the Environment, which rewarded the efforts made.
The Salesian Technical Educational Unit in Cuenca has integrated integral ecology throughout the formation of its students during the school year. In addition, through the Ecology Club, young people carry out practical activities that complement theoretical learning.
Again, in Esmeraldas, young people from the Scientific Research and Writing Club (CIRC) at the María Auxiliadora Educational Unit have created an urban garden in a district of the city. This garden, managed by students, past pupils and parents, also aims to promote ecological awareness and responsible water consumption.
At the end of 2024, the Integral Ecology Meeting was held, in which the environmental realities of each work were addressed and the importance of working together to face the current challenges in terms of caring for the planet was stressed. One of the riches of this meeting was the exchange of experiences and the elaboration of commitments that allow concrete actions to be consolidated in each of the communities and works at the local level.
For 2025, Fr Leime recalls that there are three major challenges to continue: first, to resume the environmental studies supported by the UPS of Ecuador and ensure that each community has this information; second, to accompany the processes and projects of the communities that already have their environmental studies; and third, to reflect further on Integral Ecology and Ecological Spirituality.
"It is important to keep in mind that the care of our Common Home is everyone's responsibility, and is an option that opens up in our Salesian mission; therefore, Integral Ecology is something that must be present in all areas of the Province", concludes the ECU Provincial Delegate for Youth Ministry.
Cristian Calderón,
Salesian Communication Office
