.
A community with the courage to lead, will make its leaders follow...
#LoretoIdeal, a local initiative that seeks to address, among all Loretanos, the priority challenges of our Community
About
What is your ideal Loreto?
This is how the conversation began, in a series of focus group meetings held with the most representative civil society organizations in Loreto; as part of a joint effort that Eco-Alianza de Loreto, CCC, FUNDAR and ALCOSTA have facilitated; and from which were set the following Goals:
Goal #1
To establish a consensual agenda with Loreto's main and priority challenges to be resolved, which are broadly linked to local legal instruments* that incorporate advisory boards and committees for citizen participation, but which until now have not been implemented adequately.
* Programs and plans such as the the Local Ecological Planning Ordinance (POEL), Loreto's Urban Development Plan (PSDURL) and Solid Waste Management Program (PMPGIRSL);
Goal #2
To form a broad civil society group, involving representative stakeholders of all sectors of Loreto, in a shared leadership and joint effort of citizens, organizations and local government, to address Loreto's challenges that impact the wellbeing of its inhabitants and the natural environment.
Goal #3
Discuss and work the consensual agenda in the way of deliberative forums, with an adequate structure and organization that promotes a constructive, active and inclusive participation of citizens with the local government; giving continuity, transparency and democracy to the effective follow-up of the Agenda.
First Great Impact Expected
The conformation of a Citizen Advisory Board, autonomous, free and representative of Loreto's citizenship, recognized and accepted by the local government where we citizens can and should contribute to the solution of the great challenges of a #LoretoIdeal.
A consensual Agenda for an Ideal Loreto
To reach the consensus of an inclusive agenda of truly priority challenges to be addressed, circles of dialogue and interviews were held, with people and opinion leaders, from the different sectors of Loreto: institutions, developers, service providers, and organizations of the civil society; all of the above, around three themes related to management instruments of Loreto such as the Ecological Management Plan (POEL), the Sub Regional Urban Development Plan (PSDU) and the Solid Waste Management Program: About the Three Main Themes of the Agenda
First Theme: Water and Soil Management
CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS: Solid Waste Management, Residual and Drinking Water
- Need for an intersectoral strengthening for a integral solid waste management.
- Necessary control of the processes of the final disposal of waste in the open dump, with the generation of transfer stations with appropriate waste separation processes before reaching the final disposal sites and the establishment of an adequate sanitary landfill.
- Planning and maintenance of drinking water supply and drainage pipelines, foreseeing urban expansion, based on population densities and on more recent studies, that need to be carried out by researchers and experts. Establish incentives and sanctions for responsible water use. Need to form the Groundwater Technical Committee (COTAS) and Clean Beaches Committee.
Second Theme: Urban Development
CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS: Growth and Control of Urban Development
- Effective sanction to the violations of the current Urban Plan ordinance.
- Surveillance and monitoring of urban development to avoid damage to the environment. Urgent need for a Municipal Institute of Urban Planning
- Promoting equitable development (preventing Loreto´s development concentrated in the coastal area) and in accordance with a territorial planning.
- Planning and ordering of urban growth given the potential of Loreto as a tourist destination. The monitoring, evaluation and updating of the PSDU is needed.
Third Theme: Sustainable Local Development
CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS: Redirect the Focus to a Local Tourist Vocation
- A current policy that still is based on luxury tourism developments, which may be socially exclusive and which are characterized by the excessive use of natural resources and coastal territory.
- The development of real estate resorts limits access to the common space.
- A federal policy that encourages through concessions the establishment of mining activity, contrary to the natural tourist vocation of Loreto, and which endangers water resource. An Ecologic Management Plan (POEL) without an environmental record log and an inactive committee.
- The need to identify social priorities and not only those of a single economic sector such as the Mining, with a local government that promotes authentic sustainable development, for the benefit of the entire Loreto population.
The Five Strategies of a Consensual Agenda
Against the deep problems identified in the focus group meetings, supported by data and information that the participants found from different sources (personal and scientific testimonies, legal and statistical elements, etc.); The #LoretoIdeal initiative responds to the will of the citizens of Loreto, to learn more about the use made of the public resources, as well as to participate more in decision-making processes. The initiative addresses the need to have a coordinated agenda to advance in the construction of an ideal Loreto, based on the following five strategies for an Ideal Loreto that is:
Clean, Sustainable, Quiet, Safe, Transparent and Participatory.
#LoretoIdeal Affiliate Members
#LoretoIdeal is a citizen initiative, driven by a broad group of local organizations of Loreto civil society; integrated by representatives of the economic, academic and social sectors. Committed to a shared leadership and joint effort of citizens, organizations and local government to address the great challenges that Loreto faces nowadays, and which impact the well-being of its inhabitants and its natural resources.
#LoretoIdeal was initially proposed and facilitated by Eco-Alianza of Loreto since the initiative is linked to its strategic planning for the Conservation of the Watersheds and Water reservoirs of Loreto.
AS OF TODAY THERE ARE 15 ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE SIGNED THE COMMITMENT AGREEMENT WITH THE #LORETOIDEAL INITIATIVE
(Local Chamber of Commerce, Loreto's Restaurants and Bars Assoc., Loreto's Hotel Assoc., The Network of Environmental Educators of Loreto, Autonomous University of Baja California Sur Campus Loreto, Living Roots A.C., Architects of B.C.S. Assoc. Chapter Loreto, Civil Engineers Assoc. Chapter Loreto, Grupo Madrugadores de Loreto A.C., Physicians Assoc. of B.C.S. Chapter Loreto, Onco Loreto A.C., Loreto Art School, Isla Verde Group, Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental NW office and Eco-Alianza de Loreto A.C.)
