Researcher and professor Judit Gil-Farrero gave a talk this Friday at Can Trona on environmental education as a key strategy for protecting the Garrotxa volcanic area and Empordà marshlands (“L’educació ambiental, una estratègia clau per a la protecció de la zona volcànica de la Garrotxa i dels aiguamolls de l’Empordà”). Gil-Farrero asked what leads to a natural space being protected.

In the talk, she analysed the campaigns to protect the Garrotxa volcanic area and Empordà marshlands from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. Both campaigns put a lot of energy into raising awareness of the natural value of areas that, initially, didn’t seem to warrant protection. This task of environmental education was key to changing social perception of nature and the landscapes in these two areas.

Judit Gil-Farrero (Zaragoza) is a postdoc researcher and professor. At Faberllull, she is working on a paper on the role of scientific dissemination in changing social perception of the landscapes in the Garrotxa volcanic area and the Empordà marshlands, based on the campaigns that led to them being declared protected natural spaces.