It started as an open challenge 14 years ago from the Tenerife government to architects around the world, design a self sufficient dwelling that blends in and makes full use of its natural surroundings, with zero CO2 emissions. Some 397 applied for the project but that was whittled down to the best 25, they were given full reign to develop their ideals on the 400,000 square metre ITER (Institute of Technology and Renewable Energy) site in Granadilla, Tenerife.

The world’s media came together with the scientific and architectural community on Friday 19 March to celebrate the official inauguration of these 25 beacons for the future. With 90 % of the worlds population expected to live in cities within five years the drive has been to make houses that are functional, practical and pleasing to live in, the applicants certainly rose to the challenge.

The winner of the contest was La Geria (above) from a Spanish team led by Cesar Ruiz-Larrea Cangas. The name refers to a horseshoe shaped protective wall used to shield vines in Lanzarote’s wine regions, and bunkered down into the earth, this house makes good use of the grounds warmth and insulation. Facing the best light source keeps energy use down and liberal sprinklings of plants on the shaded patio area contribute to the cool feel of the building.

All the houses differ but they share common features, extensive use of photovoltaic solar panels, wind turbines and a shared water supply with desalinated sea water from the Atlantic that laps the perimeter of ITER. Complimenting the environment is also an important consideration, the partial sinking of many of the houses helps to blend them in and building materials were carefully chosen to be recycled and good for the retention of heat, light and energy. Each dwelling also blends with its neighbouring buildings using natural colours and textures.

The competing architects have not lost sight of the need to make these houses into desirable homes, many of the external looks are bold and exciting such as La Estrella (the star) or the open fronted Las Bovedas. The nest stage of the project is for scientists and other interested parties to live in the houses and test them as they interact on a daily basis. All the houses are fitted with monitors to constantly check air flow and quality, inside and outside temperatures and humidity.

Tenerife presents unique weather and environmental challenges and advantages, those have all been factored into the development of this village, but the idea is to use the knowledge gained on this site to implement bioclimatic techniques around the world. The new homes will now act as a living laboratory and are making a big impact on architectural thinking and planning for the next generation of homes

Thanks to some 470 volunteers and a strong lead from the Tenerife government, 800 kilos of rubbish was removed from beaches around the island during this summer.

This is the third year of the “La Mar de Limpia” initiative, prompted by the Office of Participation and Voluntary Environmental Work. The teams picked the busiest tourism summer months, when discarded rubbish can be a big problem. The scheme helped to mobilise local groups and to show visitors the damage they can cause.

The main beaches targeted were La Ballenita and Las Arenas in Buenavista del Norte, Puertito de Guimar,San Telmo on Puerto de la Cruz, and Playa de la Arena in Santiago del Teide . The rubbish came in many forms, from paper to heavier iron and metal objects, local diving teams helped to ensure that the sea bed got a  good spring clean too. Hopefully those who witnessed the clean up will be more careful in their daily activities, now they have seen the effect it can have.

The Canary Islands energy plat, PECAN, is committed to producing 30 per cent of all energy for the 7 islands through renewable sources by 2015. A key part of the new project a solar panel factory on the 400,000 square metre ITER site, will produce and test the latest and most efficient range of panels, that process will begin within weeks, and will create 300 new jobs.

The ITER site is already the home to wind power, and bioclimatic housing projects, but the new investment will move them to a higher level and make Tenerife a big player in the solar energy field.

Speaking at the Maspalomas conference centre, ABTA head of business development and consumer affairs, Keith Richards, revealed the results of the Ipsos MORI poll of 702 people, and called climate change “the biggest challenge the industry faces”.

Asked to rate the importance of environmental issues when booking holidays, the 82 %  divided into 36 % saying it was “very important” 47 % “fairly important”  12 %  ”not very important” and just 4 % rated it “not important at all”. More specific questions revealed that 54 % were interested in finding out more about the local environmental and social issues in their chosen resort, before booking. Many holiday makers are now keen to go native, 83 % said it was important to try the local cuisine and experience local culture, and 77 % of holiday makers felt it important that local people benefit from tourism to their chosen area.

Mr Richards stressed the impact that intrusive tourism was having by saying “the scientific evidence is compelling. In the last 7 years we have seen changes that would normally take 1,000 years, and that has consequences for every environment around the globe”.

All year round you can find art and craft shows in Tenerife, outlets to showcase and sell the traditional wares of rural life, but for three days Pinolere in the northern La Orotava valley is the biggest show on the island.

From September 5 to 7 some 128 exhibitors will converge on the small village to set up stalls on the three levels of terracing in a stunning location where the pine forests meet the low clouds. The village has around 700 inhabitants and life is centred around a working museum of arts and crafts where the great Canarian traditions are kept alive. For the three days of the festival, the locals are joined by arts and crafts people of the other Canary Islands and much further afield.

One of the main crafts taking centre stage is Cestoria, the art of basket weaving, Pinolere festival doubles as an international competition for this highly creative and practical art form. There are also displays of hand made cigars, a speciality of La Palma, home made jams, honey and cheeses and clothes and home decorations.

The festival is a celebration of a way of life, and there is always lots of music, dance and displays of traditional sports and games. Most people come away loaded up with new wines and food to try, all at reasonable prices supporting small independent business families. The showground is well sign posted up from Puerto de la Cruz, or this year you can make use of a shuttle bus servive from Titsa (green national company) from La Orotava bus station. Entrance to the showground is 2.50 euros, hopefully the sun will shine on this special scene, but it can get a little chilly up north so go prepared.

For a taste of what you can expect to find, pop along to the Cultural Centre in Los Cristianos, Tenerife, they have an exhibition called El Monte Canario (the Canarian Woodland) which runs until September 2. This is a big undertaking, sponsored by the Social Work Foundation of La Caixa bank, the exhibits are large and interactive. From display cases of eco systems, to chunks of tree stump, there is plenty to see and feel, some of the video displays encourage interaction to select certain changing scenes from different times of the year.

Everything is dealt with from the insects that thrive in the woodlands, to the fungal infections and fires that ravage the landscape from time to time. As you walk around, you will hear birdsong and see some of the traditional crafts made from the trees and shrubs in the woodlands.

The exhibition is FREE and open from 8am to 10pm from Monday to Friday and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays, closed Sundays.

Fundacion Neotropico  does a great job, rescuing turtles that have been injured by pollution and discarded waste from fishing nets to plastic carrier bags. Thanks to their care and dedication, these wonderful creatures are in many cases, soon fit enough to return to the sea again. Today four Loggerhead turtles were given back their freedom, three of them had lost a fin due to entanglement with debris in the ocean. Neotropico keep careful records of the creatures they help, identifying them by the scales on their faces, these are as unique as a fingerprint. Using this method, they have noticed that many wounded turtles that they release, recover well, even with a missing fin and adapt to swim again.

The four turtles released today were between 3 and 5 years old, which makes them very young, they can live to as old as 100 years or more, and their average weight is 100 kg with a shell of around 122 cms long. They eat fish, crabs, mussels, seaweed and jellyfish as part of their diet. Making good use of the sea currents, they can appear in most oceans of the World but there is no evidence that they breed in the Canary islands.

As well as education, Aguaviva has been about entertainment, and they kept up that spirit right through to the final day, with free diving lessons from Las Vistas beach and the ever popular salsa dance sessions by the fisher sellers statue near the old Los Cristianos beach. Just because Aguaviva has finished, it doesn’t have to be an end to involvement in local environmental projects, there are contact details on this site for several organisations and your nearest cultural centre will have plenty of posters and details of forthcoming events. Living on an island, should really bring home the dangers facing the oceans and the challenges that still lay ahead.

You can see more photos of the AguaViva Concert by visiting:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexveccia 

Lead singer of Fiction Plane, Joe Sumner (centre) , son of Gordon, better known as Sting, is no stranger to green issues, as he has a degree in Environmental Science from Richmond University, however it failed to fire his imagination and the lure of rock and roll took him down another path. Seton Daunt (left) , lead guitarist, was always drawn to bands “I was into groups like Nirvana and performed around Camden ” and drummer Pete Wilhoit (right) met the other 2 in New York in their early days of changing line ups, and they became the trio they are today. Pete had a wide music base “I studied jazz at Indiana University and was influenced by Stewart Copeland of The Police”. That proved to be very prophetic before meeting Joe and then last year supporting The Police on their U.S comeback tour.

So did the connections with The Police help Joe in the music business? “Not really, most people either didn’t help me as they assumed I knew everything about the business or they thought I was spoilt and had it all handed to me on a plate.” All that is history now as Fiction Plane have carved out their own career as a hard working live band, they did 200 concerts last year, and after a short break, they are off to North America supporting Snoop Dog.

The free concert in Tenerife must have been a strange experience after playing to packed houses at the Stade de France and Twickenham. The open air gig was bathed in hot sun, with Montaña Roque as a backdrop and palm trees swaying around them. There were a couple of thousand watching at the peak of the concert, but the opening band, Oscartienealas from Lanzarote, started with just a sprinkling as many were still on the beach or watching Spains Euro 2008 game. The summer of green music continues, and even as Fiction Plane were performing, leaflets were being handed out for the 2 day Eolica festival at the Granadilla wind park next month.

The waiting is over and the Aguaviva festival of the seas, is back, bigger and bolder than ever. The big music concerts will grab all the headlines, but there are a lot of other events going on all through June to educate, and promote awareness of the problems facing the sea, particularly, the Atlantic that laps around the shores of the Canary Islands.

One change this year is the re-location of the information stands from various environmental groups, from the Los Cristianos church plaza, down to Las Vistas beach in a big hanger type tent. As well as being more appropriate to be in sight of the ocean, the large hanger attracts the curious, who will then hopefully learn more about the message behind Aguaviva.

Just to help those who don’t make it down to the stands, here are some of the groups involved, and contact points for more information.

Fundacion Neotropico is a project to help save sea turtles, and returned those that have been treated for illness and damage, to the ocean. Many become entangled in nets and rubbish or covered in oil, and need help to recover. Several turtles will be released into the sea during Aguaviva at public gatherings. www.neotropico.org

Seo Birdlife is a La Laguna based group dedicated to protecting all birds, especially rare species in Spain. You will find lots of information on their website to help you identify the many varied species that live or pass through the Canary islands. www.seo.org

Ben Magec is a Canarian environmental pressure group, that campaigns and raises awareness of issues facing these islands. Always willing to speak out, they have done great service to many causes across the islands. www.benmagec.org

World Wildlife is one of the biggest world wide organisations, with years of dedication to their name. They are keen to highlight the plight of species on the brink of extinction and have the credibility to make sure that people listen. www.worldwildlife.org

As well as the stands inside the hanger, there is a giant screen outside showing footage of the oceans and some of the problems they face. The white metal blocks may make you scratch your head, but they are made of the metal objects found along the local beaches in a series of clean ups over the last few weeks. They have been crushed down and painted white for artistic effect, but if you look closely, you can make out parts of cars, ovens, fridges etc, people seem all too willing to just dump anything anywhere.

The venue is the Rafael Daranas cultural centre in Santa Cruz, the island capital, and entry is free, thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Caja Canarias banks, social and cultural unit. From Monday to Friday, doors are open at 9.30 am till 1.30 pm and 5 pm to 8 pm. There is Saturday opening, but just from 10 am till 1.30 pm.

The exhibition brings together the investigative work of Juan Carlos Carracedo and the impressive photography of Juan Sergio Socorro, both highly regarded for previous work in their chosen field. The images and data are brought together to give vast panoramic views of various volcanic scenes from the formation of the Canary Islands. It should be well worth seeing, but hurry as the event closes on June 28.