MWCC has participated in the VIII edition of ‘Healthy Cities’ by Sanitas. The event featured the ethologist, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and United Nations messenger of peace, Dr. Jane Goodall. “Humanity is developing extraordinary technology, but

All this development must be in harmony with nature and we must think about our environmental footprint at all times. Because protecting the environment is protecting the future.” During the event, in addition to detailing where the plantations will take place in 2023, Sanitas presented the first progress of the work of the Sanitas Health and Environment Chair at the University of Navarra. The chair is preparing a report that collects scientific evidence about how the urban factors specific to the cities of our country influence the morbidity and mortality of Spaniards, and the relevance of actions such as urban regeneration.

People’s health is directly linked to the health of the environment, especially in cities where 69% of the Spanish population is concentrated. Therefore, it is essential to make urban spaces healthy areas.

To prepare this report, the Sanitas Health and Environment Chair at the University of Navarra analyzed factors such as air quality, temperature, heat islands, green zones and blue zones, and urban mobility. This is a bibliographic analysis, to know the degree of influence that all of them have on our health. Some factors are widely documented, such as air quality. Thus, for example, scientific evidence shows that in Europe there were 25,000 premature deaths due to air pollution in 2022. In addition, it is a factor that negatively influences numerous diseases, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The chair’s report concludes that other factors, however, are less studied, to the point that it is difficult to quantify, for example, the impact that the lack of urban green areas has on our health.

The legacy of ‘Healthy Cities’

This year, Sanitas’ Healthy Cities project celebrated its eighth edition. During the first phase of the program, a double challenge was launched to all citizens in Spain and employees of large participating companies: walk 6,000 steps a day, during May and June, and leave the private car at home at least one day a week. The more than 24,000 participants who took part are responsible for the fact that now, in the second phase of the program, Sanitas planted 24,000 trees in Spain, one for each participant. Its goal: turn cities into more sustainable and healthy places.

To achieve this, Sanitas and MWCC will collaborate on different urban environmental recovery and regeneration projects, in collaboration with different city councils. In Madrid he will plant in the Metropolitan Forest for the third year; In Zaragoza it will collaborate again for the second year with the Bosque de los Zaragozanos, and in Malaga, for the first time it will undertake a project focused on greening streets devoid of trees and shade. Likewise, with Valencia it will collaborate with the European Green Capital in 2024 with a project to plant trees in the streets of the city.

It will also contribute to the recovery of damaged ecosystems in peri-urban areas thanks to collaboration with organizations such as WWF and Sustainable Forests.

Collaboration with the Jane Goodall Institute in Spain and Senegal

In addition to the 24,000 trees planted in reforestation projects in Spain, Sanitas will maintain its collaboration with the Jane Goodall Institute in the Kedougou region, in Senegal, contributing to the planting of trees in the chimpanzee habitat. This collaboration reinforces its participation with the Roots and Shoots Program that the Jane Goodall Institute carries out in different schools in Spain focused on environmental education.