The initiative of Hidralia and the City Council stands out for its collaborative role and the alliances created with the main agents of the city

The Social Pact for Solidarity, Employment and the Green and Inclusive Reconstruction of San Fernando, launched jointly by the City Council and Hidralia, concessionaire of the drinking water and sewerage service of the city, has been valued at the Andalusian level by being recognized with the first prize of its category in the distinctions to Local Governance granted by the Andalusian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FAMP).

Some awards that the Andalusian Federation has created to make visible the good work carried out by local power and the effort of municipalities and councils to promote the economic and social recovery of their territories, as well as to face their difficulties and the challenges involved in managing in the face of a pandemic such as COVID-19 or the need to combat climate change.

The Social Pact of San Fernando has been recognized in the fifth category of this distinction, which focuses on the collaborative role of Andalusian companies with respect to local entities. The award will be presented at a ceremony to be held on April 20 in the Auditorium of the Caixaforum building in Seville.

With this initiative Hidralia and the City Council of San Fernando intend to promote a sustainable economic and social recovery of San Fernando, through proposals agreed by the different working groups that have been constituted and that are formed by the main groups and socioeconomic entities of the municipality, since for both Hidralia and the Consistory, participation is key for this process to carry out concrete actions of recovery and transformation of the city.

"We believe in the generation of alliances as an absolutely necessary step to be able to carry out concrete measures that allow San Fernando to advance in an economic recovery without leaving anyone behind and with sustainability as a goal. Water has a lot to say in the reconstruction of cities and in the creation of a new model with an environmental character, since it is a sector with the capacity to generate wealth, employment and transform municipalities into resilient cities, which face climate change in a safe and sustainable way. But this model we have to create together, involve both private companies and public administrations, social and economic entities to, at first, decide where we want to go and later to give it strength and finally be a reality, "says the manager of Hidralia, José Luis Trapero.

The island councilor has expressed her satisfaction "for this award that comes from the hand of the entity that works to strengthen municipalism in Andalusia, and that supports an initiative that is committed to public-private collaboration, which is also joined by island entities and groups, for the development of initiatives in the field of water that allow transforming and benefiting the city".

Axes of the Social Pact

The Social Pact of San Fernando is based on three axes:

• Solidarity, in order to reduce inequalities and promote a fairer society
• Employment, promoting quality employment, generating opportunities to develop people's capacity and attract talent, promoting training and job placement
• Green and Inclusive Reconstruction, to achieve an ecological transition towards a sustainable, inclusive and fair socio-economic model, based on the circular economy, in order to combat climate change and its effects, protecting ecosystems and biodiversity.

Each of these axes has a working group in charge of agreeing on the concrete measures by the different groups that make it up. In this way, the table for Solidarity is composed of representatives of the Federation of Neighbors Isla De León and the Red Cross; that of Employment, by those responsible for the Association of Merchants of San Fernando (Acosafe), the Island Association of Hospitality and Tourism (Asihtur) and also the Federation of Neighbors Isla De León and Red Cross. Finally, the one focused on Green and Inclusive Reconstruction is divided into two, that of Infrastructures, integrated by the Natural Park of the Bay of Cádiz and Ecologists in Action, and that of Innovation where the University of Cádiz is represented. All these tables have members of Hidralia and the City Council who will be in charge of coordinating and structuring the proposals that arise from the social pact.

About thirty initiatives

Currently, different sessions of each table have already been held and there are more than thirty initiatives. Some proposals that are being studied to analyze their viability and categorize priorities in their implementation.

The objective is that throughout this year the different measures that will be developed within the Social Pact of San Fernando, its objectives and the monitoring indicators can be presented, to guarantee that the objectives agreed by all the agents involved are met.

Finally, the Social Pact is a living initiative in which the working groups can continue to hold follow-up meetings to assess the status of the measures and, if necessary, modify them or include new proposals.