- It focused its lines of action on the social, environmental and scientific/educational fields
- Thus, it affirms its commitment to Island society
This figure comes to 75,965 people if we also take into account those who benefited indirectly. In total, Fundación Cepsa launched or participated in 32 initiatives in the Islands last year.
With respect to social support, the most notable and continuous action over time was, once again, the holding of the Social Value Awards. It is focused on supporting vulnerable groups and promoting solidarity values among Cepsa employees, with funding of 65,000 euros in the Canary Islands distributed among the five winning entities. Envera, Provivienda, Atelsam, Save the Children and AsperCan.
Also noteworthy is the agreement signed with the Tenerife Island Council, through the Tenerife Solidarity Island Program, of Sinpromi, for the donation of energy-efficient products among the 30 volunteer entities participating in the “Zero Energy Poverty” campaign. The aim is to provide families with tools that will enable them to mitigate energy poverty by reducing expenses, while raising awareness about energy saving and efficiency.
In addition to the participation of professionals from the Canary Islands in solidarity collection campaigns for bottle caps, as well as clothing and footwear in various campaigns throughout the year, several corporate volunteering actions in social matters were added. These included the “Heart Pillows” workshop in support of AMATE, another against energy poverty, and an initiative by the Adecco Foundation to raise awareness about disability using virtual reality.
For its part, the "Dive into Santa Cruz" campaign, which was created by Fundación Cepsa over a decade ago and supported by the Autonomous Culture Agency of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, offered the city two new large-scale outdoor urban art murals, bringing the total number of murals to 26. “Uno” is a work by Iker Muro aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle, located on Pi y Margall street, and a second one is located in the new parking lot of Las Teresitas, by Adrián Martínez and Acaymo Padrino, in tribute to San Andrés, a town known for its fishing tradition.
Educational scientific field
Among the most outstanding initiatives promoted by Fundación Cepsa in the educational field in 2023 was the third edition of its “ProFormación” scholarships, which benefited 11 vocational training students in the Islands, allowing them to cover the costs of tuition, school supplies, books, transportation, cafeteria, etc.
Likewise, the foundation collaborated once again with the program 'Chicas con Cienci@ULL' from the General Foundation of the University of La Laguna (FGULL), which is aimed at promoting scientific and technological vocations among students in the Canary Islands, especially among female students. It does so through an informative audiovisual series focused on highlighting the achievements and contributions of a diverse group of researchers from ULL in various fields.
Also, the foundation, together with the Scientific and Technological Park of Tenerife, supported the more socially oriented work of the First Lego League Canarias by financing the participation of 20 teams from public educational centers in the competition, which promotes experiential learning in the field of science and technology and by helping the two winners of the Challenge category in their journey to the national competition.
Fundación Cepsa also participated in one of the “Plenilunio” events in collaboration with the Sociedad de Desarrollo de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, offering a space for scientific workshops under the title “Manufacturing the future,” to bring science closer to the general public of all ages. Our shared goal with their collaboration is to organize the twentieth anniversary of the Science Fair of La Orotava, and to organize, for the first time, a scientific and educational activity at the Children and Youth Park of Tenerife (PIT), which, under the name 'The Magic of Science', offered children a complete scientific journey through the universe throughout the Christmas school holidays.
And, as part of the same effort to promote scientific and technological vocations, the foundation supported FGULL in the MacaroNight project, as part of the European Researchers' Night, and in the traditional Scientific and Professional Career Fair of the Canary Islands. The objective is to promote young people's interest in science, technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship for their pursuit of a future professional career.
Another year with the Chair
Fundación Cepsa’s commitment to research, training, scientific dissemination, and knowledge transfer was evident through a wide variety of actions carried out by the Fundación Cepsa Chair of Ecological Transition and Innovation at the University of La Laguna. Among these, there was continued support for student projects such as 'Teidesat', for the construction, launch, and operation of a nanosatellite to enhance optical communications between space and Earth; R8 Island Motostudent, based on the design, development, and construction of a 100% electric racing motorcycle; and ULLRaid, a group of engineering students who prepared a vehicle to participate in a charity event by traveling through the Moroccan desert to deliver aid to villages.
The MakerSpace room at the School of Engineering and Technology, which was inaugurated in the first semester, has functioned as a multidisciplinary workspace for university students to develop innovative initiatives and put into practice the learning acquired in classrooms.
In order to support new avenues of research in the field of energy transition, the second call for expressions of interest was held to highlight and reward the most outstanding microprojects. The Fourth Awards for the best Bachelor's and Master's Thesis were presented and the first industrial doctoral thesis of the Chair and the second of the University of La Laguna was completed. The thesis was focused on obtaining biofuels from vegetable oils and animal fats.
In addition, the series of monthly seminars entitled “Women researchers for the ecological transition and innovation” continued , which seeks to make visible the role played by women scientists in aspects related to the topics covered by the Chair.
Environmental actions
The conservation and recovery of biodiversity are pillars in the actions of Fundación Cepsa. In this area, in 2023, a highlight was the foundation's commitment to natural spaces such as Las Mesas Park, where, through a partnership with the Tenerife Island Council and the Santa Cruz City Council, it will work towards the environmental recovery of the area. For this purpose, the research staff of the Wolfredo Wildpret Botanical Garden Chair at ULL was commissioned to conduct a detailed study that will allow for determining the potential vegetation of this environment, while also promoting the regeneration of the thermophilic forest to turn Las Mesas into a green corridor from Anaga to the capital of Tenerife, with a flow of native species between natural and urban ecosystems.
In conjunction with the Santa Cruz Sustainable Foundation, the monthly program of “routes of unique trees” has been maintained to showcase the existing wealth of species in the city. Intergenerational visits to the Palmetum once again helped make the enclave more familiar to those interested in getting to know the botanical garden, which is an example of a landfill made into a paradise, along with its extraordinary collection of plants. This collaboration has also facilitated a study to evaluate the degree of impact of microplastics in the soils and groundwater of the Anaga Rural Park carried out by the research group in Applied Analytical Chemistry at ULL.
The “School Little Gardens” activity, aimed at promoting respect for the environment, sustainable consumption and healthy eating among young people, and the “Ambiéntate” event, focused on environmental education projects for schools, organized by World Environment Day, rounded out the annual and traditional collaboration between the two foundations.
As part of the collaboration between Fundación Cepsa and the Palmetum of Santa Cruz, an agreement was signed to renew and expand its nursery and thus help improve conditions for the reproduction and growth of the botanical collection, while also broadening the dimension related to science and research. In addition, collaboration has been pursued with the regular census of the avifauna in this enclave by SEO/BirdLife, with the main objective of establishing indicators of the state of conservation of biodiversity.
And, given the repopulation needs that arose after the fire that devastated Tenerife last summer, Fundación Cepsa decided to collaborate, hand in hand with the Tenerife Council, in expanding the nursery at the Teide Botanical Garden in order to double the production of plants and contribute to the environmental restoration of the flora in this National Park.
Another one of the collaborations signed in the year allowed the launch of a new pilot project focused on the need to cooperate in solving the problems derived from the incorrect management of household oil. It was carried out jointly with the Tenerife Island Council and the Ataretaco Foundation and aimed at supporting environmental education and awareness, and organizing the collection of used vegetable oil in eight primary schools located in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
As part of the corporate volunteering program Voluntas, professionals from Cepsa and their families were able to participate in environmental awareness activities such as watering and maintaining a reforested area in the Osorio area, in Gran Canaria, in collaboration with the Foresta Foundation, or a garbage clean-up action in the Tahodio Ravine, in Tenerife, with the help of the Santa Cruz Sustainable Foundation.
Biodiversity actions were further strengthened with the Second Biodiversity Conference of Fundación Cepsa, organized at the end of last year in Tenerife under the title “Conservation of Biodiversity, Key to Sustainability in the Canary Islands and Andalusia,” as a space for reflection and shared knowledge, to promote collective awareness. The event showcases the most outstanding initiatives in which the foundation is present, either as a promoter or as a significant collaborator, in both communities, where it acts by restoring natural spaces, maintaining them, providing education and raising environmental awareness, and also through specific research projects. And always with dialog and partnerships.
In short, Fundación Cepsa continues to make a positive impact on Canarian society through its contribution in key areas such as social, environmental, and scientific and educational affairs. Every year, our commitment and actions have a significant impact on the Islands.
