Advancing Sustainability Education

Hi, I’m 20 years old and I am a Agrifood and Biological Engineering student at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) in Valencia, Spain, specialised in Horticulture and Urban Gardening.

I am really passionate about nature, a love that my grandpa brought me up from a very very young age. At only one year old I sat on the field playing with wildflowers and mud while he grew potatoes, beans, peppers, pumpkins, a lot of different fruit like apples, plums and olives, which we would use to make handmade olive oil. He also raised laying hens and turkeys in his home garden.

This inspired me to take part in conservation initiatives for heirloom varieties in my area and volunteered in farms in rural France and Germany through the WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) network, acquiring valuable insights on organic farm management, permaculture and environmental education.

And to evade myself from exam stresses and to explore my more artistic, mindful side I’ve been taking pottery classes for the last 3 years in a local community pottery center. As a very active person in my local community I strive to make a meaningful long-term impact on climate change action through small steps and international initiatives such as this one.

Projects

Not only the living, but also the stars and the soil have awakened a deep fascination in me. As an astronomy nerd, I love to do science communication and divulgation workshops to teenagers as well as co-lead the local student astronomy club at my university (AstroUPV).

Other sustainability-related projects include exploring the potential of photocatalytic water treatment for wastewater management and green hydrogen production, recycling wool from meat sheep for house insulation and innovative gardening integrations within the AzaleaUPV project at UPV, a student-led research initiative for sustainable (socially, environmentally and economically) passivhaus urbanistic solutions.

I also had the opportunity to participate in the Hackathon IndusHack – Living Lab 2024 at ETSII-UPV in which our team proposal VLCzero to decarbonise the Vera campus at UPV won the first prize, representing a fusion between smart gardening, biotechnology and energy engineering.