The Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF) and the Fundación Universitaria Iberoamericana (FUNIBER) hosted a lecture on sustainable development. The event was held at the Barceló Hotel in Santo Domingo with approximately 100 people in attendance.

Massiel Castro, Coordinator of FUNIBER in the Dominican Republic, gave the opening remarks and a briefing on FUNIBER’s work in the region.

The discussion covered the main results from Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD)’s publication, “Hacia el Desarrollo Sostenible y la Economía Verde en la República Dominicana“, presented by Maria Victoria Abreu, GFDD’s International Relations and Socio-economic Development Project Manager, and was followed by a special screening of GFDD/Funglode’s short film, “Garbage or Resource? A Dominican Republic Experience”. Both the presentation of the book and the short film generated an interesting conversation among the participants.

Ginny Heinsen, from the Centro para el Desarrollo Agropecuario y Forestal (CEDAF), presented the organization’s program on recycling and their upcoming beaches and coasts cleaning day.

This event is part of GFDD’s DREFF and FUNIBER agreement to promote sustainable development in the Dominican Republic.

More information:
www.funiber.org.do
www.cedaf.org.do

The prizewinning GFDD short film “Garbage or Resource? A Dominican Republic Experience” has been selected to screen at the online Green Unplugged Festival, and will be available on the Culture Unplugged website from June to December 2015. This global online festival promotes restoring the wholeness of the environment through film.

Natasha Despotovic, Executive Director at GFDD and creator of “Garbage or Resource? A Dominican Republic Experience”, says “Our vision is to create documentary films of social, environmental and cultural content that promote sustainable development in the Dominican Republic and around the world.” Following its successful screening as an official selection in thirteen international festivals, the film has won three prestigious international awards in 2014, including Best Documentary at the Green Lens Environmental Film Festival, 2nd Place Fan Coral Award at the Reef Renaissance Film Festival, and Best Documentary at the Miami Short Film Festival.

According to their mission statement, Green Unplugged is “a festival that aspires not only to witness the regeneration of the environment, but also to contemplate upon integral spiritual values which form our relationship with Mother Earth and fellow species.” Green Unplugged is an opportunity to reflect upon our collective conscious and the present human impulse that is participating in life’s creation process. With this event, the goal is to “envision what may help us harmonize our living and being—with authentic nature within and without.”

About the short film

“Garbage or Resource” was created in 2013 and explores the more than 340 open-air landfills which can be found in the Dominican Republic. These landfills have become highly-concentrated areas of air and water pollution and are an unseen danger for every Dominican. Fortunately, the country is witnessing cultural changes that are creating initiatives that convert this problem into an opportunity for development. The message is clear: trash is no longer just trash, it now has value. The film depicts how recycling has become an important economic opportunity for Dominicans. Through various corporate and educational projects, the viewer observes how—aside from the obvious environmental benefits—recycling enables economic development through the generation of new companies and industries.

To watch the video on GFDD’s YouTube channel:

The film will be available to view at Culture Unplugged online, along with others, until December 2015.

More information:
www.globalfoundationdd.org
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/
http://garbage.dreff.org

As part of the celebration of the Environment Week 2015, on June 2, Unibe hosted an orientation session on ReCrearte, GFDD/Funglode creative recycling program. A total of 65 students majoring in Marketing, Medicine and Advertising joined the “green” wave of creative recycling. In addition, after the lecture, the young people enjoyed GFDD’s award-winning documentary “Garbage or Resource? A Dominican Republic Experience,” which provides an overview of solid waste management at the national level, and provides practical solutions for its management.

At the conclusion of the presentations, attendees enjoyed easy access to the craft pieces made by some of the finest ReCrearte program practitioners, arranged for display and sale at the university.

These activities are part of the Environment Week 2015, which has included a series of national and international documentaries –in the framework of the DREFF Environmental Film Screenings– aiming to raise awareness and deepen the understanding of the local public on environmental issues.

The ReCrearte program aims to raise public awareness on the three golden rules, or 3Rs, for the proper management of solid waste: reduce, reuse and recycle. The workshops demonstrate and underscore the idea that recycling waste and transforming it into art can strengthen both the individuals and the communities alike.

For more information:
www.globalfoundationdd.org

UNIBE formally opened Environment Week 2015 – dedicated this year to the prestigious biologist and environmentalist Celeste Mir– with a screening of Lago Enriquillo: Preludio del cambio climático (Lake Enriquillo: Prelude to Climate Change). The film’s director, Fernando Báez, was present at the event, which was organized through UNIBE’s partnership with the Dominican Environmental Film Festival, an initiative of GFDD/Funglode.

This documentary shows, in great detail, the origin and changes Lake Enriquillo has undergone for decades through the use of a historical collection of images captured by the lens of the film’s producer and director.

During Environment Week 2015, the Dominican Environmental Film Festival, (DREFF) – through its Environmental Films Projection program – will screen several movies and offer panels and workshops as part of an agreement recently signed between DREFF and the Environmental Network of Dominican Universities (RAUDO in Spanish). Through this agreement, both parties expressed their interest in supporting the development and promotion of activities aimed at increasing and deepening environmental awareness in the Dominican Republic and, especially, among universities.

The goal of GFDD/Funglode is to provide more information and expand understanding of environmental issues for the local public while also celebrating the beauty and diversity of the natural heritage of the Dominican Republic. It also provides insight into attitudes and actions that contribute to the protection and conservation of natural resources, and promotes awareness of the importance of sustainable socio-economic development in the Dominican Republic and abroad.

When the film was over, the students took part in a Q&A session about the documentary with director Fernando Báez.

The Year Round Environmental Film Screenings program provides an opportunity for schools, community centers, and businesses, as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations, to enjoy the most interesting films that were screened at previous DREFF Festivals free of charge.

More information:
www.globalfoundationdd.org