On 22 April 2018, an Earth Day Festival took place at El Rodeo Community Center, as an initiative of University for Peace students and volunteers of the Earth Charter International. 
The event was created with the motto of “We seek a more sustainable world, together we can achieve it“. This event was endorsed by the University for Peace and the Earth Charter International Secretariat, as main collaborators in the organization and delivery of the event.
The main objective of this event was to emphasize the importance of the responsible use of our natural resources as well as the reduction plastic pollution. The benefits of the event will go to Mora Limpia y Sostenible, a project launched by students of the University for Peace, the Earth Charter, the Integral Climate Park and the Municipality of Mora to improve recycling in the Canton of Mora.
This event was organized in collaboration with the Municipality of Mora, the Integral Climate Park, Ekojunto, the Catholic Church of Ciudad Colon, the Colon Police Delegation, the El Rodeo School, SICA of Costa Rica and the Rodeo Development Association. This collaboration has enhanced the event with talks given by members of these organizations, locals of El Rodeo and Ciudad Colon, and students from the University for Peace.
Among the participants who were selling and entertaining the event were the indigenous community of Quitirrisí, students of the University for Peace, members of the community El Rodeo, members of the Association of artisans of Ciudad Colon and members of the community from Ciudad Colon, and debutants from the Miss Earth pageant. Among the musicians, we had Bianka and Faustino an instrumental duet that delighted the activity in a spectacular way, David Piconsillo who sang and played the keyboard, and a Venezuelan representative Oscar who not only sang, but also participated as master of ceremonies. As part of one of the fundraising activities for the Mora Limpia y Sostenible, a number of items were awarded as a raffle by local businesses that supported the initiative such as Ziggy Store, Memo’s Market, Buccaneers, Caribbean Jam, Charles Skinner and members of the Rodeo community.
The activity started at 9:30 a.m with an opening ceremony by Christine Lacayo, Alicia Jimenez and Mario Guell who gave the opening words and explained the purpose of the event. An elder from the Indigenous Quitirrisí Reserve blessed the land with a few words and a ceremony in order to continue the event. A Clean-up walk took place led by a local from El Rodeo and an Earth Charter volunteer. The event finished with great success at 3:00 p.m with everyone commenting on how beautiful and entertaining the event turned out.
Written by: Xilonem Quiñonez, Earth Charter Intern