Time.
It is the one thing that many of us feel like we don’t have enough
of. Generally, we move through our lives at a rapid pace with mobile
phones permanently on and our attention fixed on work and earning a
living.
But
in Catalonia, just as in other parts of the planet, there is an
increasing number of people who are trying to reject a hectic
ultra-modern lifestyle. They want to experience things in an
unhurried way and the international Slow Movement is now helping that
to happen.
Inspired
by Italian Carlo Petrini’s Slow Food Foundation, which quickly
spread world-wide, a number of other Slow movements have begun to
emerge, especially across Europe. These now include Slow Science,
Slow Design, Slow Money, Slow Travel, Slow Cinema (in
this country with, Eduard Punset Casals, the Barcelona-born
economist, lawyer and science writer/commentator) and even a Slow
Parenting book by Helle Heckman, to add to Carl Honoré’s greatly
influential title, “In Praise of Slow.”
On top of all this, we
have Slow Towns (CittaSlow,
in Italian) which in Catalonia is the two Empordà
Baix
villages of Begur and Pals on the Costa Brava. (The Spanish Slow
Towns are Bigastro, Lekeittio, Mungia and Rubielos de Mora.)
But
what exactly is a Slow Town?
According
to the official website “There
are currently 147 Cittaslow towns in 24 countries across the world
making Cittaslow an internationally recognised standard [of]
accreditation that acknowledges the dedication and commitment of
community members who work hard to make their part of the world a
healthier, greener, happier, slower place to inhabit.”
The
mayors of each town are representatives on
the international organization of CittaSlow and they are charged with
the responsibility of co-ordinating the preservation of their
regions’ “distinct identities in the face of global
homogenisation.”
Only
a town with less than 50,000 residents can apply for formal
recognition and CittaSlow states that those who are accepted “are
not state capitals or the seat of regional governments, but are
strong communities that have made the choice to improve the quality
of life for their inhabitants.”
To
achieve the status of “Slow Town,” the town council must agree to
accept the guidelines of Slow Food and work to “improve
conviviality and conserve the local environment.” It first has to
pay 600.00 euros to the Cittaslow central office.
Apart from
the continuing promotion of Slow Food restaurants and suppliers, some
programs already implemented in Slow Towns include recycling
projects, after-school programs, and the provision of information for
tourists that helps them have a genuine “local’s” experience.
For general public use in festivals for example, town councils can
also buy Cittaslow biodegradable pulp plates and cutlery made from
cellulose, while in their offices using approved recycled paper
notepads.
In
Catalonia the Slow Food branch in Lleida is particularly active and
the Facebook group of the “Slow
Movement Catalunya” has in excess of
150 members. They say that they are a social movement that:
“defends a slower life, without pressure and eating calmly with
friends [in addition to] advocating working at a reasonable pace and
not more hours than is necessary, gazing at the sea, playing with
children, conscientious thinking and going out for a tranquil walk.”
Last
year Carlo Petrini, the founder and President of Slow Food
International spoke at the United Nations Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues. As the first ever outside speaker to be invited to
address the floor in the this forum's ten-year history he gave Slow
Food's perspective during a session on the right to food and food
sovereignty.
How
long might it be before a Catalan from one of the many Slow movements
does the same?
Links:
An
edited version of the text above was first published in Catalonia Today magazine in February, 2013.
