Ana is 13 years old and has an autism spectrum disorder. Together with her classmates from the Jeroni de Moragas special education school, for a few hours, she has become an environment explorer in the Montserrat Natural Park (Barcelona) to try to discover some of its best-kept secrets.
At the Cellnex Foundation, we believe in inclusive leisure as an opportunity of environmental integration, improving autonomy and developing social skills. With this objective in mind, we have deployed an inclusive hiking project in collaboration with the Board of Trustees of Montserrat Mountain and the AMPANS Foundation.
A few days before the Christmas holidays, several groups of boys and girls aged between 12 and 16 with different impairment degrees related to autism spectrum disorders and behavioural disorders enjoyed a programme of adapted activities in the natural area of the mountain of Montserrat. Volunteers and specialised professionals such as Koldo Villalba, an expert nature guide, assisted them.
Using the senses and through different sound stimuli, participants could interact directly with the environment and discover the peculiarities of the local flora and fauna, boosting their stimulation.
Through this project, and thanks to the commitment and solidarity of all the participants, we helped to overcome some barriers that hinder persons with disabilities or reduced mobility from accessing natural spaces. Through knowledge dissemination, respect and conservation of the environment in a simple and fun way, the children could be the protagonists of this new leisure experience for many of them.
“Offering our students this kind of experience has a great educational value, and at the same time helps us to transmit respect for nature and the landscape in a place as beautiful and full of symbolism as Montserrat,” the school’s deputy director Jeroni de Moragas said.
From our commitment to society and the territory, at the Cellnex Foundation we continue to work to promote education, quality of life, guidance and support for persons in vulnerable situations.
Together, we are stronger.
