Through classroom and online trainings, the project seeks to raise awareness on sustainable habits and attitudes among educators, students and school communities in seven Brazilian cities.
Have you ever thought about how everything we consume affects nature, people and even the climate of the planet? There is a direct relationship between consumption, sustainability, and care for the environment. And schools are a fundamental educational space where we can reflect upon all that. Having that in mind, EcoAtivos was conceived, a project in partnership with Alana through its program Criança e Consumo (Child and Consumerism), in a public contest at UNEP – United Nations Environment Program – concerning the Sustainable Lifestyles and Education (SLE) Programme, which was approved in 2016.
Based on the Education for Sustainability concept, EcoAtivos will offer classroom and online trainings for teachers and school counselors from public schools in different regions in the country to broaden awareness and knowledge on sustainable habits and attitudes in the school community. More than 500 elementary public schools will be involved, in seven Brazilian cities ‐ Belém (PA), Brasília (DF), Canoas (RS), Novo Hamburgo (RS), Porto Alegre (RS), Salvador (BA) and São Paulo (SP) ‐ reaching more than 2.5 thousand teachers, between 2017 and 2018, in partnership with the State and Municipal Departments of Education.
The course sessions, which will start early in 2018, aim to act as an incentive for teachers to motivate their students to create projects that relate their local reality with sustainable consumption, the environment, and climate change. “These are issues which are directly associated with the development of ethical values, and schools ought to incorporate them in the classroom; after all, after their family, they are the second place of socialization of the child, where their subjectiveness and critical thinking are cultivated”, has stressed Isabella Henriques, Advocacy Director at Alana. All projects devised by the students will be published on the website of Criativos da Escola program, which is the national version of Design for Change, with potential for being awarded at Criativos da Escola Challenge.
“EcoAtivos intends to change current and future lifestyles by motivating children to become transformation agents. The trainings aim to impact teachers, supporting them with tools and opportunities to make good practices widespread”, explains Mônica Borba, Coordinator at EcoAtivos.
Learn more about the project on the site: ecoativos.org.br.
Leia a versão em PORTUGUÊS
