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Bracell has launched an environmental education initiative in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to promote awareness of sustainability issues in schools. Launched in partnership with Social Service for Industry (SESI), an NGO focused on community education and wellbeing, and with the support of local government, the motto of the Environmental Experiences project is ‘We take care of the planet and nature by starting to take care of the place where we are’.
About 120 children aged between 9 and 10, from three municipal elementary schools in Duartina and Borebi, in São Paulo, are participating in the project. The project involves specific modules being integrated into the curriculum at the participating school. The four modules are: Citizenship and Environment, Water and Energy, Soils and Solid Waste, Earth Charter and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The project will run for an initial four-month period. Participants will have access to practical workshops with various activities including games, drawing and painting, field research, storytelling, videos, building toys from recyclable materials, and lessons in how to re-use items that would otherwise be discarded, The project will also involve students helping to create new vegetable gardens that will revitalize open spaces in the participating schools.
The classroom space for the students will be expanded to other areas in the schools, such as covered patios, sports courts, and garden. This will help make the lessons more impactful and closer to the reality of children and their experiences.
Children participating in the Environmental Experiences project
At the beginning of the project, children will become ‘Environment Detectives’, whose mission is to find positive ways to act in the face of inappropriate behaviour, in terms of the use, waste and disposal of natural resources in the places where they live. In line with the project’s motto, children are led to understand their role in helping to protect the environment at school, at home, in the community and in society.
The participating students have chosen the butterfly as a symbol of the project because it represents transformation and, according to the children themselves, it represents beauty, joy and is an indicator of a healthy environment. With each weekly activity, the content learned encourages students to act as socio-environmental multipliers, sharing knowledge with their families and communities.
“The project is a way to promote transformation and support students to become ambassadors for sustainable actions. As a society, we need to join forces to respect and preserve the environment, and children are important multipliers of awareness about the sustainability challenges we face, and possible solutions”, said Laís Drezza, Sustainability Manager, Bracell.
