Guimarães at the center of International Environmental Education
The municipality promoted best environmental practices and a youth Eco Parliament with MEP João Albuquerque.
The Guimarães Landscape Laboratory promoted the International Environmental Education Meeting on the 25th, 26th and 27th of January, as part of the celebrations of its tenth anniversary. The initiative brought together researchers, technicians, teachers, students and municipalities, with participation from Germany, France, Spain and Brazil, in sharing best practices in terms of environmental policies and debating innovative solutions to problems in the area.
Adelina Paula Pinto, president of the Landscape Laboratory and vice-president of the Guimarães City Council, considered the central role that children have in sustainable development. The argument was defended in the opening session of the event, which set the tone for the activities carried out in the municipality, aimed at children at different levels of education.
Highlight was the Friday afternoon session when a delegation of members of the Eco Parliament of Guimarães had the opportunity to talk to MEP João Albuquerque. The young deputies from the Fernando Távora, Virgínia Moura and Abel Salazar School Groups learned, for example, that the Environment Committee in the European Parliament is the one with the most members. In this panel, the MEP explained to young people from Guimarães, winners of the Eco Parliament 2023, the importance of the European Green Deal, to which Guimarães has already joined.
It should be noted that the “Footsteps” Environmental Education and Awareness Program also celebrates its tenth year. The initiative promoted by the Chamber of Guimarães and the Landscape Laboratory, founded by the municipality and the Universities of Minho and Trás-os- Montes and Alto Douro, has already reached 20 thousand students and 1500 teachers. Among the anchor activities is the Eco Parliament, in which children are invited to identify environmental challenges and propose solutions that they have to defend, arguing in debate sessions.
Sharing the best environmental policies
Event participants had the opportunity to witness some of the good practices in the municipality of Guimarães. In the historic center, they contacted PAYT, a garbage collection system, operating since 2017, in which residents pay depending on the amount of waste they produce. The retention basins, created in 2015 to regulate the flow of the Couros River and prevent flooding in the city centre, and the Gymnastics Academy, were other examples of the municipality’s environmental policies.
Domingos Bragança, president of Guimarães City Council, highlighted the numerous sustainability initiatives in the municipality’s curriculum in its candidacy for European Green Capital. Remember that, after fifth place in 2020 – won by Lisbon – and being a finalist for 2025 – won by Vilnius, Lithuania -, Guimarães has already taken on the third candidacy, thinking about 2026.
Under the theme “Environmental Education in the Construction of Sustainable Communities”, the event also addressed “Active Citizenship and Co-creation” with presentations by Luísa Schmidt, from the University of Lisbon, and Margarida Correia Marques, from the University of Trás-os- Montes and Alto Douro. Francisco Teixeira, from the Portuguese Environment Agency, focused on “Environmental Education: Citizenship Laboratory”, and Ronaldo Sousa, from the University of Minho, addressed the topic: “Uniting citizen science and local ecological knowledge for healthier ecosystems”. The communications blocks covered topics such as water management, circular economy, art as a driver of change and citizen science.
The meeting, held at the Guimarães Landscape Laboratory, already has a second edition announced for February 2025, to be a showcase of good environmental practices at the local level. Over the three days, the 2024 edition featured a total of 28 oral communications, including twin cities, and 17 posters.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and TikTok and see the exclusive content for social networks.
