The “Água Boa” project bets on Environmental Education as a tool for the population to exercise its citizenship with regard to water, sewage, garbage, and urban forests in Nazaré Paulista. In recent years, it has held training courses and activities for young high school students, as well as courses for 72 teachers from the municipal school network.

Loss of native riparian vegetation, silting up of water bodies, dumping of untreated sewage and garbage in irregular areas. Problems like these affect many Brazilian cities and it was these that motivated the “Good Water” project to reach out to the citizens of Nazaré Paulista (SP) and alert them to these and other major environmental challenges facing the city. The project focuses on environmental education as a tool for the population to exercise their citizenship with regard to water, sewage, waste and urban forests. With the support of FEHIDRO, the project launched the Água Boa teaching material, distributed free of charge to public school teachers to transmit and multiply knowledge about the region’s socio-environmental challenges.

The project’s idea is for teachers to be able to multiply this acquired knowledge with quality, bringing differentiated tools that facilitate learning. One of these tools was even developed in 2015, together with the project team, teachers and students from ESCAS – IPÊ’s School of Environmental Conservation and Sustainability. It consists of a book, a CD and a kit of games called ProvocAção.

GOOD WATER MATERIAL AND TEASING GAME

An integrated vision of water resources must include issues such as the supply of treated water, sewage collection and treatment, the waste collection system and the occupation of risk areas along streams, associated with the suppression of riparian forests. Understanding the need to raise people’s awareness that these issues are interconnected, and that quality of life and urban sustainability are inseparable, the project developed the educational and informational material “ÁGUA BOA” (GOOD WATER), financed by the São Paulo state government through the State Water Resources Fund (FEHIDRO).

This book, which was inspired by a number of initiatives, presents indicators to monitor and report on Nazaré Paulista’s progress towards sustainability, as well as suggestions and concrete measures to minimize or solve the problems identified. Most of the indicators formulated are quantitative and express, through measures, the state or condition of the main theme, water, and related themes that impact on its quality and availability: sewage, waste and the urban forest. Each theme presented is accompanied by principles for cities, which involve the actions of public authorities and individual citizens.

Together with the material, the games kit allows teachers to work on the topics covered in a playful and creative way, which are of great importance for the conservation of the region’s natural resources, as well as for the quality of life of its population.

The material is distributed to teachers at schools in Nazaré Paulista and other cities under the jurisdiction of the Regional Education Boards of Bragança Paulista and Mirante do Paranapanema.

Access the book HERE.

STUDENTS INVOLVED

As well as working with teachers, the project also carries out educational and environmental activities with students from the municipal school system. Clean-up efforts, lectures and activities on nature trails are some of the actions that involve schoolchildren and awaken their understanding of the issue.

One of the activities highlighted was the creation of themed spots produced by young people from the municipality of Nazaré Paulista to disseminate the current situation of water resources and related issues in the region. To listen, click on the links below: