Education as a means of socio-environmental transformation in a megadiverse country 

Community engagement and environmental education are essential parts of our projects and have often ensured the longevity of biodiversity conservation initiatives in various parts of the country, as stated in this activity report. The path that IPÊ has followed to date has always been to see education as the best means for the socio-environmental transformation we seek. As an almost natural step in this process and complementary to our actions, we have realized a long-held dream since our founding, when we created our own conservation school. 

Since 1992, when IPÊ was founded, we have been concerned about exchanging knowledge with younger generations. Sharing the knowledge we learned in the field or the national and international connections we established was our way of supporting students and interested parties who could blossom as professionals in conservation and sustainability. This was a path of no return. In fact, a path that has only grown with the passing of the years. 

In the beginning, our courses were held out of a desire to share what we had learned about field techniques, environmental education, conservation medicine, and our beloved Conservation Biology course, which many said was a “condensed master’s or doctorate.” With the support of the Smithsonian Institute, led by the late Dr. Rudi Rudram, for years we were able to offer a 40-day course that covered many essential topics so that participants would feel prepared to work on the complexities of nature conservation. 

Within the organization itself, through education and incentives for professionals to pursue their individual dreams that add to the collective dreams, we formed a high-quality team. They currently coordinate projects in several locations in Brazil and collaborate with the education offered by IPÊ. 

Education at IPÊ was institutionalized and strengthened over time after the creation of the School of Environmental Conservation and Sustainability (ESCAS). ESCAS offers short courses on various topics that emerge as necessary, such as carbon, environmental education, statistics for conservation, among others. A major breakthrough was the launch of the professional master’s degree approved by CAPES, which has already produced more than 220 master’s graduates and 64 are on the way to graduation. ESCAS also created a specialization program with FIA-USP that emphasizes the importance of sustainability in the corporate world. 

Why so much effort in education? 

A country with megadiversity like Brazil needs competent and well-prepared professionals to protect its immense natural wealth. This was the guiding idea behind ESCAS, based on the needs and opportunities to invite high-level researchers to share teachings and new ideas, often bold, but which seek to integrate science, traditional knowledge and application with practices that help improve the protection of species, habitats, educational programs, and even policies related to socio-environmental issues. 

We, human beings, are degrading the environment and it is up to us to do something different! Prepared and, above all, engaged professionals help to awaken people’s interest, each in their own area of knowledge, to do better to create solutions that are capable of facing current challenges. 

How does the education offered by ESCAS – IPÊ stand out? 

One characteristic of what IPÊ has always advocated is that theory and practice go hand in hand. It is no coincidence that the ESCAS master’s degree is professional, that is, the learning is to be applied and the theories serve as a basis for the actions to be implemented. 

Another characteristic is the integration of fields of knowledge. Interdisciplinarity is key to meeting the real-world needs of conservation and sustainability. As a result, social, environmental and economic aspects become inseparable, with varying scales of intensity depending on the contexts of the work carried out by students. 

Interdisciplinarity is another aspect encouraged by ESCAS – IPÊ. With very different backgrounds, the selected students may come from fields related to ecology itself, but many have graduated from different areas. This wealth of previous experiences ensures a richness in the course of the classes as well. The vision is broadened and the experiences become plural. 

With this understanding, IPÊ never stops learning and modernizing. We learn constantly and teach with the same goal of improving the actions and effectiveness of what we do. Therefore, learning will always be an integral part of the Institute and its projects. By counting on IPÊ project coordinators as teachers, ESCAS learns and teaches continuously and adapts to new realities and needs. 

When asked why we care about excellence in education at the same time as in the projects we conduct, our answer is that we want to improve Brazil and the world, and help save biodiversity and contribute to improving the living conditions of people who often find themselves isolated and without the chance to reach new perspectives. And in this vision, students are seeds of “ipês” that we have the chance to spread throughout Brazil and the world. 

Suzana Padua, IPÊ’s founder and president