Students from Vilhena School Launch Sustainable Best Practices Guide
Publication aims to guide students, teachers, and staff on the importance of conscious waste disposal produced on school premises
In commemoration of World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5, high school students integrated and technical in Environmental Education from the Pará Technical School (EETEPA), Vilhena Alves, in the São Brás neighborhood of Belém, launched the guide "Sustainable Best Practices" on the morning of Wednesday (4).
The objective is to raise awareness among students, teachers, and staff about the importance of conscious disposal of all waste produced on school premises. The initiative arose through the Incubator of products and services of the Amazonian bioeconomy, which is an award-winning project executed at Vilhena Alves and aims to provide support to students and facilitate institutional articulation to enable sustainable solutions to environmental challenges.
The guide is linked to the Solid Waste Management Plan (PGRS) which aims for the proper management of waste, from its generation to final disposal. The initiative seeks to minimize environmental impacts and is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), global targets established by the United Nations (UN) to promote sustainable development in various areas by 2030.
To prepare the guide, students from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years of the Environmental course conducted a detailed study of the school space. From data collection through interviews, they developed a diagnosis that resulted in a report pointing out the sectors of the school with less access to information or with inadequate waste disposal practices.
“The guide is an unprecedented program within the technical school at the state level. It is important to organize the issue of disposal, the selection of our waste, to monitor this from disposal, consumption, and even final disposal. We are preparing our students to experience in the best way the largest climate discussion event that will take place in the country, which will be Cop30, where our school” said the project coordinator and the technical course in environmental science, Dr. Kátia Garcez.
Julyane Moraes, a student of the course, shared a bit about the process of producing the guide. “Teachers Raimundo Melo, Fabio Guerra Marcus Souza, and Maria Carolina Viggiano spent three months with the classes, guiding us on the analyses and how we should establish the correct procedures to dispose of the guide. We had practical experience of how the environmental technician works. So the project had this importance for us to understand how the technician can take action within any public agency.”
The launch of the guide featured a lecture by Soraya Costa, co-founder of the Alachaster Institute, which conducts work focused on green economy, bioeconomy, and traditional knowledge. “We are happy to contribute to the training of these new professionals; there is no way to disconnect any action of sustainability or organization that does not think about the environment and entrepreneurship without thinking about education. Speaking at a school that supports sustainable practices is gratifying,” she pointed out.
For Ana Beatriz Pantoja, a beginner in the environmental course, the day was full of exchange and learning about the importance of the “5Rs” of sustainability. “Here at school, we have several projects in the environmental course, linked to bioeconomy, recycling, selective collection, there is a garden, creative fashion, where we learn to rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle, and refuse. The guide came at a good time; as a citizen, I have more knowledge, and as a future technician, I understand where I can act,” said the student.
Director Vânia Carneiro explained about the possible “School + Green” seal that the technical school is applying for, which is granted by the Ministry of the Environment. “It is a seal that recognizes and rewards schools that stand out for their socio-environmental practices and commitment to sustainability. Here at Vilhena Alves, we always seek the theme, and our responsibility doubles from the moment Belém will host Cop30,” she affirms.
Text by Carla Couto / Ascom Sectet
