Tomorrow today; 2010 - unesdoc - Unesco

Let’s take care of the planet:education for sustainable societiesRachel Trajber, Ministry of Education, BrazilPaulo Freire, one of the most famous Brazilian educators,pointed out that “the possible dream has to do exactlywith a liberation education, not with a domesticatingeducation, while at the same time practicing utopia... Utopiain the sense of the practice that leads to a dialectical dynamicand entails the denunciation of an unjust society with exploitation,and pointing toward a possible dream for society.”This is a dream that we now call sustainable development orsustainable societies.In Brazil, the past seven years (starting on World Environment Day,5 June, 2003 and culminating on 5-10 June, 2010) have witnessedan astounding force of mobilization and passion permeating environmentaleducation for sustainable societies in schools. Overthis period, the National and International Children and YouthConferences for the Environment were implemented in secondaryschools all over Brazil and, later on, throughout the world,ultimately becoming reference points for public environmentaleducation policy management.In 2010, a cycle of three National Children and Youth Conferences,Let’s Take Care of Brazil, which culminated in a successful internationalconference, Let’s Take Care of the Planet,came to a close. Each one pioneered innovative topicsand actions shaped by creativity, cumulative learning,complex concepts and methods that were expandedover time. Local, regional, national and internationalconference processes have contributed to amplify thevoices of children and of their schools and communities,and to effectively empower and include adolescentsin the international dialogue.The Children and Youth International Conference forthe Environment is included in the framework, missionand goals of the UN Decade of Education for SustainableDevelopment (DESD), 2005–2014. The main themes ofthe Decade are citizenship, community values, diversity,interdependence, sustainability, quality of life andsocial justice, all of which correspond to the goals of theconference. However, above all, the conference seeksto contribute to the incorporation of a new generationthat constitutes a large portion of humanity and that istraditionally thought of as the future but that neverthelesslives, thinks and acts in the present.Images: Ministry of Education, BrazilWorld Environmental Day – many nations attended the Conference, which has become a reference point for environmental education policy management[ 76 ]