Interview
Margarida Gomes: “Environmental education
alone is not enough”
alone is not enough”
Published on January 28th, 2016
Projects related to the environment need to “work together and not against each other”, and concrete actions by those in power are necessary. This was mentioned by the coordinator of this initiative in Portugal, speaking about the 20 years of the Eco-Schools programme, represented by the European Blue Flag Association (ABAE-Associação Bandeira Azul da Europa), to Clima@ EduMedia. Eco-Schools wants, above all, to reach teenagers as future policy makers, as well as college students. In this interview we talk about the past, present and future, addressing the career of the former teacher who decided with the students "to get down and dirty" for the environment.
You used to be a teacher and you have spent more than a decade as the head of the Eco-Schools programme. What has made you go down this path and opt for this area of environmental education?
There are personal and professional reasons. Professionally, it has to do with my training. As a geographer, I have always had a concern and motivation to work on the impact of Man on the environment that surrounds him. In personal terms, there was a combination of factors in the 90s, more particularly in the period of the Eco 92, which was a landmark conference on Agenda 21, at which point I began working more directly in these areas. At that time, I also became a mother and at a personal level, there is an added motivation because motherhood makes us reflect on the future and the legacy for generations to come. During that period, I began to develop many national and international environmental education projects with my students. This set of factors led me to start working in the area. Since I was involved in several projects, ABAE got in touch with me to coordinate school programmes that the association was - and continues- to implement: the Eco-Schools programme.
Basically, your projects with students were the entrance to this environmental education programme...
Yes, at the time, there was funding for environmental education, which was a tremendous help. Central Administration, through the Environment Programme that had European funding, had available funds to work on the projects and turned out to be a motivation for its implementation on the ground. I thoroughly addressed this aspect in school.
Do you feel there have been significant changes in terms of environmental education in the country and that these funds have played a decisive role?
At that time, there was additional support. Then, they stopped. The way I see it, it is not due to the funding that we have or have not developed environmental education. It served as a motivational propeller to initiate it. Currently, there is no additional support, at least in this way. In terms of change, today all schools, in one way or another, address the issue of environmental education, because sustainability is in the curriculum. In terms of a difference in behaviour, it is crucial to have projects that can make a contribution. The truth is that there are no studies that can ensure the evolution of behaviour and changes in attitude. Empirically, we realise that many schools work on these issues and that students are more familiar with this subject. Regarding the Eco-Schools network, we have data that allow us to say that there is more awareness and there is behavioural change. This is related to the opportunity to work the “hands-on” theme on the ground. The fact that the topics are in the curricula does not guarantee a change in attitudes. One thing is to know the code of recycling, another is going to the recycling drop-off.
The change in behaviour and attitudes is increasing, not just among young people, but among the people, they are able to speak to, in the community and, by extension, in the nearby municipalities.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Eco-Schools programme in Portugal. What balance do you make?
Much has already been done. And there is always much more to do... The Eco-Schools network has been globally growing. Throughout the years, more and more schools and municipalities have become involved and willing to participate. Regarding specific impacts, we have no numbers. We have, in fact, several indicators showing that the practices have increased notably in the waste sector. Note that this is an issue that does not cease to be treated. Practices are incorporated. I think there is a maturity in dealing with issues of the environment. Treating waste is not just something that appeases those who are concerned with the issues of sustainability. There is a concern about other aspects- organic food, healthy food, climate change, sustainable mobility, which are topics that are also being developed. In the beginning, environmental education turned more towards nature conservation and waste management. At the moment, there is a broader concept of sustainability and more issues are being addressed and developed. It is a system in which one realises that all issues are interconnected.
In the first decade, the Eco-Schools asked all the participating schools to annually work on the topic “Water, Waste and Energy”. Afterwards, we said that they should work on another subject and this entails retraining schools that are in the network and integrate projects that will help develop these areas. There has been, in fact, a diversification of approaches to the issues that are addressed throughout the year. The schools involved in our programme must continue to address the core issues of waste, because there are new students every year and because we all continue to produce waste every day. Nevertheless, there is a greater maturity for a more systematic approach and more complex environmental issues than just to separate the trash.
“Projects of different entities on the environment in schools are doing the same and yet facing away one another”
You have mentioned that much remains to be done. What exactly remains to be done in your opinion? What is the priority right now?
Assessment that is serious and comprehensive. We have partial project evaluations, but a real assessment was ever made of the entire network that allows us to really prove what we feel and for which we have evidence. We still have plenty of room to grow. Furthermore, we have only reached 1400 schools, but there are many more in the country. It is always a goal to increase the number of schools which incorporate our philosophy. Its extension to Higher Education is one of the latest objectives. It is an area where there is much work to be done since it is a slightly different world. In Portugal, for some years now, we have been working with universities and some feel it is important to broaden. An adjustment of the programme’s principles and methodology must be performed at this level of education. We also want to improve the quality. We have always sought projects to be progressively more efficient and of higher quality.
Leaving the Eco-Schools network and looking from above, at a country level, maybe there should be more integration and more consonance between the various organisations and projects working in the area of the environment in schools. They should work together and not against each other. We try to fight a little this philosophy, considering it would be more effective to achieve the goals we pursue if “fifty thousand” confusing projects didn’t reach the schools, which then end up not having an impact on real behaviour. Schools are almost harassed. The Ministry of Education, the entity responsible for the disclosure of these projects to these institutions, has to make a more effective selection. Sometimes, everyone is doing the same thing, but with their backs turned to each other. In general terms, I believe that environmental education alone is not enough. It is necessary that the policies and practices of those deciding can enable a change of behaviour. It is essential, it is important, but it must be supported by changes in a political and economic level, among others.
And concerning this quote from Edmund Burke: “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little”. Does it describe the philosophy of environmental education?
Yes, doing little is doing more than doing nothing at all. If we were to think about huge problems such as climate change, we would think “why am I walking if they are opening new oil exploitations in China?” In terms of education, it creates some dilemmas. We always assume that we are to educate and create habits for the future. In this case, these are the future decision-makers. Even if the current makers continue to reach wrong decisions, we believe that this generation coming from schools where there is a greater awareness and with the ability to actively participate, when the time comes to make those decisions, it will behave differently and give more considerable importance to this area. In this case, we have to keep this motto of doing little is doing more than doing nothing at all. I believe 100% in environmental education, but do not think it can be 100% effective. If I want to buy toothpaste without packaging, and all toothpaste have three packages, and I have to brush my teeth. Therefore, I have to continue to buy three packages. This is not being pessimistic, this is being realistic. We cannot forget that we need to demand to those in power, as citizens, for society to change accordingly. Some say that environmental education is for children. More than children, I believe that young people and adults are the ones that need to change because they are the people who are are already consumers and decision-makers.
“It was very interesting to see my work recognised”
Returning to the Eco-Schools, how is your day-to-day as coordinator of this programme?
The Eco-Schools is a programme that has several integrated projects and therefore, my day-to-day involves a lot of hard work because we have a lot in hand. My main area of work is to manage, coordinate, and implement connection strategies between schools, municipalities, and the contents and objectives of the projects, with particular emphasis on training. Environmental training of various target audiences is my main function: firstly, the training of teachers who coordinate the programme, in each school; then, we also train students directly, although less, followed by the other members of the educational community, parents and staff. My day-to-day revolves around the programme’s management and the evaluation and communication indicators- either with schools or with the media – as well as with training management. When I'm not doing it, I have to plan, organise, and create contents. For teachers part of the training is accredited training, with implications for the evaluation of these professionals. We also evaluate the programme, which implies the actual presence in schools. These are regularly visited, there is a table that lets us know on which subject each school can improve and make a positive reinforcement. It is also for that reason that we attribute flags and awards. We believe that through good practices, we will be able to “infect” others to follow suit.
Regarding an award you received three years ago, the Terre de Femmes, what did it mean to you, personally and professionally, to receive it? What were the results?
It was very interesting to see my work recognised. The idea of the project, “Brigadas Verdes” (“Green Brigades”) that won the award, is to encourage the essence of Eco-School. It implies the existence of a group of active students in each educational institution who are responsible for the implementation of activities in schools and for carrying them out. They have a leading role. The main impact was to promote more effectively this project. The award became a money prize for schools, the Eco-Schools, in recognition of the brigades with groups of more interventional and active students with projects that are more related to the local community and that made more sense. Currently, green brigades still exist in all schools. The message was more effective because the recognition and award helped to communicate this idea.
Is there a project, among the several you are involved in, that gives you greater personal satisfaction?
There are many. I like pretty much all of them. There is one that is taking place now and that, for me, particularly, is a very demanding project. It is not very easy, but it gives me great satisfaction. Called “Rota” (“Route”) and involves people directly. It is a project on sustainable mobility in which the goal is for schools and municipalities to create better conditions for mobility around the school and that means to make it easier to walk, cycle or share transport. It is running for a year and marks the 20th anniversary of the Eco-Schools. The idea is to unite the different schools in the country. It consists of passing on the “torch”, which is a flag where students register suggestions and commitments to improve mobility in school. This flag goes from school to school within each municipality. At the end of each route, the schools, which may or may not be Eco-schools, will give the mayor a scroll written by the students with the suggestions made by the county's schools. The Mayor, in turn, has agreed to materialise at least one of them within one year.
What are your projects and ambitions for the future?
This year we have a project with a new theme that is healthy and sustainable food and follows-up on the organic gardens in schools. Many schools have suggested these topics. The part dealing with what is healthy and sustainable is not addressed so frequently. This project is at the beginning and we intend to move forward with it. This year, we want to create eco-lunchboxes, eco-chefs and menus that can be implemented in school cafeterias, but always healthy and sustainable. To obtain that we have developed a number of partnerships. Another project that also we are also implementing is the monitoring and evaluation of impacts on schools of data processing. The purpose and a goal are to assess the quality and encourage the growth of that said quality. Then there are many ideas in the field of biodiversity, in the sea area and past project experiences that we would also like to improve.
By: Renata Silva
There are personal and professional reasons. Professionally, it has to do with my training. As a geographer, I have always had a concern and motivation to work on the impact of Man on the environment that surrounds him. In personal terms, there was a combination of factors in the 90s, more particularly in the period of the Eco 92, which was a landmark conference on Agenda 21, at which point I began working more directly in these areas. At that time, I also became a mother and at a personal level, there is an added motivation because motherhood makes us reflect on the future and the legacy for generations to come. During that period, I began to develop many national and international environmental education projects with my students. This set of factors led me to start working in the area. Since I was involved in several projects, ABAE got in touch with me to coordinate school programmes that the association was - and continues- to implement: the Eco-Schools programme.
Basically, your projects with students were the entrance to this environmental education programme...
Yes, at the time, there was funding for environmental education, which was a tremendous help. Central Administration, through the Environment Programme that had European funding, had available funds to work on the projects and turned out to be a motivation for its implementation on the ground. I thoroughly addressed this aspect in school.
Do you feel there have been significant changes in terms of environmental education in the country and that these funds have played a decisive role?
At that time, there was additional support. Then, they stopped. The way I see it, it is not due to the funding that we have or have not developed environmental education. It served as a motivational propeller to initiate it. Currently, there is no additional support, at least in this way. In terms of change, today all schools, in one way or another, address the issue of environmental education, because sustainability is in the curriculum. In terms of a difference in behaviour, it is crucial to have projects that can make a contribution. The truth is that there are no studies that can ensure the evolution of behaviour and changes in attitude. Empirically, we realise that many schools work on these issues and that students are more familiar with this subject. Regarding the Eco-Schools network, we have data that allow us to say that there is more awareness and there is behavioural change. This is related to the opportunity to work the “hands-on” theme on the ground. The fact that the topics are in the curricula does not guarantee a change in attitudes. One thing is to know the code of recycling, another is going to the recycling drop-off.
The change in behaviour and attitudes is increasing, not just among young people, but among the people, they are able to speak to, in the community and, by extension, in the nearby municipalities.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Eco-Schools programme in Portugal. What balance do you make?
Much has already been done. And there is always much more to do... The Eco-Schools network has been globally growing. Throughout the years, more and more schools and municipalities have become involved and willing to participate. Regarding specific impacts, we have no numbers. We have, in fact, several indicators showing that the practices have increased notably in the waste sector. Note that this is an issue that does not cease to be treated. Practices are incorporated. I think there is a maturity in dealing with issues of the environment. Treating waste is not just something that appeases those who are concerned with the issues of sustainability. There is a concern about other aspects- organic food, healthy food, climate change, sustainable mobility, which are topics that are also being developed. In the beginning, environmental education turned more towards nature conservation and waste management. At the moment, there is a broader concept of sustainability and more issues are being addressed and developed. It is a system in which one realises that all issues are interconnected.
In the first decade, the Eco-Schools asked all the participating schools to annually work on the topic “Water, Waste and Energy”. Afterwards, we said that they should work on another subject and this entails retraining schools that are in the network and integrate projects that will help develop these areas. There has been, in fact, a diversification of approaches to the issues that are addressed throughout the year. The schools involved in our programme must continue to address the core issues of waste, because there are new students every year and because we all continue to produce waste every day. Nevertheless, there is a greater maturity for a more systematic approach and more complex environmental issues than just to separate the trash.
“Projects of different entities on the environment in schools are doing the same and yet facing away one another”
You have mentioned that much remains to be done. What exactly remains to be done in your opinion? What is the priority right now?
Assessment that is serious and comprehensive. We have partial project evaluations, but a real assessment was ever made of the entire network that allows us to really prove what we feel and for which we have evidence. We still have plenty of room to grow. Furthermore, we have only reached 1400 schools, but there are many more in the country. It is always a goal to increase the number of schools which incorporate our philosophy. Its extension to Higher Education is one of the latest objectives. It is an area where there is much work to be done since it is a slightly different world. In Portugal, for some years now, we have been working with universities and some feel it is important to broaden. An adjustment of the programme’s principles and methodology must be performed at this level of education. We also want to improve the quality. We have always sought projects to be progressively more efficient and of higher quality.
Leaving the Eco-Schools network and looking from above, at a country level, maybe there should be more integration and more consonance between the various organisations and projects working in the area of the environment in schools. They should work together and not against each other. We try to fight a little this philosophy, considering it would be more effective to achieve the goals we pursue if “fifty thousand” confusing projects didn’t reach the schools, which then end up not having an impact on real behaviour. Schools are almost harassed. The Ministry of Education, the entity responsible for the disclosure of these projects to these institutions, has to make a more effective selection. Sometimes, everyone is doing the same thing, but with their backs turned to each other. In general terms, I believe that environmental education alone is not enough. It is necessary that the policies and practices of those deciding can enable a change of behaviour. It is essential, it is important, but it must be supported by changes in a political and economic level, among others.
And concerning this quote from Edmund Burke: “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little”. Does it describe the philosophy of environmental education?
Yes, doing little is doing more than doing nothing at all. If we were to think about huge problems such as climate change, we would think “why am I walking if they are opening new oil exploitations in China?” In terms of education, it creates some dilemmas. We always assume that we are to educate and create habits for the future. In this case, these are the future decision-makers. Even if the current makers continue to reach wrong decisions, we believe that this generation coming from schools where there is a greater awareness and with the ability to actively participate, when the time comes to make those decisions, it will behave differently and give more considerable importance to this area. In this case, we have to keep this motto of doing little is doing more than doing nothing at all. I believe 100% in environmental education, but do not think it can be 100% effective. If I want to buy toothpaste without packaging, and all toothpaste have three packages, and I have to brush my teeth. Therefore, I have to continue to buy three packages. This is not being pessimistic, this is being realistic. We cannot forget that we need to demand to those in power, as citizens, for society to change accordingly. Some say that environmental education is for children. More than children, I believe that young people and adults are the ones that need to change because they are the people who are are already consumers and decision-makers.
“It was very interesting to see my work recognised”
Returning to the Eco-Schools, how is your day-to-day as coordinator of this programme?
The Eco-Schools is a programme that has several integrated projects and therefore, my day-to-day involves a lot of hard work because we have a lot in hand. My main area of work is to manage, coordinate, and implement connection strategies between schools, municipalities, and the contents and objectives of the projects, with particular emphasis on training. Environmental training of various target audiences is my main function: firstly, the training of teachers who coordinate the programme, in each school; then, we also train students directly, although less, followed by the other members of the educational community, parents and staff. My day-to-day revolves around the programme’s management and the evaluation and communication indicators- either with schools or with the media – as well as with training management. When I'm not doing it, I have to plan, organise, and create contents. For teachers part of the training is accredited training, with implications for the evaluation of these professionals. We also evaluate the programme, which implies the actual presence in schools. These are regularly visited, there is a table that lets us know on which subject each school can improve and make a positive reinforcement. It is also for that reason that we attribute flags and awards. We believe that through good practices, we will be able to “infect” others to follow suit.
Regarding an award you received three years ago, the Terre de Femmes, what did it mean to you, personally and professionally, to receive it? What were the results?
It was very interesting to see my work recognised. The idea of the project, “Brigadas Verdes” (“Green Brigades”) that won the award, is to encourage the essence of Eco-School. It implies the existence of a group of active students in each educational institution who are responsible for the implementation of activities in schools and for carrying them out. They have a leading role. The main impact was to promote more effectively this project. The award became a money prize for schools, the Eco-Schools, in recognition of the brigades with groups of more interventional and active students with projects that are more related to the local community and that made more sense. Currently, green brigades still exist in all schools. The message was more effective because the recognition and award helped to communicate this idea.
Is there a project, among the several you are involved in, that gives you greater personal satisfaction?
There are many. I like pretty much all of them. There is one that is taking place now and that, for me, particularly, is a very demanding project. It is not very easy, but it gives me great satisfaction. Called “Rota” (“Route”) and involves people directly. It is a project on sustainable mobility in which the goal is for schools and municipalities to create better conditions for mobility around the school and that means to make it easier to walk, cycle or share transport. It is running for a year and marks the 20th anniversary of the Eco-Schools. The idea is to unite the different schools in the country. It consists of passing on the “torch”, which is a flag where students register suggestions and commitments to improve mobility in school. This flag goes from school to school within each municipality. At the end of each route, the schools, which may or may not be Eco-schools, will give the mayor a scroll written by the students with the suggestions made by the county's schools. The Mayor, in turn, has agreed to materialise at least one of them within one year.
What are your projects and ambitions for the future?
This year we have a project with a new theme that is healthy and sustainable food and follows-up on the organic gardens in schools. Many schools have suggested these topics. The part dealing with what is healthy and sustainable is not addressed so frequently. This project is at the beginning and we intend to move forward with it. This year, we want to create eco-lunchboxes, eco-chefs and menus that can be implemented in school cafeterias, but always healthy and sustainable. To obtain that we have developed a number of partnerships. Another project that also we are also implementing is the monitoring and evaluation of impacts on schools of data processing. The purpose and a goal are to assess the quality and encourage the growth of that said quality. Then there are many ideas in the field of biodiversity, in the sea area and past project experiences that we would also like to improve.
By: Renata Silva