NEWS
Educational resources in the farewell of Clima@EduMedia
Published on the 28th of April, 2017
Clima@EduMedia officially ended on 27th April with the launch of the “Clima@EduMedia Educational Resources”platform and the presentation of the main results achieved. The Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP) hosted the event, which was attended by dozens of professors, researchers and students.
José Azevedo, project coordinator and professor at the Faculty of the Arts of UP, and António Guerner, professor at the Faculty of Sciences of UP and researcher on the project, made a positive assessment of what was Clima@EduMedia, which involved 2,000 students and 1,000 teachers from Middle and Secondary Schools of the whole country in its activities. "One of the pleasant issues now that we are closing was the dynamism and dedication of many people in relation to this project" said José Azevedo. During the presentation, were stressed the data from a survey involving teachers who were credited in the first edition of the MOOC "Climate change in school media", which concluded that 80% of this sample used the support materials developed for the project.
The educational resources were especially prominent in the ceremony as they became freely available for download by all teachers interested in using them in the classroom. In the session, the project team highlighted that the platform is organized around the name "Clima@EduMedia" and that it values the participation, suggestions and contributions of its visitors in a section created to that effect.
The event also stimulated an atmosphere of reflection and debate. Raising awareness, being an adaptation action to climate change, was highlighted in a roundtable moderated by António Guerner. The FCUP professor conducted a conversation about the relationship between environmental education and the media in combating climate change. The meeting was attended by guest speakers from these different areas, such as Marta Silva, from the Environmental Education Service of the Porto City Council, Francisco Teixeira, from the Environmental Communication and Citizenship Department of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), which presented the National Strategy for Environmental Education and, representing the media, the researcher of the University of Minho Anabela Carvalho and the journalist Joana Fillol.
“When we look at the media we find some tones of alarmism about climate change, especially on television and in some of the more popular mediasaid Anabela Carvalho, adding that, on the other hand, there is an "optimistic" version on the part of environmental associations, for example in relation to the green economy. To complement this perspective and talk about the scientific literacy of university students in what regards to climate change, Ulisses Azeiteiro, professor at Aveiro University, presented the different studies he has done in this area and revealed some misconceptions about the theme. "Contrary to the results of the studies that did not excite me, what excited me here today is that, because of these three schools and so many others and projects like this, the next generations of students will demand more of us teachers" he revealed considering a possible change in the way of teaching this subject.
Schools presente the results of the implementation of their proposals
Joana Fillol added a different perspective for reflection, since her career passed through journalism for young people, which has been declining in Portugal in recent years. The journalist, who worked for 10 years in Visão magazine, created "Jornalíssimo", a news site headed to young people from 12 to 20 years. "Knowledge about current issues can help reinforce learning in the classroom," she said.
The winning schools of the "Climate change" contest presented the final results of the implementation of their proposals, from installing more environmentally friendly faucets and planting vegetation to improve the thermal comfort of the school building and a library made of recycled materials such as cans and tires to the utilization of rainwater for sanitary supply. These proposals were implemented respectively by Inter-School Group of Vendas Novas, escolaglobal® and Inter-School Group of Lourinhã.
The meeting also counted with the participation of Eduardo Santos, from the Portuguese Environment Agency, António Fernando Silva, director of the Faculty of Sciences of the Porto University, Paula Pinto, from Faculty of the Arts of Porto University and Susana Ramos, from the National Management Unit / EEA Grants.
[See gallery of pictures of the event on the Facebook page of the project]
The educational resources were especially prominent in the ceremony as they became freely available for download by all teachers interested in using them in the classroom. In the session, the project team highlighted that the platform is organized around the name "Clima@EduMedia" and that it values the participation, suggestions and contributions of its visitors in a section created to that effect.
The event also stimulated an atmosphere of reflection and debate. Raising awareness, being an adaptation action to climate change, was highlighted in a roundtable moderated by António Guerner. The FCUP professor conducted a conversation about the relationship between environmental education and the media in combating climate change. The meeting was attended by guest speakers from these different areas, such as Marta Silva, from the Environmental Education Service of the Porto City Council, Francisco Teixeira, from the Environmental Communication and Citizenship Department of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), which presented the National Strategy for Environmental Education and, representing the media, the researcher of the University of Minho Anabela Carvalho and the journalist Joana Fillol.
“When we look at the media we find some tones of alarmism about climate change, especially on television and in some of the more popular mediasaid Anabela Carvalho, adding that, on the other hand, there is an "optimistic" version on the part of environmental associations, for example in relation to the green economy. To complement this perspective and talk about the scientific literacy of university students in what regards to climate change, Ulisses Azeiteiro, professor at Aveiro University, presented the different studies he has done in this area and revealed some misconceptions about the theme. "Contrary to the results of the studies that did not excite me, what excited me here today is that, because of these three schools and so many others and projects like this, the next generations of students will demand more of us teachers" he revealed considering a possible change in the way of teaching this subject.
Schools presente the results of the implementation of their proposals
Joana Fillol added a different perspective for reflection, since her career passed through journalism for young people, which has been declining in Portugal in recent years. The journalist, who worked for 10 years in Visão magazine, created "Jornalíssimo", a news site headed to young people from 12 to 20 years. "Knowledge about current issues can help reinforce learning in the classroom," she said.
The winning schools of the "Climate change" contest presented the final results of the implementation of their proposals, from installing more environmentally friendly faucets and planting vegetation to improve the thermal comfort of the school building and a library made of recycled materials such as cans and tires to the utilization of rainwater for sanitary supply. These proposals were implemented respectively by Inter-School Group of Vendas Novas, escolaglobal® and Inter-School Group of Lourinhã.
The meeting also counted with the participation of Eduardo Santos, from the Portuguese Environment Agency, António Fernando Silva, director of the Faculty of Sciences of the Porto University, Paula Pinto, from Faculty of the Arts of Porto University and Susana Ramos, from the National Management Unit / EEA Grants.
[See gallery of pictures of the event on the Facebook page of the project]
By: Isabel Pereira