ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION – CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

In all these months of pandemic, with the decree of the different health measures or mobility restrictions, the educational community did not have it easy to recover the program of activities and leisure that complements the curriculum of each school year. With the modification of the restrictions this March, different educational centers and other leisure entities have begun to program cultural visits, environmental education or leisure activities and camps or sports competitions.

All this has led to children and young people have been able to reconnect with school outings and extracurricular activities. One of the sections that has generated most demand is environmental education. These months of pandemic have led to an accelerated activation of the sensitivity for the aspects of environmental respect or health care. Some city councils have wanted to promote environmental activities in their municipal or regional environment and have launched programs aimed at schools based on respect for the environment or on the care and expansion of knowledge about nature and respect for the flora and fauna around us.

There are many voices that have raised a cry of alert to the pressure exerted by the environment, the pace of life and the characteristics of our current society that have increased the sensitivity and respect for the environment. A new approach to the relationship between people and the environment, based on the creation of a sustainable society, has been taking shape and gaining strength. Sustainable because its main purpose is the preservation of the environment, based on a development that uses resources rationally, avoiding their depletion in the future and enabling their regeneration.

It is in this sense that the governments of the different countries and, by default, the public and private organizations that comprise them, worked on an agreement to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) based on the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Building on the experience gained with the Millennium Development Goals, the SDGs are intended to be action-oriented, concise, easy to communicate, limited in number and universally applicable to all countries, taking into account different realities and levels of development.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – universal, inclusive and ambitious objectives – guide the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, approved on September 25, 2015. The issues they address range from poverty, family, peace, health, education, inequalities, inclusion, economic prosperity, protection of the planet, the fight against climate change, cities and territories, energy, consumption and production.

In addition to municipalities in educational programs and schools that put it into practice, there are also educational institutions that implement it in their educational program. Environmental education is one of the main pillars. The promotion of observation activities, workshops, nature classes and other proposals are carried out during the second and third school trimesters. The different schools have already begun to program activities and outings to help children and young people to advance in the knowledge and understanding of the environment and, at the same time, to carry out recreational and leisure activities that complement them.

The different educational centers, recreational entities and other organizations linked to leisure and education offer a series of complementary activities to the educational program, which are carried out when the weather is more favourable. They are programmed between the second and third trimesters of the school year and, especially, during the summer.

The colonies and coexistence camps are one of the usual activities that combine educational stays alternated with recreational activities. They usually last between two and five days and are organized by Esplai organizations or adventure activity companies. The colonies and coexistence are an activity that is part of the pedagogical program of each school. Since the end of last February, after-school activities, school sports and educational leisure activities can be resumed, a measure that until now was not possible due to the situation caused by the Covid19 pandemic.