Guimarães at the centre of international environmental education
Municipality promoted best environmental practices and a youth Eco-Parliament with MEP João Albuquerque
On 25, 26 and 27 January, the Guimarães Landscape Laboratory held the International Meeting on Environmental Education, as part of its tenth anniversary celebrations. The initiative brought together researchers, technicians, teachers, students and municipalities, with participants from Germany, France, Spain and Brazil, to share best practices in terms of environmental policies and debate innovative solutions to the problems faced in this area.
Adelina Paula Pinto, president of the Landscape Laboratory and deputy mayor of Guimarães, considered the central role that children play in sustainable development. This argument was put forward at the event’s inaugural session, which set the tone for the activities taking place in the municipality, aimed at children from different educational levels.
The highlight of Friday afternoon’s session was when a delegation of Eco-Parliament members from Guimarães had the opportunity to talk to MEP João Albuquerque. The young MPs from the Fernando Távora, Virgínia Moura and Abel Salazar school groups learnt, for example, that the Environment Committee in the European Parliament has the most members. In this panel, the MEP explained to the young people from Guimarães, winners of the Eco-Parliament 2023, the importance of the European Green Deal, which Guimarães has already signed up to.
The “Footprints” Environmental Education and Awareness Programme is also celebrating its tenth year. The initiative, promoted by Guimarães City Council and the Landscape Laboratory, founded by the municipality and the Universities of Minho and Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, has already reached 20,000 students and 1,500 teachers. Among the anchor activities is Eco Parlamento, in which children are invited to identify environmental challenges and propose solutions that they have to defend, arguing in debate sessions.
Sharing the best environmental policies
Participants in the event had the opportunity to witness some of the good practices of the municipality of Guimarães. In the historic centre, they learned about PAYT, a waste collection system that has been in operation since 2017, in which residents pay according to the amount of waste they produce. The retention basins, created in 2015 to regulate the flow of the Couros stream and prevent flooding in the city centre, and the Gymnastics Academy were other examples of the municipality’s environmental policies.
Domingos Bragança, mayor of Guimarães, highlighted the numerous sustainability initiatives on the municipality’s CV in its bid to become European Green Capital. It’s worth remembering that after fifth place in 2020 – won by Lisbon – and being a finalist for 2025 – won by Vilnius, Lithuania – Guimarães has already made its third bid, with 2026 in mind.
Under the theme “Environmental Education in building sustainable communities”, the event also covered “Active Citizenship and Co-creation” with presentations by Luísa Schmidt, from the University of Lisbon, and Margarida Correia Marques, from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro. Francisco Teixeira, from the Portuguese Environment Agency, focussed on “Environmental Education: Citizenship Laboratory”, and Ronaldo Sousa, from the University of Minho, addressed the topic: “Uniting citizen science and local ecological knowledge for healthier ecosystems”. The blocks of papers dealt with topics such as water management, the circular economy, art as a driver of change and citizen science.
The meeting, held at the Guimarães Landscape Laboratory, already has a second edition announced for February 2025, with the aim of being a showcase for good environmental practices at local level. Over the three days, the 2024 edition had a total of 28 oral presentations, including the twinned cities, and 17 posters.