{"id":6220,"date":"2023-07-19T15:25:14","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T14:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conteudos.xl.pt\/altri-news\/?p=6220"},"modified":"2023-08-01T12:30:30","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T11:30:30","slug":"","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/conteudos.xl.pt\/altri-news\/en\/missao-360-sensibilizacao-ambiental-desde-pequenino\/","title":{"rendered":"Mission 360: a successful environmental education project<\/strong>","raw":"Mission 360: a successful environmental education project<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The goal of the Mission 360 initiative is to teach children about the importance of preserving natural resources and guaranteeing a sustainable future for the planet. It\u2019s an educational project to raise environmental awareness, launched by BIOND, The Bioindustry and Paper Industry Association {Associa\u00e7\u00e3o das Bioind\u00fastrias e da Ind\u00fastria Papeleira}, targeting pre-school and primary school children and also involving their teachers and families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year will be its fifth edition \u2013 which will once again feature Quico the alien squirrel \u2013 which aims to reach 30,000 children and around 350 schools, according to Ana Fernandes, the environmental officer at Biond who has been in charge of coordinating the \u201cMission 360 – Our role is to defend the Planet\u201d environmental awareness project since 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The project revolves around the extra-terrestrial squirrel hero\u2019s quest to travel to Earth to help children fend off the lies the terrible Dr. Tulha tells adults so he can destroy the planet using the Linear Economy. Quico\u2019s mission to defend the circular economy involves preventing Dr. Tulha from completely destroying the planet. In order to achieve this, our squirrel hero from outer space has to teach kids all about the circular economy and the role played by the paper bioindustry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its launch in 2018, the Mission 360 project has expanded its educational \u201cuniverse\u201d. It started off with seven municipal councils involved, and with 6900 schoolchildren and 100 teachers. By the 2022 edition this had extended to 33 councils, with 22,400 children and 530 teachers taking part. Ana Fernandes says \u201cIf we include indirect contacts \u2013 teachers other than those whose classes are enrolled in the initiative \u2013 we have a total of over 1530 teachers across all the schools taking part.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Association believes that embracing this mission has become part of its essence, and allows it to better publicise its ecological credentials to the general public. According to the project coordinator, \u201cPeople, the environment and the future of the planet are entrenched in the DNA of Biond and of the sector it represents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quico\u2019s universe this year<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following municipal councils are included in the 5th<\/sup> edition of this project: Alenquer, Amadora, Aveiro, Bombarral, Bragan\u00e7a, Cadaval, Caldas da Rainha, Cascais, Const\u00e2ncia, Faro, Figueira da Foz, Gondomar, Lisboa, Lourinh\u00e3, Lousada, Mafra, Marco de Canaveses, \u00d3bidos, Paredes, Peniche, Porto, Porto de M\u00f3s, P\u00f3voa de Varzim, Set\u00fabal, Portim\u00e3o, Silves, Torres Novas, Torres Vedras, Viana do Castelo, Vila Franca de Xira, Vila Nova de Gaia and Vila Velha de R\u00f3d\u00e3o.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ana Fernandes emphasises that the target number of approximately 350 schools and 30,000 children to be directly involved in mission activities will be higher than for the previous edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This one will include activities with schoolchildren and teachers and outreach to the community at large. The aim is to have face-to-face sessions complemented by virtual media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the usual supporting materials (for example, the teachers\u2019 kit), new contents and new tools will be produced, including an overhauled website, a new animated film and an online game.<\/p>\n\n\n

A seed which has been sown <\/h2>

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Ana Fernandes, Coordenadora da Miss\u00e3o 360<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chief impact of this educational mission is, undoubtedly – backed up by science and in a language appropriate for the target audience \u2013 that we are changing the less positive views of many children, parents and teachers with regard to our activity.<\/p>\n

Using a forest metaphor: Mission 360 is a seed that we sow and if it is properly cared for over the years \u2013 with valid arguments and good practices and good examples \u2013 it will be helping to nurture and grow a (perfectly fair) goodwill towards forest-based bioindustries. <\/p>\n

By passing on the message that what we do is: plant trees, manage the forest sustainably, and transform renewable raw material into innovative, sustainable and recyclable bioproducts, we are demonstrating that what we do helps to build a sustainable future, preserve nature and the environment, decarbonise and reinvent the future. A sign that we\u2019re reaching a turning point is the recent introduction of expressions such as \u2018green racism\u2019 and \u2018environmental xenophobia\u2019 in answer to those who baselessly criticise certain forest species.\u201d<\/p>\n

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How the young people \u201cgreen\u201d channel came about<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Biond launched a pilot project aimed at a young and very young audience, within a school context, in 2018. The process of training teachers in Biond\u2019s areas of expertise, encouraging visits to its factories and forests, is also included in the activities to be incorporated. Before officially rolling the project out to the school community, there was a lot of preparatory work done with the Association\u2019s partners: from the Directorate-General for Education (DGE), which approved all the contents and was involved from the outset; to the municipal councils and the Ministry for the Environment. Work was also undertaken in tandem with this to develop materials and contents. The partners were involved in validating and approving these materials and contents and in conducting surveys of the teaching community. The project was launched among the school community in September 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ana Fernandes says that \u201cOur Mission 360 is clearly forging a path towards the goals initially set, and it\u2019s generally being very well embraced and appreciated by the educational community within the participating schools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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