The LIBERA educational program, a project created by SEO/BirdLife in alliance with Ecoembes, seeks to achieve the commitment of teachers and students to the natural environment that surrounds them. The seventh edition of ‘Aulas LIBERA’ is held in the 2024/2025 academic year to continue raising awareness in schools about environmental awareness through a wide range of activities that encourage the participation and collaboration of students.
‘Aulas LIBERA’ promotes environmental education among teachers through knowledge and connection with nature. Likewise, it promotes awareness, active participation, commitment and respect for the environment, using a methodology based on direct experience and contact with natural environments.
This year, activities will increase with the implementation of more face-to-face initiatives in the natural spaces close to the centers registered in ‘Aulas LIBERA’, an approach that will help consolidate the program and raise awareness among the youngest about the problem of garbage in the local environments. In this way, the program once again offers a meeting point between the educational community and a nature without waste.
The offer of online training, promoted during the pandemic, is extended to include both students and teachers, providing a new opportunity to actively participate in the project. This initiative allows users to get more deeply involved, connect with other collaborators and become familiar with the scientific methodologies used. In this sense, the active role of each teacher implies a contribution towards a social transformation, where students are trained to generate environmental awareness, assume individual responsibility and encourage participation in favor of sustainable development.
During the 2024/2025 academic year, the program will continue with the outstanding initiative on microplastics, which was launched three years ago with the collaboration of the Hombre y Territorio association. This activity is primarily aimed at high school students and focuses on the identification and analysis of these contaminants in water. Through a comprehensive approach that combines awareness, learning and scientific research, participants will collaborate with the team of scientists from Hombre y Territorio, while students will collect samples that will be evaluated in the entity’s laboratories to determine the presence of microplastics in the rivers.
In three stages
The Aulas LIBERA program is structured in three key phases during its initial stage, called ‘Starter’: ‘Learn’, ‘Identify’ and ‘Solute’. This approach provides educators with a comprehensive set of resources to address environmental problems and their consequences. The initial phase includes a gamification dynamic in the classroom, which will later facilitate the identification of garbage in the surroundings of the educational center.
At the same time, students will actively engage in the analysis of the local natural environment, working collaboratively with project educators. In addition, they will participate in the collection and characterization of waste, contributing to citizen science by collecting data through the eLitter, MARNOBA and Basuraleza apps.
With the return to schools during the month of September, Aulas LIBERA seeks to include new classrooms to the more than 2,300 that have already participated since its inception. During the last academic year, Aulas LIBERA registered 9,900 students and more than 400 participating classrooms. The great reception of this initiative in 40 provinces of the country reflects the commitment of the educational community to the problem of garbage. ‘Aulas LIBERA’ continues to grow and increase both the number of participants and activities. In the last year, the program registered 159 activities in natural spaces, with the participation of nearly 300 teachers and the implementation of 9 national and comprehensive projects, called ‘LIBERA Advance Classrooms’, which have funding and greater dedication to caring for the environment. school environment.
On the other hand, at the end of the 23/24 academic year, the ‘Aulas LIBERA’ Summer Camps were held for the first time in July and August, an initiative that has had great success after bringing together more than 100 students in the three editions carried out in the camps carried out by the alliances Ráspano (Burgos), El Hayal (Cantabria) and the Summer Camp in Seville.
Commitment and collaboration in action
With the aim of addressing and combating the problem of garbage from knowledge, participation and collaboration, the Aulas LIBERA program has the support of associations and organizations from different geographical areas with a common objective: protect and preserve the environment.
‘Aulas LIBERA’ has the collaboration of associations and organizations such as Adenex, Asociación Educativa Educrea, Comunidad de Murcia Médica, Ráspano, Fundación Santiago Uno or Cryosanabria, thus promoting the empowerment of local entities. Interested teachers can register for free in the ‘Aulas LIBERA’ project website.
Laura Benítez, responsible for the ‘Aulas LIBERA’ educational program at SEO/BirdLife, points out that “The Aulas Libera program is a fundamental initiative to promote awareness and action in the protection of our natural environment. Through education and active participation, we are empowering new generations to become committed defenders of biodiversity and the environment. Our goal is to create a lasting impact that transcends the classroom and is reflected in more sustainable and responsible communities.
For her part, Sara Güemes, LIBERA coordinator at Ecoembes, highlights the role of younger students: «The future of the environment depends on the younger generations, who have firm support in its preservation and protection. The great effort of our students and teachers is key to building a path towards a world free of garbage and sustainable, where environmental education plays a fundamental role in this change.
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