Colombia's National Summit on Environmental Education. Image Credit: Ministerio de Medio Ambiente de Colombia.
#EducaciónPorElAmbiente Colombia

Colombia’s National Summit on Environmental Education

Soledad Quartucci

Colombia’s National Summit on Environmental Education

Colombia receives over 100 proposals for Environmental Education. The country aims to revise its environmental education public policy, engaging the sentiments of local communities through civic-led initiatives.

Through 66 working groups in Colombia, hundreds of young people, children, farmers, indigenous people, Afro-descendants, Rrom, among others, presented their proposals to make environmental education a policy with a territorial vision.

The Environmental Summit was framed in four axes: Innovations and advances within the strategies of the National Environmental Education Policy; differential approaches; necessary socio-environmental transformations, challenges, and emerging issues in the globalized world.

 

 

Children took over the Environmental Education Summit with didactic tables focusing on the importance of fire, air, earth, and water. They expressed their proposals for the policy update.

Bogotá D.C., November 27, 2023. (@MinAmbienteCo). After two days and with the participation of thousands of citizens from all departments of the country, the first Environmental Education Summit concluded. In 66 working groups, it gathered over 100 proposals to initiate the process of updating the National Environmental Education Policy.

 

 

The proposals collected in the previous spaces and during the Summit will guide the updating process of the Policy. This process will involve steps such as strengthening regional nodes and school interest centers, systematization for territorial agreements, and drafting the policy’s outline, which will be presented in a second Summit.

“We will progress in consolidating the National Network for Environmental Education, which enhances territorial work and has greater participation for consensus. We will build a Policy that captures the feelings of the territories over the last 20 years with a forward-looking perspective,” said Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Susana Muhamad.

Oscar Sánchez, Deputy Minister of Education, called for an intergenerational and intercultural alliance. He pointed out,

“The systematization of this process is crucial for the policy to achieve the necessary changes. We have a map that already identifies 1200 experiences and that we can turn into a permanent tool. There are two immediate tasks: Promulgating the policy and working on the process of the different networks.”

 

 

Here’s what the communities propose:

More than 120 rapporteurs consolidated the various proposals presented in the 66 coordination tables.

In terms of innovations, proposals were received to include alternative environmental service to military service, enhance communication of valuable experiences in environmental education, and continuously update the policy, among others.

Regarding the differential approaches axis, it was proposed to consider community-based organizations, form a commission for the policy’s implementation, and include a line of differential focus on ancestral knowledge.

 

 

In the socio-environmental transformations axis, participants recommended environmental education not only through projects; appropriation of the great asset of natural resources, more schools with live nurseries, and examples of environmental policy, recognizing nature as a subject of rights, among others.

Finally, in the axis of emerging challenges, recommendations were made to incorporate intercultural and interdisciplinary environmental education, a policy that is a reference for the care of life, cross-cutting training, systematic and massive implementation, and more economic support.

 

 

Children took over the Environmental Education Summit:

The voices of the youngest were also heard during the two-day summit. Under the themes of fire, air, water, and earth, children and young people expressed their proposals for the policy update.

Protection of water sources, more forests and green areas for children, caring for the land through organic waste management, advocating for clean energy, and supporting projects undertaken by children for wildlife protection were some of the messages they delivered.

In this way, the Ministries of Environment and Education advance in the update of the Policy and reaffirm their commitment to environmental education with and for the territories.

 

Soledad Quartucci | CEO/Founder, Latina Republic

Latina Republic is dedicated to promoting regional understanding through compelling narratives, articles, interviews, and reports that emanate from the heart of the Americas. Our foremost goal is to facilitate constructive dialogue by illuminating local viewpoints frequently overshadowed by mainstream media. Our mission is to equip all stakeholders with essential insights for addressing regional issues, thus empowering them in their efforts. We are committed to portraying the victories and hardships of everyday life in Latin America, while also chronicling the progression of social movements and amplifying the voices of those at the forefront of change.

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