At Escola Básica e Secundária de Albufeira, sustainability has taken center stage in education. Recently, students actively participated in the educational platform Ma Petite Planète, completing challenges that inspire real change in caring for the environment and society.

The initiative engaged students in several key areas for the planet’s future:

♦ Biodiversity: Students demonstrated concern for ecosystems by taking action to protect and promote wildlife.

♦ Healthy eating: They encouraged more conscious and sustainable food choices, showing how what we consume impacts the environment.

♦ Sustainable mobility: They adopted eco-friendlier transportation methods, such as walking, cycling, or carpooling, reducing their carbon footprint.

♦ Solidarity: Collaborative projects strengthened the sense of community and emphasized the importance of helping others.

♦ Energy and resources: They discovered practical ways to save energy and responsibly manage natural resources.

Each completed challenge was more than just an activity; it was a concrete step toward a more sustainable future and an opportunity to learn about the importance of small actions in combating climate change and fostering a more supportive society.

Escola Básica e Secundária de Albufeira demonstrates that environmental education can and should be integrated into daily school life, preparing students to become more conscious and active citizens in protecting the planet.

Get Involved and Be Inspired! If you want to learn more about this initiative or implement something similar, follow the projects developed by the students and contribute to the change!

Le thème du textile coche les 17 cases des ODD. Mais pour rendre leur appréhension ludique et ancrée dans le territoire, et le quotidien, notre réflexion nous a amené à plusieurs pratiques complémentaires.

Pour ouvrir les esprits sur les enjeux, des ateliers interactifs posent les contextes internationaux et environnementaux.

Les élèves (et enseignants) font le tour des étiquettes de leurs vêtements du jour pour découvrir les pays de confections. Quelques pays (asiatiques notamment) se retrouvent assez souvent : Bangladesh, Chine…

Sur une carte, nous les situons et nous abordons les zones de production des fibres de base et les éléments indispensables à ces cultures et industries, et à leur transport d’une région à l’autre jusqu’à nous : eau, énergies fossiles…

L’empreinte carbone et l’eau virtuelle entrent en jeu comme des notions transversales concrétisées par le circuit mondial des textiles.

Avec la projection du film « Made in Bangladesh », les quotidiens ingrats des ouvrières des usines de confections textiles de Dakha, capitale du Bangladesh, éclairent les contextes sociaux et culturels sur lesquels reposent ces réseaux aux ramifications et échanges complexes.

Salaires très bas (« ton salaire, c’est 2 tee-shirt » extrait d’un dialogue du film), direction brutale, usines insécurisées… Et bien souvent, les ouvrières sont des réfugiées climatiques, sans autre solution pour survivre.

Plus près de nous, un parcours illustré sur le bord de la Jalle, permet de remonter le temps et d’aborder L’histoire locale du textile et de l’eau indispensable.

Car dans les siècles passés, le long de la Jalle, les blanchisseuses lavaient le linge des riches familles bordelaises avec des cendres, travaillant été comme hiver pour un maigre salaire.

Le long de la rivière, nous trouvons aussi des plantes qui ont pu être utilisés pour confectionner des vêtements, comme l’ortie, le lin ou le bambou. Certaines de ces plantes (lin, chanvre) ont été cultivées dans des champs atour de nos rivières pour la production de fibres. L’aulne, la patience et le châtaignier, mais aussi le lichen, fournissaient des teintures. La galle et l’écorce du chêne servaient de mordant (ou fixatif) pour ces couleurs.

En complément, des références littéraires illustrent aussi cette histoire :

« Un jour il voyait des gens du pays très occupés à arracher des orties. Il regarda ce tas de plantes déracinées et déjà desséchées, et dit :  C’est mort. Cela serait pourtant bon si l’on savait s’en servir. Quand l’ortie est jeune, la feuille est un légume excellent ; quand elle vieillit, elle a des filaments et des fibres comme le chanvre et le lin. La toile d’ortie vaut la toile de chanvre. Hachée, l’ortie est bonne pour la volaille ; broyée, elle est bonne pour les bêtes à cornes. La graine de l’ortie mêlée au fourrage donne du luisant au poil des animaux ; la racine mêlée au sel produit une belle couleur jaune. C’est du reste un excellent foin qu’on peut faucher deux fois. Et que faut-il à l’ortie ? Peu de terre, nul soin, nulle culture. Seulement la graine tombe à mesure qu’elle mûrit, et est difficile à récolter. Voilà tout. Avec quelque peine qu’on prendrait, l’ortie serait utile ; on la néglige, elle devient nuisible. Alors on la tue. Que d’hommes ressemblent à l’ortie ! – Il ajouta après un silence : Mes amis, retenez ceci, il n’y a ni mauvaises herbes, ni mauvais hommes. Il n’y a que de mauvais cultivateurs. » Jean Valjean, Les misérables, 1862

Dans le parcours, une station d’épuration permet aussi d’aborder la question contemporaine des microfibres rejetées avec les eaux usées jusqu’à la Jalle, puis la Garonne et l’océan.

Question déjà été abordée lors de la première séquence à travers un atelier pratique.

Dans un grand nombre des pays de production actuels, l’épuration urbaine et industrielle est très peu développée, voire inexistante. Les impacts sur les rivières, les fleuves et l’océan sont d’autant plus forts.

L’ensemble de ces séquences aborde donc les 17 ODD et ouvre une réflexion sur ce qui se cache derrière nos textiles, éléments essentiels de notre quotidien.

Aristotle defined friendship as “two or more people having the best intention towards one another that share: common interests, joy in doing something, commitment for doing good”. He also adds, to make matters challenging as philosophy sometimes invites before matters clear the way, that all three aspects should be present. Our making jewelry with SDGs session with Jackie Hansom Social Innovation Program manager, Sarah Saeed Climate Innovation Program Manager, and Lauren Carnahan Communication Strategist and dear person behind the camera.

Zooming in, one might notice Sarah is working with SDG 13 “Climate Action”, Jackie (as former k-12 teacher, an educator, and presently a Student-led process Mentor) and I work with SDG 4 “Quality education”.

This speaks for our values and what we think our work is, from a more embodied sense. It is an Open Heart-led process, as Arawana Hayashi and Otto Scharmer (MIT) would say- we come, and let the process unfold from a place of compassion to ourselves and the ones around us and with an Open Mind- curiosity.

As our good friend and FABLAB coordinator prof. Alex Sargent where we are conveying the activity says “Let your hand lead for a while, give your head a rest”; we follow that insightful learning prompting and share from the heart issues we thought are important for the future good of the nearby community, and mostly we listen.

At the end, with no script whatsoever we said thank you for taking this time to relax and do creative work together and very much just be together. Backed with scientific thinking and critical thinking everyday moments of friendship advance our innovation around climate challenges and once more invites us to see that 21st century intelligence is WEQ- collectively thinking and imagining.

* Place: Wond’ry Innovation Center, Vanderbilt University, April 2025, practices inspired by Ecological leadership in the Classroom Online teachers program, part of Oddience2030.

As a special needs teacher I attend to remedial English classes. The groups in those classes consist of students who necessarily don’t know each other. The situation makes them shy and uncertain of their skills.

Being active is very important for learning, nevertheless students often choose or end up being passive in classroom. The passive role is safe. When you don’t do anything you won’t be doing any mistakes either. Many students are afraid of making mistakes which in itself is a big mistake because it is through mistakes that we learn.

In our launch week in Bordeaux we got to know each other and did many exercises. One in particular made me very happy. In French this exercise is called Jeu interconnaissance. In this game you try to find out who is who by recognizing people from drawings and then asking questions and writing down the answers.

The game is very practical to use because all you need is the form on one paper and a pencil for each participant.The participants are asked to draw a portrait of themselves on the paper. Then the pictures change hands and people try to find the person in the portrait and ask them a question. The questions are ready in the paper and the group goes as many rounds as there are questions. When all the questions have been answered the group goes through the most interesting and funny ones so that everyone is mentioned at least one time.

What makes this game fun is the task of finding a person that resembles the drawing somehow. One has to look at details, guess and ask: Are you this person?

When the first actions in a game are drawing and looking at drawings, pictures and people we forget a little that actually the task is speaking, making acquaintances, learning each others’ names and using a foreign language. For those who find speaking to strangers in a foreign language challenging this kind of distraction is perfect.

Learning is more efficient when feelings are involved.

Actually I’m not convinced we learn anything without having a some kind of a feeling. Being noticed and commented in a kind way makes us happy and it gives us a warm feeling.

Afterwards we find it much easier to interact in the group in our language skills that we have at that moment.

I have launched different versions of this game and translated it into Finnish so it can be used in the beginning of any course.

I am doing it tomorrow in the English class, with new questions and I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing their reactions.

We believe in the power of education and community involvement to make positive environmental changes, and what better way to do that than by honouring the humble yet extraordinary millets!

During this festival, our students delved into the environmental significance of millets, learning about their sustainable cultivation practices and resilience to climate change.

But that’s not all! They also explored the incredible nutritional benefits of millet, discovering how it contributes to our health and well-being.
One of the event’s highlights was the recipe exchange, where students shared their favourite millet-based dishes, from savoury to sweet, showcasing the versatility and deliciousness of these ancient grains.

And what better way to wrap up the festivity than with a delightful potluck, where everyone brought a dish to share, creating a colourful and flavorful spread celebrating the diversity of millets and our community.

Let’s continue to spread awareness, appreciation, and enjoyment of millets for a healthier planet and a brighter future.

The Universal School embarks on a captivating journey with the ‘Roots & Shoots’ Nature Club program, a global initiative inspired by the Jane Goodall Institute.

Our eco-warrior scholars, grades 3 to 7, wielded magic in crafting soil seed bombs for a lush forest expedition. Together, we cultivated change, hand in hand with India’s flourishing Roots & Shoots program, forging for a greener tomorrow.

Special guest Mr. Nilesh Bhanage from PAWSASIA, an NGO enlightened us on compassionate citizenship, emphasizing the impact of small acts.

Engaging activities like poster making and a Leaf Art session to deepen our students’ connection with nature, reinforcing our commitment to environmental stewardship.

Let’s champion compassion and responsibility for a glorious and sustainable future!