Quito Zoo will hold free virtual and face-to-face meetings to commemorate World Environmental Education Day

For the third consecutive year, the Quito Zoo (Quito Zoo) will commemorate the World Environmental Education Day (EA26) this Wednesday, January 26. The institution will develop free virtual and face-to-face meetings, with the participation of international speakers. The activities will be directed to the general public.

The approach established for this edition of EA26 is based on the fact that education must explore new places and methods to reach people, based on concrete and connected experiences with outdoor spaces in nature, the zoo said in a statement.

In 2021, the Quito Zoo executed the Quito Biodiverso project, and one of its fundamental axes was to materialize a citizen training plan focused on strengthening the bond between people and their natural environment. This became a reality through participatory actions involving the communities of the La Josefina neighborhood (Carcelén) and the Iguiñaro commune (El Quinche), in experiential encounters with nature held in ravines, moors and open-air spaces in both towns of the Metropolitan District of Quito.

Another initiative that encouraged citizen participation was the Tree Route, whose purpose was to discover the importance of the biodiversity of urban flora and fauna of the Bicentennial Park. This is what mainly motivates the determined focus for EA26-2022.

The central event of EA26 will be a free virtual meeting, starting at 09:00, which will bring together representatives of different environmental education projects in Latin America. In addition, a Map of Environmental Education Experiences created by the Quito Zoo will be presented, a digital tool with free access, to locate and learn about related initiatives around the planet.

The agenda also includes a talk-workshop by María Mayorga, a Spanish journalist with a diploma in Social Education and creator of In Natura, an initiative that disseminates education in nature and offers resources aimed at professionals and families to link childhood with nature.

In addition, she is the manager of the International Outdoor Learning Network, which emerged in 2020 in the context of the pandemic, with the aim of generating a link between projects based on learning and outdoor experiences, to disseminate the importance of this method of environmental education.

To participate in this free meeting, you must register by clicking here.

To close the day, at 8:00 p.m., a debate will be held on Twitter from the Quito Zoo account (@Zoo_Quito), to pose the question: What is the role of communication in Environmental Education? Three specialists will direct the debate, in which the participation of digital users is expected.

As a complement to the virtual events on January 26, on Monday, February 14 and Tuesday, February 15, face-to-face workshops will be organized exclusively for environmental educators who wish to delve into planning, methodologies and the development of educational experiences in nature and the creation of educational material. All biosecurity measures will be applied. (I)