The activities take place in the Steel Valley, in Santana do Paraiso, and in the Doce River Valley, in Galileia and Tumiritinga
To celebrate World Environment Day, on 06/05, the Renova Foundation organized environmental education events in schools in three mining municipalities: Santana do Paraiso, in the Steel Valley, and Galileia and Tumiritinga, in the Doce River Valley. The idea is for students to be reminded of the importance of preserving natural resources and to use them in a conscious way.
The activities take place in Santana do Paraiso, in the Steel Valley, and Galileia and Tumiritinga, in the Doce River Valley, with students from municipal and state schools. | Photo: Leonardo Morais
The socio-environmental analyst of the Renova Foundation, Soraia Soares Silva, explains that the focus of activities is on the actions developed in each municipality, especially water monitoring. “It is important to develop awareness about the subject in schools and that the students put it into practice on a daily basis,” she says.
On Wednesday 06/05, about 240 students from the Maria Ivone Damasceno Municipal School and the Jose Rosa Damasceno State School in Santana do Paraiso participated in activities to promote environmental awareness.
“We talked with the students about the importance of water for consumption and presented the actions for monitoring the water quality of the Doce River and water for human consumption. We also presented the equipment used during the water collection for monitoring the river and used a kit that simulates water analysis,” says Soraia.
Doce River Valley
The actions of World Environment Day continued the rest of the week in the Doce River Valley. This Friday, 06/07, students from all public schools in Galileia will participate in a parade through the streets of the town. A play at the Waldira de Castro Martins School will open and close the event, which also includes two artistic interventions. One of the blocks of the parade, in honor of the Renova Foundation, was an initiative of the school itself and included the participation of the children.
In Tumiritinga, activities will take place on Saturday 06/08, bringing together 600 students from five schools in town. A theater group will be presenting an environmentally themed play and representatives of the Renova Foundation will talk to students about the importance of treated drinking water. In addition, students will learn about the actions of the Quali-Quantitative Systematic Water and Sediment Monitoring Program (PMQQS). Currently, there are 92 manual monitoring points and 22 automatic stations that monitor the changes in water quality.
A group of students from the Municipal School Professor Alcina Silva in Miranda will visit a monitoring point near the Doce River and children will be able to see from up close how water is collected for analysis.
“There will be a lottery for choosing the child that may go on board with the person responsible for collecting the water sample. Meanwhile, a clown will entertain the students who stayed in school. Finally, the students meet up with the child that collected the water to hear about his/her experience, ” explains Soraia Silva.