Edukatu is a learning network aimed at promoting the exchange of knowledge and conscious consumption practices between primary school teachers and students across Brazil.
Besides gathering reference material and information addressing the topic of conscious consumption, Edukatu invites participants to undertake activities using learning circuits. This guided navigation is an innovative experience that leads teachers and students to:
1. solve research and study challenges;
2. comment and debate with other network users;
3. share their creations; and
4. promote practical interventions in participating school communities.
Using learning circuits and other interactive tools, Edukatu also aims to be an instrument for promoting mobilization, facilitating the development of a community continuously engaged in favor of conscious consumption. Each network participant becomes a disseminator of what they have learned, expanding collaboration and the reach of debates and directly influencing the everyday practices of those around them.
Context
Edukatu was developed and is promoted by the Akatu Institute, a nongovernmental nonprofit organization with headquarters in São Paulo. Since its creation on March 15, 2001, the Akatu Institute has been working across Brazil with communication campaigns and education projects in companies, schools, and communities aimed at disseminating new values and conscious consumption practices geared towards sustainability. Click here to find out who supports the Akatu Institute.
The general underlying premise of Edukatu is the importance of educators - be they teachers or parents - as agents of transformation, fostering and strengthening engagement between learners and teachers. This foundation was consolidated even further in 2012, with the call for urgent action to further strengthen and scale up Education for Sustainable Development made by the outcome document of the Rio+20 Earth summit, "The Future We Want".
The creation of Edukatu involved experts in education, sustainability, communication, and digital culture and its approach emphasizes the power of the internet and communication technology to foster dynamic relations and promote the exchange of information, particularly in schools.
Another point of convergence with digital culture is that part of the educational materials available on the platform, some of which were originally developed in other Akatu projects, are also available under the Creative Commons and therefore free to use and adapt, provided the use is not for commercial purposes and that appropriate credit is given (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en).
An experimental interactive space in English has been created in Edukatu, for demonstration purposes. Different from regular Edukatu’s thematic learning pathways which consist of activities arranged in a methodological sequence, this demo path presents briefly presents the main themes covered by Edukatu, its teaching resources and activities used to address individual themes. To try it, please write to relacionamento@akatu.org.br .
A number of organizations support Edukatu, helping to disseminate and build our education for conscious consumption network. To find out how you can help, send us an email: relacionamento@akatu.org.br
Next Steps
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are part of a global commitment comprising a set of measures to be adopted by member states up to 2030. These goals address the most pressing global challenges for sustainable development and constitute a major advance towards sustainable living.
The SDGs therefore have the potential to form the base of an important educational arsenal for working sustainability with children and adolescents, especially at primary school. Thus, placing the SDGs on the school agenda is a powerful strategy for collaborating with the education of individuals so that they can develop critical ability and therefore be capable of recognizing the importance of adopting more sustainable lifestyles, reinforcing the importance of global citizenship from a young age.
Thus, over the next few years, Edukatu plans to produce and make available on-line new content and methodologies directly related to the 17 SDGs, highlighting how the adoption of conscious consumption practices can help meet these goals. By accessing these contents, Brazilian teachers and students will learn about each objective, have the opportunity to share knowledge and activities, and be encouraged to elaborate projects to promote actions in their schools and communities related to the SDGs.