Germinar um banco de sementes [Sprouting a seedbank]
"Germinar um banco de sementes" [GBS] aims to create a seed bank from school space, involving the local community. Our goals are to educate for active citizenship, make society more aware of its natural heritage, and use dematerialization mechanisms (collaborative economy and sustainable consumption) to preserve natural genetic diversity.
The project is structured in several activities, expanding from schools to educators and the local community or national level through free seed sharing.
National
Portugal
Lisbon
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Margens simples associação Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Maria João Last name of representative: Fonseca Gender: Female Nationality: Portugal Function: President Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Rua Possidónio da Silva, 162 2D Town: Lisbon Postal code: 1350-249 Country: Portugal Direct Tel:+351 966 370 385 E-mail:mariafonseca1@gmail.com Website:http://germinar.pt
GBS aims to create a seed bank from the school space involving the local community. We aim to educate for active citizenship, construct a more aware society of its natural heritage and use dematerialisation mechanisms (collaborative economy and sustainable consumption) that contribute to conserving the existing genetic heritage.
The project is divided into several activities that range from schools (students and teachers) to educators and the local community, or on a national scale, through free seed sharing via the website www.germinar.pt.
In the schools
Through fortnightly training and awareness-raising activities, it directly works with 10 classes of 2nd and 6th-year students and teachers in five schools.
Students learn about ecosystems and agroecological topics as part of their teaching programme. The project is organised based on a central theme−the seed−in particular, on awareness raising of the accelerated loss of biodiversity, mechanisms of seeds preservation, ideally traditional and local varieties to address transversal themes such as the environment, agro-systems, climate change, among others. It is predominantly structured in practical activities to provide students with action tools: knowledge, skills for action or critical and systemic thinking for transformative action (to undertake in daily routines).
From schools to the community
Between school and local community, the project integrates ethnobotanical walks, "Explorer of my territory" through the territories where it operates. Organises an annual open day at the schools for students, parents and those interested in the project and will program a cycle of talks in the Estrela public garden/Environmental library.
From local to national level
The project created and manages a "seeds archive"−physical repository and a digital platform: www.germinar.pt−to share seeds for free, encouraging their propagation and raising awareness of the importance of their diversity and conservation.
seedbank
seeds preservation
active citizenship
schools
environmental sustainability
Raise awareness of the urgency of preserving and multiplying seeds and related environmental issues to foster active citizenship. It focuses on pedagogical aspects: nature-based, participative, and co-responsible teaching methodologies (learning by doing and sharing) concurring to "all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development" in SGD4, also translated in the "recommendation on learning for environmental sustainability" (Council of the EU, 2022). The syllabus is articulated with the core subjects, and training is given during school time (not as an extra-curricular activity) during an academic year. It involves a transdisciplinary team with experts in sciences and arts. It promotes students' and teachers' lifelong competencies, and teachers can later replicate them in the following years.
Promoting critical and responsible consumption through circular economy practices and short-chain food supply. Students follow the whole plant growth cycle during their academic time until the seeds' harvest. Lessons focus on fundamental aspects of ecology, sustainability, environmental protection, and consumption. At the end, students produce their feast with vegetables and fruits grown. From the seeds' production, some are kept at school for the following year's students; the remaining revert to the seeds' archive and are made available to any citizen, fostering a solidarity economy. The collection, production and seed sharing contribute to SGD2 on preserving "species diversity and the creation of seed banks".
Requalify schools' by adding more green. Production areas are built through a participatory process (co-creation and co-construction), fostering a more conscious and active citizenship in improving common spaces in schools. Adding green and biodiverse areas contributes to SDG15, specifically, to "halt the loss of biodiversity and (…) prevent the extinction of threatened species."
It addresses almost all Greencomp issues [below]
As in the NEB concept, aesthetic values extend beyond beauty and materiality in our vision. The main focus is to increase communities' capacity to adapt by shifting to an economy of belonging. In this sense, the participation of 5 schools within a 500m radius scales the community's affinity by strengthening local values and encouraging the active sharing of knowledge and experiences beyond direct participants.
Green spaces were added in schools' playgrounds, and almost all school activities ran outside in direct contact with the vegetable garden, promoting positive emotions. This is particularly relevant in urban contexts and after the stressful pandemic, contributing directly to physical and mental health and well-being. Providing efficient actions and tools brings hope and enthusiasm and reduces eco-anxiety among children. Also, reconnecting the youth with native species and raising awareness on the preservation and reproduction of species is an aesthetic value contributing to the mitigation of current issues in the face of the accelerated loss of biodiversity and the denaturalisation of cities.
The programme has been designed to cross disciplines, mainly earth sciences, citizenship and visual arts. Still, as shown in our future handbook (2023), it can be adapted by other disciplines. Based on the central theme of the seeds - biodiversity and preservation - several topics are addressed in the biweekly school sessions to actively provide children with tools to construct a fairer and more sustainable environment. With arts education and scientific illustration lessons, we intend to give students tools to focus and observe the surrounding natural world, also helping in decoding the drawing. Collaborative work between teachers and artists stimulates artistic creation, contributing to the quality of teaching in multidisciplinary contexts. And most of all, it increases acceptance and appreciation of aesthetic choices and expressions that may differ from one's own.
A local development project (promote social and territorial cohesion and community), directly working in four priority neighbourhoods defined by the Lisbon Municipality. All activities are free.
The school is the pivotal space for the articulation between publics. Here, creative knowledge-sharing methods for a more cohesive student-school relationship foster intellectual accessibility. Using mechanisms for active environmental literacy (practical training models, diagnostic methods, participation and enhancement of school self-organisation) boosts students' attention with lower academic results while providing a suitable answer to the school's educational project. Students with special educational needs participate in activities, and there is a sizable proportion of non-native Portuguese speakers among the students.
Vegetable gardens, designed to ensure physical accessibility, are used by students with special needs. They improve school playgrounds' quality: physical (soil conservation, climatic amenities, aesthetics, and floristic diversity) and social (previously unused areas converted to varied educational offers).
Social accessibility is boosted at many scales. In schools, relationships are formed around cultivation areas - spaces of strong social identity. Intervening in 5 schools in a neighbourhood reinforces local values and encourages knowledge and experience sharing beyond direct participants. Ethnobotanical walks (including citizen science tools) and public talks on seeds and agroecology (at the environment library) offer alternative spaces for dialogue and learning. It promotes the interaction between students, relatives, local community and experts, thriving local communities.
The handbook (a detailed project guide with methodologies and support materials for educators and trainers in friendly communication), freely available, also intends to new environmental education policies and enhance the educational dimension of environmental issues.
Project designed based on various levels of the social-ecological model. Each level is defined accordingly: influence - I; strategy - S; examples of activities - E.
INDIVIDUAL
I:Personal characteristics that individuals bring with them into any social situation.
S:Promote attitudes and behaviours that support equality and respect within ecosystems.
E:Educational sessions based on the central theme of "the seed" and a spectrum of considerations emerging from transversal themes, as example agro-systems, climate change, and systemic thinking.
RELATIONSHIP
I:It encompasses the interactions a child has with their immediate surroundings, such as family, school, neighbourhood. Bi-directional influences are more substantial and most impact the child.
S:Promote healthy communication and behaviours by modeling relationships.
E:Education through practice, during the school year, in direct contact with and respect for nature times. Promote critical choice in society, learning through dialogue and negotiation between groups.
COMMUNITY
I:Connects two or more systems in which a child or relative lives and provides the connection between the structures of the child's relationships.
S:Promote community by targeting processes or policies.
E:Strengthen the interaction of school and family by opening the school to parents and activities in the neighbourhood: walks and talks.
SOCIETAL
I:At a macro level, in which children may not be directly involved but feel the positive/negative force engaged in the interaction with their system.
S:Promote social norms and policies that support environmentally conscious choices and healthy relationships.
E:Beyond direct participation, project implementation in nearby schools strengthens local values and encourages active sharing of knowledge and experiences. Activities in school contribute to the website and seed repository maintenance to be shared at a national level. A handbook based on classroom experiences allows for replicability.
For the second time in 3 years, the Lisbon City Council finances the project under the BipZip program, a pioneering strategy by the Lisbon Municipality's Body of Housing and Local Development, promoting partnerships in the city's priority neighbourhoods.
This project is only possible with a strong partner community; for us, the schools are meaningful partners. We designed the project in 2019 to work with 11 classes in two schools: Josefa de Óbidos Secondary School and Ressano Garcia Primary School, thanks to the director, who immediately accepted the idea. Also, the national seed bank, "A.L. Belo Correia" (Faculty of Sciences/University of Lisbon), integrated this group. In 2021 we started working with three other schools from the Manuel da Maia Group: the Manuel da Maia Secondary School and the Primary Schools Vale de Alcântara and Fernanda de Castro, increasing our partnership. The schools open their doors to the project, allowing activities to be developed during their academic time and occasionally beyond opening hours to welcome family members and convert the playgrounds. The "A.L. Belo Correia seed bank" (not open to the public) allows the students to visit, promoting activities in articulation with the botanical garden.
Some research groups have made an outstanding contribution, dynamising activities according to their deep academic knowledge—"ReSeed, rescuing seeds' heritage" (Uni. of Coimbra) and the Caravana AgroEcológica (Faculty of Sciences, Uni. of Lisbon)—on Iberian Peninsula species and short-chain food supply. Furthermore, support in hosting spaces or goods is essential to improving the schools' infrastructure and activities. Other organisations have joined the project. The Lisbon Libraries Network (Lisbon City Council) by providing space for talks. "Living Seeds -Sementes Vivas", "Valorsul" and "Carmo Wood" have also contributed material resources.
The community also supports the "seed archive" by seeding and sharing seeds.
The project was designed as a mission-driven program to promote deep and long-term collaborations. It engages various participants and disciplines in the co-creation process between local authorities and communities to subtly reorient the culture of local government and include this educational program in all schools.
The project team brings together people with different knowledge domains, from the social sciences to biology, landscape architecture, architecture, design, and art, with public-private partnerships.
In schools, lessons are taught by natural sciences, visual arts and arts education teachers, jointly with the schools' teachers of citizenship, earth sciences and visual arts courses, encouraging and enabling transformative and interdisciplinary learning for environmental sustainability. It is intended to train students to preserve the environment and understand the notable role of seeds.
Articulating artistic approaches with the natural sciences allows for exploring creativity, attenuating interdisciplinary gaps, and spawning the acquisition of new skills and emotions.
The theoretical-practical training model and interdisciplinary experimentation framework support the students in constructing their autonomy in creating their food production system and managing school vegetable gardens through sustainable growing practices.
The topic of seeds is an opportunity to share knowledge from history, geography, genetics, biology, Portuguese (language) or mathematics. Above all, it is an opportunity to educate from a cross-domain and multi-perspective dimension, thereby contributing to learners' understanding of issues and their relationships.
Activities out of the school aim to support educators in adopting pedagogies towards sustainability (providing time and space) and developing socio-emotional aspects that reinforce the capacity of all learners to become agents of change and learn to act, both individually and collectively, for a more sustainable world.
Two of the paramount aspects of innovation are the temporal and spatial scalability of the project based on a central theme and structure—the seed—together with the wide potential coverage for different thematics and disciplines.
The project focuses on the seed, an essential element in ecosystems' survival that is often overlooked beyond the threat of their diversity and consequences.
Scalability: from the seeds to the schools, the crossing of scales is critical to the project's sedimentation and provides it with an innovative and distinguishing character. As said, it can be quickly adopted in other schools through the handbook. Furthermore, because the structures were built to last for many years, they can be easily maintained over time, keeping school projects active. Also, with the project under execution and documents produced from experience, we are trying to dialogue with policymakers to foster a broader spectrum of action.
School transdisciplinary: As an independently designed environmental education project, it can engage the students' class time by linking the co-created contents, creating synergies between different disciplines, crossing contents within the syllabus of the school curriculum, and expanding from the classroom and the school to local actions or national scale.
Considering school disciplines, apart from the more obvious subjects in which these themes are taught, such as natural and earth sciences, citizenship or visual arts (which we work with), consider, for example, history and politics. History as seeds tells the story of our cultural foundations. Politics through the struggles of thousands of different varieties of food crops around the world allows farmers to control healthy and nutritious food, protect biodiversity, and build resilience against climate change and the agribusiness corporations' imposing genetically modified (GM) and hybrid varieties, decreasing biodiversity, food sovereignty and health.
Methodologies, processes and learnings
We designed an open-source project that is being compiled into a good practice handbook. As we are developing a second version this school year, the handbook prototype is also being reviewed by the ten teachers involved in the project to test its effectiveness in communication. This document ("Manual em dispesão" [Handbook in Dispersion]) is freely available through our website or in a printed version for those who might want to replicate this project in any school environment.
The currently available version is already being used in other schools, at least in the Lisbon region. As shared knowledge repositories contribute to adaptive reuse practices, knowledge updating, and advancement, we may also learn from these other places, groups of beneficiaries and contexts.
Products and learnings
On the other hand, we promote free seed sharing and its circularity. Through our website, any person from Portugal (boundary defined by ecological and legal reasons) can order seeds, with deliveries being sent by mail. Furthermore, we ask the community to return some of the reproduced seeds, thus contributing to the maintenance of this seed archive, which can only be genetically and functionally viable through seed reproduction.
We share what we have been learning through the process with the will of replicability or adaptability. The whole project may be replicated or adapted to specific ecological contexts. People from Portugal and overseas have already gotten in touch or met with us to understand the project better and adjust to other contexts and realities.
We use participative pedagogical and co-responsibility (socio-emotional learning) methodologies with students. Based on hands-on activities (applied learning), approaches foster critical thinking (cognitive learning). It aims to i. share know-how to create new skills geared towards students' autonomy, and learners understand the interconnectedness of economic, social and natural systems, ii. foster mechanisms of articulation between schools and communities, iii. reduce school dropout and failure, and iv. contribute to education for the environment, sustainability and citizenship in education.
Activities are scheduled for an academic year, offering students opportunities to understand the cycles of nature and how to care for nature (our wish would be life-long learning, but due to financial restrictions, this is the current reality). It also manages how to save resources by understanding the importance of a circular economy and how it is achieved by building sustainability competencies in meaningful ways. Students from all backgrounds are involved together in the project. Since the design, they have been actors in both the process and the outcome.
The project's interdisciplinary nature is also crucial, with a team with different expertise and competencies towards a common training focus and involving students with this diversity of knowledge.
During the academic period, we also invest in pedagogical research by creating and testing a handbook with activities to support the possible scaling up of good practices.
Fostering partnerships with local communities, enterprises, and research entities strengthens the project and broadens its scope. Also, it helps learners positively engage with climate and environmental issues toward a more just society by creating more diverse and resilient communities, considering humans and non-humans at the centre of the process.
"Germinar um banco de sementes" [Sprouting a seedbank] aims to tackle the current threat to plant genetic heritage—the loss of biodiversity caused by climate change and seed privatisation and its reduction in production viability—by proposing easy and effective ways to preserve genetic diversity through:
(1) activities focused on seed preservation, climate change, biodiversity and sustainability issues;
(2) the development of a seed archive (repository) for sharing seeds and its maintenance by the community's sense of belonging.
As recognised by the European Council ("Council Recommendation on Learning for the Green Transition and Sustainable Development," 2022) education and training are fundamental to accomplishing the European Ecological Pact. In response, the project provides learners "with opportunities to understand, engage with and value the natural world and its biodiversity, create a sense of curiosity and wonder and learn to act for sustainability, individually and collectively" (Council of the European Union, 2022, p 11).
Children and youth, future decision-makers, spend most of their time in schools, being also widely accepted that school education is a strong bond in shaping personality development. Recently, and as a response to the urgency of action on climate change, the most critical voices in society have emerged from schools. Aligned with their will to change, we must also support mechanisms, solutions, and tools contributing to a more sustainable urban life.
In recent decades, an unprecedented loss of biodiversity has occurred. Preserving species for food sovereignty and resisting the massification of genetically modified or extinct species by natural or anthropogenic causes is crucial today. Given the urgency of the climate and biodiversity crises, it is time for a step change and to move beyond isolated and one-time initiatives to a profound and systemic change in education and training through local actions, such as this project.
The project started in October 2019. Physical contact with students was interrupted on Mar'20 by the pandemic and lack of funding during the school year 21/22, returning by Jan'22. During interruptions, other activities were developed to engage students.
The most visible results are students' enthusiasm for lessons. Then, by bringing relatives to informal activities during their weekends or parents' involvement in the project, either through participating or volunteering.
Another result is replicability in other schools: at Manuel da Maia School (21/22), Alcântara Primary School (22/23), and a private school in Odivelas (coming soon). The project has also shared seeds with several non-profit associations and schools to activate their vegetable gardens.
Since 2020 it has been invited to partner on other community-based initiatives. "Vegetable Gardens at home" (Campo Ourique, Lx) to offer senior people activities during the pandemic and as a way to overcome loneliness; "Full of Life" (Campolide, Lx) to build a community nursery and dynamising educational activities for residents; "Growing at Home" (So Vicente, Lx) to the construction of "the Super Cultivator kits". Also invited to facilitate activities in "A garden for everyone" (Graça, Lx).
External recognition: in 2020, the Portuguese Association for Environmental Education and 40 national teachers visited the project during the Environmental Education Pedagogical Days. In 2021, it was recognised as one of the sustainability agents in Portugal by ODSlocal (Municipal Platform for SDG) and was financed by the Lisbon Council BipZip program in the "Good Practices" dimension. In 2022 was the highest-scoring project of the most inspiring projects in environmental education, selected by the European Commission. It was presented during the "Education Climate Days" (European Commission) and at the "Communities co-creating learning for climate resilience: Education for Climate and the Climate Pact" (COP 27).
The project addresses almost all issues.
Valuing sustainability Promotes practices of saving seeds so they can be used in the future and strengthens relationships between generations. It prevents the extinction of rare and often endangered significant endemic varieties.
Supporting fairness Seeds and traditional practices are a medium for knowledge transmission from older to youngers.
Promoting Nature Engagement throughout the process increases connection with Nature, fostering deeper respect and care for Nature
Systems thinking Topics are approached from an ecological and community perspective. In the urban context, helpful tips (ex: reusing organic waste to make natural compost) can be tested.
Critical thinking Teachers are vehicles to children reach the solution. Some activities are organised around group work to encourage healthy debates, stimulate imagination and raise awareness of their choices.
Problem framing In each session, the issue is contextualised to justify the activity and provide a practical outcome, easily replicable.
Futures literacy A sustainable alternative future imagined by the project members, not just as promoters of biodiversity but also for food production, encourages youth to practice accordingly to make a difference in the future.
Exploratory thinking As example, through the exercise of plant intercropping, students explore disciplines of mathematics, natural sciences and negotiation; they also understand the importance of good planning to achieve a sustainable and balanced vegetable garden.
Collective action Activities encourage community in and outside the school. Ex: "Open Day" in schools, neighbourhoods' walks, talks, free sharing seeds through the website or the handbook freely available on the internet.
Individual initiative Students' activities are structured for everyday use. In short, learn to take care of people, the land and sharing.
