In line with the "PAB_LivingLab - Vive a Descarbonização no Parque Adão Barata" project and on the occasion of World Tree and Water Days, AIDGLOBAL, in collaboration with Loures City Council, promoted guided tours for students from schools in the municipality of Loures on 21st and 22nd March, with the aim of fostering and contributing to the formation of aware and critical citizens by promoting good environmental practices.

During the morning, 274 students and 29 teachers from the Secondary Schools - Humberto Delgado, António Carvalho Figueiredo, Secundária de Sacavém - and the Primary Schools of São João da Talha and Luís de Sttau Monteiro (7th, 8th and 9th grades) were invited by AIDGLOBAL to take part in exploratory and thematic activities, strategically organised around the Environment, Sustainability, Nature Conservation, Energy and Climate Change.

The visits focused on meeting environmental impact objectives, from recognising the importance of urban green spaces in the park, to raising awareness of the need to adopt behaviours aimed at adapting to and mitigating Climate Change, to identifying the possible consequences of using different energy sources, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of using Renewable Energies as one of the pillars of energy sustainability.

The first activity sought to introduce concepts relating to Sustainable Mobility. Through the "traditional handkerchief game", two teams were formed and challenged to answer questions about the carbon footprint, polluting means of transport and the 'unsustainable' lifestyle of the Portuguese population.

In the second action, the students took part in a dynamic, created with a ball of yarn, about raw materials and Renewable Energy, from the sun's rays, wind, water and biomass. If the answers were correct, the ball of yarn was thrown by the student, forming a web made up of "sustainable" answers.

As a third activity, the participants were encouraged and mobilised to debate sustainability, presenting a solution to a given problem as well as individual and collective action. Excessive water consumption, animal production and consumption or the environmental impact generated by the fashion industry and fast-fashion consumption were some of the topics addressed.

Finally, a Tree Caching event was organised, which led to the creation of small groups to solve a "crossword puzzle" on the theme of the environment, followed by the observation of plaques identifying the recently sponsored trees, where, using a QR Code, they were able to see the work carried out by other schools in the 2022/2023 school year.

The initiative was attended by Nuno Dias, the Loures City Council councillor responsible for Energy and Sustainability, who said of World Tree Day and the activities taking place in the park: "I still remember what we used to do on World Tree Day at school. And that's what we want to pass on to you."

At the end of the meeting, all the students had the opportunity to express themselves artistically by drawing pictures of "What do you like most about nature?" and "What does sustainability mean?", and were given gifts by Loures Town Council.

The teachers responsible for each class signed a record of attendance and evaluation of the sessions, which were generally positive and showed expectations for future intervention.

Commitment to environmental sustainability and awareness of the need for continued investment in public policies aimed at reducing the impact of air pollution on cities and on society's quality of life is an integral part of the objectives of the "PAB_LivingLab - Vive a descarbonização no Parque Adão Barata" project, which is funded by the EEA Grants Environment Programme, its promoter is AIDGLOBAL  –  Ação e Integração para o Desenvolvimento Global – and its partners are Loures City Council, the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon, bim+, dstsolar and Innovation Point, and which was one of the axes around which the guided tours of the PAB were configured.