PHOTOS: Sergio Betancort
The Tinajo Secondary Education Institute received this Monday, from the Deputy Minister of Sustainability of the Government of the Canary Islands, Guacimara Medina, its distinction as the most sustainable educational center within the Canary Islands Network of Educational Centers for Sustainability (RedECOS). The award consisted of a diploma and didactic material in different formats for the center.
The call for the contest was made by the Vice-Ministry of Sustainability in June of last year, with the aim of rewarding, for the second time in the Canary Islands, the educational center that stands out for being the most sustainable in the Autonomous Community. The contest has among its objectives the promotion of training and education for the acquisition of values that promote behaviors compatible with sustainable development, using school audits for this, as well as converting the educational center into a project susceptible to ecological and social changes and improvements, according to the principles of environmental education.
Currently, 162 public Canarian centers of compulsory non-university education are part of RedECOS, developing their activity through a common methodology that are school eco-audits, an educational process with which, thanks to the participation of the entire school community, the environmental quality of the center is evaluated and diagnosed. Based on the results obtained, actions are promoted to improve the environmental problems detected.
"An example of good work"
The Deputy Minister of Sustainability, Guacimara Medina, highlighted the importance of valuing environmental respect in all areas and promoting an educational culture from an early age. "It is necessary to promote activities that promote in our students the values of respect and care for the natural environment and the awareness of the need for proper waste management. The IES Tinajo is an example of good work in these tasks," he said.
Guacimara Medina pointed out that the school should be a place for experimentation with new educational proposals and that many of them, beneficial for the environment, can be extrapolated to the family and neighborhood environment. Likewise, she stressed the need to act on raising awareness of the defense of the environment, "despite the difficult current economic situation that limits resources and concentrates almost all social attention."
