Background:

It is increasingly common to talk about environmental education as one of the solutions to the great climate crisis we are facing. Although there are many non-formal education initiatives associated with environmental issues, in the area of formal education there is still a lack of integration of environmental issues into the curriculum. However, there are projects carried out by teachers that deserve to be made visible and that can help to strengthen and promote this area.

Organized by the Office for Climate Education, the Teachers COP event was created to bring together teachers from around the world who work on the integration of environmental issues into the curriculum with the aim of promoting environmental awareness. This year, Teachers COP promotes the call to action and has organized a contest to showcase environmental education projects in formal education around the world that generate a measurable impact and can be replicated anywhere.

Participation in Teachers COP from the Latin American region has been coordinated by the alliance between Fundación MERI and UNICEF, given that environmental education in the classroom was one of the objectives of this alliance in 2021. The call to teachers to share their environmental education initiatives has been made through the “Guardians of the Climate” contest and it is their winners who will represent the region at the Teachers COP, where their peers will vote for the projects that should go to the COP as an example of environmental education practices in the classroom.