Educational Center for Environmental Recovery – CERA

To implement the components of education, culture and research, in February 19th, 2002, was created the Educational Center for Environment Recovery – CERA- that has as mission contributes to the process of environment recovery and the sustainable development of Mata Atlântica, especially in the region of Bacia do Rio Doce.

Through the CERA the technologies developed are spread, being stimulated a thinking about the current development model aiming to improve the construction of leaders that are able do change the world until the sustainable development.

The project’s strategy is to work the public that has a great importance to the recovery and conservation of the local and regional environment like teachers that work in agricultural and forest technical schools and at middle school; mayors, secretaries that are responsible for the environment; political leaders and, especially, the rural producers of the region.

Until December, 2007, 339 courses to 9.763 students and 39 events to 17432 peoples, from 141 different municipalities of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo have been realized. As part of the program with MST, teachers, agricultural technicians and producers from Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo were taught.

Educational Program – Guidelines

- be eminently practical;
- have the case studies as an aim;
- be based on ecological principles and concepts, covering a systemic conception and a better understanding of the ecosystems;
- take into consideration and value the knowledge and the culture of the targeted public;
- comprehend the reality through analysis of human intervention in nature;
- take into consideration the needs, the local people’s demands and expectations;
- establish the communication between scientific and popular knowledge;
- establish and develop people’s awareness of the interdependence between the people and the communities to value the sense of citizenship;

Course Syllabus

The CERA organizes events like technical meetings, courses and seminars, with a flexible variation of time period, between 10 to 40 hours per module.
The development of modules is done to adapt its Educational Program to match the needs and expectations of the local groups.

The introductory courses focus on thematic concepts such as the knowledge about environmental recovery and forest management, showing the reversibility of the degrading process of the Atlantic Forest. Also are discussed sustainable alternatives of the uses of natural resources in rural properties, and bio diversity conservation on the fringe areas.

The courses also cover the history of Rio Doce and Atlantic Rain Forest basin degradation, in order to promote the understanding of the environmental changing processes on the region, the degradation of the soil, the climatic changes and the hydrologic cycles.

The training emphasizes the creation and the development of local agents for sustainable development, preparing them to design social-environmental projects. In addition to the social and environmental programs the course also highlights building awareness of the relationship between sustainability of natural resources and the social-economic development; emphasizing the relationship between environmental and social destruction; understanding the lack of soil fertility and decrease in farm production; and understanding poverty, rural migration, and other related issues.

The children from the region are received daily in the Institute. A monitor explains the entire project, showing the stages of the development.

Movie theater Terra

Serving to a request of the community of Aimorés, the Institute keeps, since August, 2004, the movie theater Terra. Since its opening until those days, 86 showings to approximately 13.200 have been realized.

Over there the movie showings and the theaters presentations, the space is also used to promote seminars, debates and workshops.

The building of the movie theater Terra was realizes by the support of Natura Cosméticos and Fundo Nacional da Biodiversidade. Andréa Gambeta, director of arts of Biennale Valencia, in Spain, did his utmost to make the Generalitat Valencia Govern, in Spain, to donate the projector. The UNESCO from Brazil were put in charge to import that projector and the lighting and stereo equipments that were donated by Marsha Garces Willians and Robin Willians, american actor.

Advanced Center to the Environment Recovery and Rural Sustainable Development

Opened in August, 2004, the Advanced Center was created to favor the post-technical graduation, theorical and practical, of agricultural, environment and forest technical. The objective is to turn itself into a reference in the capability of professionals that are able to perform in the recovery of degrading areas, in the environment restoration and valuing, besides to make the sustainable use of the natural resources and of alternative techniques in the producing and financial administration of rural properties.

The building of the student’s residences and the achievement of the equipments to the Advanced Center were supported by Philips of Brazil and Florindon Foundation, in Switzerland. The researches to set the course syllabus up were financed by the International Finance Corporation, of Banco do Brazil.

Working as a boarding school, the Agro-Environment Technical course opens the opportunity to 10 new students each year. The students are put up in the Advanced Center accommodations. They also receive food, clothes and monthly financial help.

The course last 2 years, and at the end the students receive a diploma. Two classes have been graduated and these students are actually performing in their original city at the environment recovery.

More informations about Advanced Center, click here.

Public Library

In December, 2004, was opened  the Community Library “Read is necessary” created through the partnership between the Ecofruto Institute, Terra Institute, the Aimorés Municipal City Hall and the National Foundation of the Book.

This library is public and has as difference the community management. It also is formed by agents that are responsible to stimulate the reading and serve the community with quality. They were prepared by the National Foundation of the Youth and Children’s Book in Rio de Janeiro.

The community library was called Antonio Tavares teacher, as a way to tribute to this teacher that gave a great contribution to the culture and intellectual development to the Aimorés citizens.

Center Museum of Archaeology of Aimorés

Since February, 2008, the Archaeology Museum Nucleus is working at the headquarter of Instituto Terra, which has its management shared with the City Hall of Aymorés.

The deployment of the Archeology Museum Nucleus is an initiative that recognizes and aims to preserve history of the region. It also represents an opportunity for the community know the habits of people that lived in past centuries besides being a great incentive to the tourism.

The Nucleus houses the archeological artifacts found in the municipality of Aimorés in the period preceding the construction of the Hydroelectric Power from Aimorés.

For the first time in Minas Gerais, a collection archaeological remains in the place where it was found. The usual is that the parts are routed to the nearest museum of archaeology.

More Informations:

Contact us through e-mail cera@institutoterra.org

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