Presentaci

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Cecilia Iglesias
Asociación Civil Red Ambiental
Argentina
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I was born in Argentina, a country full of
beautiful places
although some of these ecosystems are under
significant pressure from various types of human
activities.
Despite the abundant available resources,
millions of people survive daily life in extreme
poverty.
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This situation causes a social, economic,
cultural, political and environmental crisis.
Everything was falling apart.
I wanted to help, but organizations did not take
me seriously.
I was compelled to start my own small projects at
school. Through these experiences, I found my
purpose and decided to pursue a career in the
environmental field.
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In 1999, during my last year of college,
I was working as a intern for an environmental
consulting firm.
I wasnt really making a difference, not even a
tiny one.
Every single one of us has to do their part to
plant the seed for change Agustina, 11 years
old, Argentina.
It was clear to me that I needed to find my part
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I believed that education was the key to
sustainable development
And suddenly the Internet arrived like an
earthquake, transforming the way everything was
done.
I was enamored with ICT!!!
I could not resist exploring what could happen
if I used these new technologies for
environmental education.
I registered the ecopibes.com domain and the
project was born.
After graduating with honors, I got laid off!
It was both a challenge and a opportunity I
could either seek a similar job or I could devote
more time to my project.
Let's get to work!!!!! Juliana, 9 years old,
Argentina.
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What is Ecopibes?
EcoPibes is an educational project
for sustainable development(environmental,
social, and economic),
for Spanish-speaking children and adolescents
based on the use of information and
communication technologies.
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What are we trying to achieve?
The objective of the project is it to enrich the
education of children and adolescents so they
can
understand local, regional, and global
environmental problems, take part in community
development, assume leadership and construct
their own future, respect and value diversity in
all ways possible, be honest, creative,
open-minded, critical, peaceful and solidary,
and commit to a sustainable development for all.
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Why is it important?
Today we have sufficient evidence of the
degradation we are causing to the planet, and
furthermore, how this degraded environment is
affecting our daily lives.
We need to commit to a different path, one that
works for everyone, everywhere, and for all time.
Change is certainly necessary and I believe
education is the ultimate enabler of change.
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Old problem
Environmental education in Latin America has many
barriers, among them is the lack of educational
resources.
We had 2 choices
Use traditional natural science books, or Use
environmental books developed in the global north.
Neither of them adequate to fulfill the need.
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Old problem new opportunity
The Internet arrived providing unparalleled
access to information with better tools to share
it. Its arrival changed the role people have on
their own educational process.
Even though we had access to a gigantic library,
resources were not locally relevant.
We were learning about problems that they were
not causing nor being affected by. We were not
learning about the issues that have consequences
in all of our lives.
Schools are teaching about the Panda Bear!
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Old problem different approach
Through ICTs, I could promote change, in order
for concerns to evolve into local action.
Accessibility
Locally relevant contents
Capacity building
Equal access
Equipment and softwares
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Global team, worldwide partners
By using ICT we can pool together the knowledge,
experiences, and commitment necessary to achieve
sustainable development. We use ICT to create a
unique team as well as to find our partners.
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How else are ICTs enabling our work?
Let me tell you what I think EcoPibes would be
without ICTs
We have invested less than UDS 3,000 in 6
years.(Creativity and networking can be
extremely cost-efficient!!!)
With that kind of money we could probably have
enough to print a few copies of a nice gigantic
book that only certain children in the area would
be able to buy.
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Instead, today EcoPibes
...is the largest sustainable development website
it exists for Spanish-speaking children and
adolescents
...has more than 30,000 users a month, from 29
different countries,(1 of every 4 of them
includes our website to his/her Favorites)
...is a network for intercultural exchange of
information and experiences
...is a channel through which we promote other
organizations and projects
...is a living and evolving project that can
reinvent itself if needed
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EcoPibes also
...received several safety labels and awards
...has attained a great presence in search
engines (number 2 of 15,100,000 results)
...is highly recommended by intergovernmental
organizations, governments, NGOs, schools, the
media, environmental networks, etc.
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In 2004, I received the Outstanding Young Persons
of Argentina (TOYP) Award, which recognizes
young people who excel in their chosen fields and
exemplify the best attributes of young people.
In my case, I received this award for
environmental leadership.
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Challenges during our inception
For the first couple of years, EcoPibes was my
contribution to environmental education, and my
primary donor was my own wallet
However, I increasingly started having time
conflicts. I needed to work in order to pay for
the project, which in effect left me with no
time to work on the project.
I realized that I was not achieving a core
competency of a successful organization
economic sustainability.
I started looking for partners
But first I needed to create an NGO (jumping over
hurdles!)
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I soon realized that having a good project was
not enough.
Environment Education Children Youth ICTs Argentin
a
Global Issues Education for all Poverty
alleviation Youth employment Access to ICTs (Out
of the map)
Most common operating cost are usually not
covered and salaries are out of the question.
Why dont you start an organic farm? That we can
help you with
Why dont you come back when the project is
mature
Sorry, the project has to be genuinely youth-led
Our project does not fit the mold
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We recently won a Youth Projects Contest
organized by UNEP and the Secretariat of
Environment in Argentina
Hopefuly, we will get the attention of new
donors here!!!
A new project we are working on was selected for
UNDP funding
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My vision for the project
I envision EcoPibes as a readily accessible tool
for every child or adolescent who is willing to
learn about the environment.
I want EcoPibes to be able to transform this
curiosity into a lifetime commitment to
environmental protection and sustainable
development.
I want EcoPibes to help them understand the
systemic nature of reality so they can make
decisions with a profound understanding of their
consequences.
I aspire that EcoPibes will help empower children
and adolescents so they can become environmental
leaders today and in the future.
I hope that EcoPibes survives in perpetuity.
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In order to achieve this we will
Continue to include new contents
Improve interactivity
Create an EcoPibes Advisory Council
Lauch collaborative projects
Search for new partnership opportunities
Create a Network of Sustainable Classrooms
We could also translate EcoPibes into English and
Portuguese.
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We want to continue exploring all the
opportunities ICTs have to offer so that we can
hit the bulls eye.
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Our major constraint has always been access to
funds and partners
None of us get paid for what we do, creating time
conflicts.
We could never pay for someone to solve our
programming flaws.
We have missed opportunities to provide
interesting solutions.
We cannot satisfy some of our usersdemands.
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However, the lack on money has also created
interesting challenges that took us beyond
conventional approaches.
We learned to focus on what was needed, not
wasting any effort on things that others were
already doing.
Therefore, anytime we are able to find an useful
educationalresource, we help our users get to
it. This has been a good basis for institutional
collaboration and partnership building.
We always have to search for cheaper ways to do
things, sometimes resulting in a very innovative
solution to problems. Our games are a good
example!!
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We learned to ask for help. Everything on
EcoPibes (images, sound recordings, contents,
photographs, etc.) have been donated by people
and organizations.
We try to satisfy our users needs by maximazing
our time. For example, at the moment we cannot
answer all e-mails, so we are focusing on
strengthening our network.
Since we could not pay for someone to program
things for us, we had to familiarize ourselves
with the technologies.I learned everything I
know about ICT by using ICT.
We continue to look for partners to overcome our
major barrier the need to split our time
between our project and a paid job.
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A challenge that has presented itself is the
increasing complexity of my life combined with
the organizations growth. I am pulled in many
different directions, as I have to play many
roles.
Civil Society Representative
Environmental Consultant
Project Leader
Youth Engagement Activist
University teacher
Fund Raiser
Mother, daughter, sister, friend, etc.
Remember to start with yourself, and then you
can change everything you want Leticia, 10
years old, Mexico.
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IGOs, Governments, adult-led NGOs, the private
sector, etc. should listen to young people and
learn from their experiences.
In the process of making financial policy,
development agencies should consider both the
possibilities and the limitations young people
have. I would like to see a stronger commitment
to economicaly support youth projects, both
small and large ones, with a focus on the global
south.
To promote youth projects based on the use of
ICTs, special attention should be given to help
finance their technological needs.
Award and recognize young people investing in
development, in order for local institutions to
take them seriously and support their projects.
Keep policies flexible to assure room for
innovation. It is important to remember that
often the best projects do not fit the
archetypal mold. That is exactly why they are so
unique!
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Thank you!
www.ecopibes.com