International School Grounds Month: Connecting Children & Nature in Brazil

PLEASE JOIN US! 

Networking Reception:  4:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Program:  4:30 pm - 6:00 pm

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL GROUNDS MONTH
SPECIAL EVENT

CONNECTING CHILDREN AND NATURE
IN CITIES AND SCHOOLS:
LEARNING FROM BRAZIL

Please join us for an afternoon of networking, inspiration, and a lively discussion in honor of International School Grounds Month, celebrated around the world each year in May. 

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION 

We are honored to feature a presentation by our visiting colleague, Laís Fleury, the Director of the Alana Institute in Rio de Janeiro and the coordinator of the Children and Nature program in Brazil. She will take us on a virtual journey to Brazilian schoolyards, parks, and neighborhoods, and share Alana’s inspiring work to mobilize society around issues related to childhood and children’s experiences of the natural world. Her presentation will include insights into Brazil’s educational environments, and Alana’s approach to fostering child development by promoting children's contact with nature in an urban context. 

DISCUSSION

After the presentation, we will have a discussion with the audience about how to provide more opportunities to engage children with the natural world on our school grounds and in our cities. The conversation will be led by three Leadership Council members of the International School Grounds Alliance: Laís Fleury (Alana | Brazil), Cam Collyer (Evergreen | Canada), and Sharon Danks (Green Schoolyards America | USA), joined by Damien Raffa, from the Presidio Trust. 

Laís Fleury is the Director of the Alana Institute in Rio de Janeiro and the coordinator of the Children and Nature program in São Paulo, Brazil. She has worked with Alana since 2015, and leads initiatives related to increasing children’s connection with nature and biodiversity in Brazil’s cities. She began her career in 2001 as a social entrepreneur, when she co-founded an NGO called Associação Vaga Lume that establishes libraries in the rural Brazilian Amazon region. In 2003, she became an Ashoka Fellow in recognition of her groundbreaking work with this organization. Her career also includes three years as a NOLS instructor, where she led month-long courses in Patagonia, Alaska, and the Amazon.

FREE EVENT  |  PLEASE RSVP

This event is offered free of charge by the co-hosts, Presidio Trust and Green Schoolyards America. Please register to RSVP and help us with our planning.

Questions?  Contact Sharon Danks at info@greenschoolyards.org  

This event is part of an ongoing public lecture series exploring the power and potential of living schoolyards to engage children with the natural world. For more information about future events in our lecture series, please sign up for our mailing list.

This event is co-hosted by: