Pedagogical experience in Environmental Education: "Zero Waste" institutional project in the city of Cuenca

Abstract

The article presents a pedagogical experience about the project called "Zero Garbage" in the Dolores J. Torres Educational Institution. Its main objective was to build from the informal Environmental Education, an individual and collective conscience in the practicing teachers about the main problems of the environmental crisis. The project gives an answer to the research question: How to promote environmental practices that build an environmental conscience in all the members of the educational unit? To do this, it was necessary for the practicing teachers to disseminate their knowledge in each designated classroom.The project promotes an improvement and invites to expand the environmental friendly practices already implemented in the institution, such as the use of reusable plastic utensils for food consumption. The ecological footprint was detected in order to establish the problem called "2/4 of Trash", this analysis opened the project, which with the previous preparation of contents, consolidated an environmental conscience guided in the philosophy of Zero Trash; ending with an open house and the realization of murals. Finally, a set of pedagogical strategies was presented that allowed the proposed objective to be carried out; among them, conferences, debates, games and projects.