In 2025, the ECOECO Traveling Schools of Climate Justice is being planned under the theme of “Creating collective futures to face the climate crisis”, to be held in Santarém, Pará, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. Additionally, in the same year, Brazil is hosting the United Nations U.N. Climate Change Conference – COP 30, in the city of Belem, state of Pará. The Travelling schools aims to bring the focus to the Amazon region, and to the climate justice agenda. This project aims to be a PRE-COP30 event where both the program and the workshops proposed will foster the discussion around climate change policies and their impacts on ecosystems and people.
The Amazon is characterized as much by its great biological diversity and importance for climate regulation, as by its great cultural and social diversity. A prosperous economy for the region must be based on valuing biodiversity and recognizing the traditions of local populations, whose ways of life are based on a harmonious relationship with nature. The Brazilian Amazon, a global hotspot of tropical forests and biocultural biodiversity, is experiencing a serious climate crisis, while at the same time it is a crucial place for mitigating climate change. Deforestation is the main source of greenhouse gases in Brazil.
Furthermore, the fate of the Amazon basin has important implications, from the livelihoods of local communities to global geochemical cycles and rainfall regimes. The actions of
In 2025, the ECOECO Traveling Schools of Climate Justice is being planned under the theme of “Creating collective futures to face the climate crisis”, to be held in Santarém, Pará, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. Additionally, in the same year, Brazil is hosting the United Nations U.N. Climate Change Conference – COP 30, in the city of Belem, state of Pará. The Travelling schools aims to bring the focus to the Amazon region, and to the climate justice agenda. This project aims to be a PRE-COP30 event where both the program and the workshops proposed will foster the discussion around climate change policies and their impacts on ecosystems and people.
The Amazon is characterized as much by its great biological diversity and importance for climate regulation, as by its great cultural and social diversity. A prosperous economy for the region must be based on valuing biodiversity and recognizing the traditions of local populations, whose ways of life are based on a harmonious relationship with nature. The Brazilian Amazon, a global hotspot of tropical forests and biocultural biodiversity, is experiencing a serious climate crisis, while at the same time it is a crucial place for mitigating climate change. Deforestation is the main source of greenhouse gases in Brazil.
Furthermore, the fate of the Amazon basin has important implications, from the livelihoods of local communities to global geochemical cycles and rainfall regimes. The actions of youth movements in the Amazon region are focused on the defence of their collective territories and developing alternative economic activities to mining and large-scale monocrops.
The current challenge for young people is navigating the consequences of past decisions on climate change, compounded by their limited influence on political and corporate decisions. The Travelling Schools seeks to contribute to the debate on the paths and challenges for creating collective futures to face the climate crisis, while empowering young scholars and members of youth organizations to tackle the urgent challenges posed by the climate crisis.
However, a significant hurdle for these movements is determining which knowledge to mobilize for collective action against climate change and fostering engagement across different organizational levels and geographical scales. This project aims to bridge gaps between knowledge generation, actions and decision-making among youth climate leaders and researchers, in different parts of the world.
Participants will hail from diverse backgrounds, bringing to the planned immersive learning activities their varied climate experiences and knowledge, be it from facing floods, droughts, energy-related infrastructure development, mining projects, or engaging in stewardship and mobilization efforts. Specifically, the project targets young scholars and youth movements working and/or doing research on defending collective territories, safeguarding nature, traditional livelihoods, and socio-environmental commons.
The first Traveling School will happen between February 3rd to the 8th in Santarém (Pará), and the activity will consist of a 2-hour workshop series divided in five days. In the first session the YSI organizers will present YSI, the Sustainability Working Group and what are the expectations regarding future collaborations. The following workshops will be to discuss projects in the subject of Ecological Economics with up to 5 young scholars selected through an YSI-led call for a project idea – the accepted scholars will be supported with travel stipends and a waiver of the Travelling School fee given by the ECOECO organization.
We welcome projects coming from research, activism, collectives of young scholars. They are expected to discuss the projects submitted during the selection process. The senior scholar supported by YSI will work as a mentor during this activity.
To apply and for more information please go to: https://2025feb.schoolboat.isecoeco.org/
