{"id":14276,"date":"2019-05-31T12:48:34","date_gmt":"2019-05-31T12:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeinsyntropy.org\/?p=14276"},"modified":"2019-11-25T11:25:21","modified_gmt":"2019-11-25T11:25:21","slug":"syntropic-school-garden-wins-2nd-place-in-a-national-sustainability-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/en\/syntropic-school-garden-wins-2nd-place-in-a-national-sustainability-contest\/","title":{"rendered":"Syntropic school garden wins 2nd place in a national sustainability contest"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"min-height: 30px;\"><input id=\"14276\" style=\"float: left;max-width: 50px;\" src=\"https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-advanced-pdf\/asset\/images\/pdf.png\" alt=\"#TB_inline?height=230&amp;width=400&amp;inlineId=examplePopup1\" title=\"Export pdf to your Email\" class=\"thickbox export-pdf\" type=\"image\" value=\"Export to PDF\" \/><\/div>\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"14276\" class=\"elementor elementor-14276\" data-elementor-settings=\"[]\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-section-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-e93bdc7 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"e93bdc7\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-42a595c\" data-id=\"42a595c\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0bf6d29 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0bf6d29\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n\t\t\t\t<p>We are proud to share with you that a project we started six months ago won a sustainability contest promoted by Galp Foundation, in Portugal.\u00a0 Thanks to the teacher Goretti from Santana de Cambas School, who applied for the prize, the children from Santana de Cambas School (Mertola) presented their syntropic garden in front of a 350-people audience at the event Energy BootCamp, near Porto. Amongst 1437 schools, they analyzed 150 projects and we ended up in second place in the category &#8220;Miss\u00e3oUP&#8221;.\u00a0 Watch below the video used in the presentation.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-12ff370 elementor-aspect-ratio-169 elementor-widget elementor-widget-video\" data-id=\"12ff370\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;video_type&quot;:&quot;vimeo&quot;,&quot;aspect_ratio&quot;:&quot;169&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"video.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-wrapper elementor-fit-aspect-ratio elementor-open-inline\">\n\t\t\t<iframe class=\"elementor-video-iframe\" allowfullscreen title=\"vimeo Video Player\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/339432345?color&amp;autopause=0&amp;loop=0&amp;muted=0&amp;title=1&amp;portrait=1&amp;byline=1#t=\"><\/iframe>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4381ec7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"4381ec7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-eb925ef elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"eb925ef\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">THE BEGINNING<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2671446 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2671446\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n\t\t\t\t<p>The more we study the history of agriculture, the stronger it gets the hypothesis that substantive changes in the way we produce food have always been and will be associated with critical social changes.<br \/><br \/>It was with this idea in mind that Felipe and I embraced the work with the children of all public schools in a great small town in the countryside of Portugal. Small because Mertola holds one of the lowest population densities in the country. And great not only because the municipality&#8217;s territory is huge, but also because here we found people and institutions willing to take on an important responsibility: to prepare today\u2019s children for an uncertain environmental future.<br \/><br \/>In terms of ecosystem and landscape, this region closely resembles the conditions of the Brazilian semi-arid, the entire Mediterranean and parts of California, Chile, Australia and South Africa. All areas that do not need official reports or catastrophic climatic surveys to conclude that the desert knocks at their door. Soil and water are already daily limitations. This reality requires a whole new level of debate around which agriculture techniques we should and shouldn\u2019t embrace.<br \/><br \/><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cf66e7b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cf66e7b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">BUT WHAT IS THE PLAN? TURN ALL CHILDREN INTO FARMERS?<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1ad6424 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1ad6424\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n\t\t\t\t<p>Actually, that wouldn\u2019t be a bad idea. Cicero already said in ancient Rome that a society that does not value its farmers is a society doomed to failure. But knowing how to produce food at the same time as recovering degraded ecosystems refers to much more than our imaginary usually associates with the role of a farmer. Regeneration by use is only possible when based on deep ecological knowledge coupled with techniques that are able to synchronize food production to ecosystem&#8217;s successional dynamics. By using concepts of Syntropic Farming, we can offer the children much more than technical skills. The syntropic garden is a living laboratory. It stimulates the autonomous observation of nature, where children can plant, take care, harvest and eat the result of their cultivation. The students do not learn how to make a garden, they learn how to face and, above all, to revert the environmental impacts of our society. This is an opportunity to promote education to develop sustainable human communities.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cee0905 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cee0905\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><p>WHAT WE ALREADY HARVESTED<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-01f14f0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"01f14f0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"770\" height=\"433\" src=\"https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/life-in-syntropy-school-garden-1024x576.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/life-in-syntropy-school-garden-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/life-in-syntropy-school-garden-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/life-in-syntropy-school-garden-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/life-in-syntropy-school-garden-270x152.jpg 270w, https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/life-in-syntropy-school-garden-570x321.jpg 570w, https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/life-in-syntropy-school-garden-740x416.jpg 740w, https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/life-in-syntropy-school-garden.jpg 1067w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-78bb574 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"78bb574\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n\t\t\t\t<p>Since we started this work 6 months ago, we already harvested a lot of lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, onions, grains and various vegetables of the season. But we also had other important yields:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-75228f9 elementor-icon-list--layout-traditional elementor-list-item-link-full_width elementor-widget elementor-widget-icon-list\" data-id=\"75228f9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"icon-list.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-icon-list-items\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i class=\"fa fa-check\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">More than 50 students have adopted the garden as their new space to play and learn at the same time;<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i class=\"fa fa-check\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">The gardens create spaces of intergenerational sociability;<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i class=\"fa fa-check\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">All that combined foster affection relationships within the community and the territory, which reduces the rural exodus;<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i class=\"fa fa-check\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">The children are able to reflect on the origin and seasonality of food and to recognize the importance of a diet free of agrochemicals;<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i class=\"fa fa-check\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">The trees planted together with the garden give the school permanent areas of shading and heat drainage.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-965f1fe elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"965f1fe\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n\t\t\t\t<p>We thank the people within the institutions who made this work possible. It is only with partnerships driven by a common good that it becomes possible to dream and make real the systemic changes that we so badly need. Thanks to C\u00e2mara Municipal de M\u00e9rtola, Agrupamento Escolar de M\u00e9rtola, Escola Profissional Alsud, Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Terra Sintr\u00f3pica, Somincor, and of course, all children, parents, and school staff involved in this initiative. <\/p><p>This is an example of a local project that addresses global challenges. Where there is degraded land, there is work to be done.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-041e258 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"041e258\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-06f628f\" data-id=\"06f628f\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are proud to share with you that a project we started six months ago won a sustainability contest promoted by Galp Foundation, in Portugal.&nbsp; Thanks to the teacher Goretti from Santana de Cambas School, who applied for the prize, the children from Santana de Cambas School (Mertola) presented their syntropic garden in front of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[799],"tags":[804],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14276"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14276"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25753,"href":"https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14276\/revisions\/25753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agendagotsch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}