The “Escola da Amazônia” www.escoladaamazonia.com is responsible for the environmental education and communication aspects of FEC. Its goal is to inform society – particularly the young - about issues related to the socioeconomic development and the biodiversity conservation of the Southern Amazon region. Nurturing and strengthening feelings of admiration and, consequently, respect for nature and the forest in particular. To achieve its goal, the “Escola da Amazônia” acts in the following ways: (i) building an understanding of the local community passed knowledge, its attitudes, social norms and behaviours towards the forest, (ii) creating educational and informative initiatives to improve the relationship between forest and the local community, and (iii) monitoring the results of these initiatives.

The programme aspires to tackle conservation issues by first identifying the relevant aspects based on local knowledge, attitude and/or social conduct that might cause or facilitate environmentally unsustainable activities and behaviour. The education and communication initiatives are based on the results of such findings and are designed to promote practices and attitudes that are more compatible with the principles of conservation. One example of such initiatives is the annual workshop on “Socioeconomic development and biodiversity conservation” held in Alta Floresta, during which the participants - both students and teachers - are exposed to the social and the conservation issues raised by the expanding Amazon agricultural frontier, and are invited to discuss the importance of science and ethics in the decision-making process of development and environmental matters, as well as the local integration of sustainable social, economical and environmental facets.

The “Escola da Amazônia” projects operate in direct cooperation with a wide range of other educational institutions such as, local rural schools in Alta Floresta and private schools in major urban centres in Brazil. Consequently, also contributing to the general sense of awareness, respect and duty towards the conservation of the highly important Brazilian Amazon.