Beyond the Border
Data from Latin American countries
Despite representing a large part of the world's total renewable water resources, Latin America and the Caribbean have negative points in terms of infrastructure and equal distribution of these resources, both socially and geographically, resulting in water scarcity in certain regions, which end up suffering in the face of this reality. The regions where water scarcity is most prevalent in Latin America are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru (Rodríguez et al, 2022).
In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly, in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, set the goal of improving wastewater treatment and increasing water reuse, thus driving the transition to a circular economy. In recent years, water reuse has emerged as a promising alternative to mitigate water scarcity. However, water reuse policies can be constrained by several factors, including public acceptance, technical capacity and existing regulations (Rodríguez et al, 2022).
The event on Regional Water Dialogues in Latin America and the Caribbean, which took place in February 2023, focused on the scarcity and poor distribution of water resources in the region. At this meeting, conference participants discussed SDG 6 (Sustainable Development Goal 6), where the central theme was drinking water and sanitation in this region and the implementation of the proposed sustainable development goals within the International Decade for Water Action (ANA, 2023).
At the same event, which took place in Santiago, Chile, the Regional Agenda for Action on Water was approved, with the aim of making decisions, including strategies and agreements on water management. This agenda has the following pillars for advancing the sustainable and inclusive water transition: ensuring the right of access to drinking water and basic sanitation for all; promoting norms and regulations aimed at eradicating water poverty; the concern to reverse the growing negative externalities related to contamination, overexploitation and socio-environmental conflicts through monitoring and regulation; and reducing pressure on water resources through circular water management (ANA, 2023).
In addition to the uncontrolled and inconsequential use of water, the pollution of water bodies causes great harm to all living beings that need this resource to live. In this sense, as well as mentioning the circular economy, there also needs to be environmental awareness about the pollution of aquatic environments, whether freshwater or saltwater.
Upon reviewing current data concerning water resource contamination and mismanagement, we deemed it essential to incorporate this issue into our research, encompassing the entirety of the Latin American region. Our aim is to elevate awareness and advocate for the conservation of this valuable resource. By consolidating this data, we have gained a more comprehensive perspective on this problem that impacts numerous regions and deserves appropriate attention. Collaboration is imperative to forge a future that is less burdened by challenges than our current reality.
Why is it important to include Latin American countries?
Given the challenges outlined above, there is a need for Latin American countries to work together to find solutions to these issues. Latin America's remarkable diversity in cultures, languages, traditions, and customs offers a valuable opportunity to bring multiple perspectives and approaches, thereby enhancing the search for effective problem solutions. Many Latin American countries face similar challenges in terms of environmental conservation and sustainable management of water resources, sharing experiences and solutions can be very valuable to effectively address these problems.
As a way to understand the environmental educational situation in Latin America, UNILA-Latam team members conducted interviews with teachers about their applied methodologies, difficulties and ways to assist in the educational process. To read more, visit our Education page here
Language
Born in one of the largest universities of cultural integration in Latin America, renowned for its commitment to multiculturalism within its academic spaces, our research group, "UNILA-LatAm," has consistently prioritized the principles of inclusion in every project and endeavor undertaken, from its beginnings in iGEM 2021 to the present. It is made up of young researchers from six Latin American countries who are concerned about the problems that affect not only our continent, but the whole world. Day after day, we work with the aim of presenting technological and innovative solutions that contribute to the sustainability and preservation of the planet.
Aiming to promote inclusion in all aspects of everyday life and considering the location of our university (situated on the triple border between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina), we decided to present innovative ideas aimed at this purpose. In the development of our MHETYGUA project (Algae as devices for the degradation of aquatic pollutants) and following the multicultural vision that characterizes our team, we have created a series of educational materials that will be used in different Latin American countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay and Argentina. We recognize that by working together as representatives of several Latin American countries we can actively promote environmental education in our region, which contributes to generating greater awareness and action for the preservation of the environment.
To ensure a broader way of including access to videos on environmental education produced by the UNILA-Latam team, the audiovisual material was produced in Spanish, translated into the Brazilian sign language and subtitled in Portuguese, divided into 3 modules:
- Environmental education in schools;
- Practical activities on water care;
- Introduction to Synthetic Biology.
In addition, out of the 3 modules, a video was produced as material to be made available directly to students in order to explain what is Synthetic Biology and how to think of possibilities to solve problems, having voice options and subtitles in 4 different languages: Portuguese, Spanish, Guarani and Quechua, as a way of inserting local and millenarian cultures present in Latin America.
Furthermore, to facilitate the understanding of the activities and assist in the application process, the theoretical contents were organized in pdf format in three different languages: Portuguese, Spanish and English. In this way, we seek to ensure that our knowledge is accessible and open to a diverse and global audience, promoting an inclusive and effective environmental education.
Access to materials
As a committed research group, we recognize the importance of creating accessible educational tools to make learning and awareness of environmental issues accessible to everyone. Therefore, in addition to translating materials, we have developed an educational space on the Google Classroom platform.
Figure 1. Preview of the Environmental Education course and Introduction to Synthetic Biology available on the platform
Taken by SynFronteras in Google Classroom
In this environment, we provide a wide range of educational resources, including fun activities, theoretical-practical content and teacher support videos, making access to knowledge easier and more engaging. In addition, we have published an educational booklet on practical methodologies for play activities that can be used by interested teachers.
To reach an even wider audience, we have created a YouTube channel where we also share a series of videos related to our project and environmental education themes. These videos are presented in several languages, making the content understandable and accessible to people from different linguistic backgrounds.
Figure 2. Environmental Education & Synthetic Biology course video on SynFronteras YouTube channel
Made by SynFronteras team and Raí Pacheco
From UNILA-LatAm we are committed to promoting inclusion and environmental awareness in every corner of Latin America and, eventually, throughout the world. We believe that through international collaboration and the dissemination of knowledge in different languages and formats, we can make a significant contribution to building a more sustainable future for our planet.
Age Group
Our material aims to support environmental education, we initially considered applying it to the first years of elementary school. However, recognizing that environmental education is not limited to children, we have developed activities that can be applied to more advanced levels of education. In addition, we have created games that can be used by adults interested in learning about the topics we cover.
Why create practical gaming materials?
The main difficulties when it comes to tackling environmental issues are related to the lack of playful material and practical activities that make it easier to learn about the subject and provide interest in learning about the content being worked on. Conventional teaching methodologies based solely on theoretical content are often used, not because teachers want to use them, but because sometimes the lack of practical material related to the environment leads them to follow the same teaching patterns, which ends up hindering the teaching-learning process.
For this reason, the educational material developed during our project aims to help solve this problem. It seeks not only to improve students' understanding, but also to promote collaboration and active participation in the learning environment. When used well, active teaching methodologies allow teachers to actively involve students in the learning process. These methodologies can contribute to and are highly beneficial for students with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), autism and other learning difficulties, as they provide a lighter and more interactive learning environment.
Thinking about ways to expand access to content, the UNILA-Latam team made the audiovisual material available on the youtube channel of 'SynFronteras - UNILA', composed of 9 videos and divided into 3 modules. In addition, in order to attract environmental educators or enthusiasts of the area, a course was created in Google Classroom (You can check the Complete Course 'here') entitled ‘'MHETYGUÁ-Educación ambiental y Biología Sintética'’, with the videos and theoretical support materials that enables the certification of completion and participation.
In addition, to enable other teams and entities to make suggestions on how to improve the materials created and made available on the platforms, the UNILA-Latam team encourages the use of the forum present in the room ''MHETYGUÁ-Educación Ambiental y Biología Sintética’' in Google Classroom. In this way, one can create a global communication network between teachers, academics and environmental education enthusiasts.
Fostering Cross-Border Education
The first-year high school students from the San Lucas Institute, located in Argentina, came to the Federal University of Latin American Integration, in the city of Foz do Iguaçu, in September 2023. They visited laboratories, took part in activities and interacted with the university environment, were introduced to synthetic biology and were introduced to the iGEM MHETYGUÁ team.
The purpose of this visit was to provide a didactic immersion in laboratories and classrooms for the institution's students. This visit also contributes to the integration between two countries that share a border, Brazil and Argentina, providing the inclusion of our neighbors in Brazilian territory, showing that knowledge is capable of transcending territorial limits and cultural and language differences.
The schedule of activities was organized in such a way as to serve the 30 students separately, in three groups of ten students, resulting in the best use of the university's time and facilities. In this way, all the students were able to benefit from all the moments of transmission of knowledge passed on by the team responsible for the visit and the teachers who helped with the dynamics.
The activities carried out followed a script, where the duration of each dynamic was maintained so that there were no delays and so as not to compromise the rotation of groups in each of the spaces organized for the visit.
The beginning of the Argentina students' visit to UNILA's facilities was marked by a talk wit
The visiting students were very interested throughout the visit and impressed our team with their intelligence and creativity as they thought of solutions and applications of synthetic biology within hypothetical problems proposed by our team. Besides that, the general behavior of the students showed that the experience of bringing students from another country to visit a university can be considered a success, since all the visitors made the most of the proposed dynamics and returned to their country with more knowledge than they came with. We would like to thank all the staff involved in making this day of learning and passing on knowledge so enriching.
Therefore, as a way of feedback of this activity, the responsible teachers and companions of elementary school students reported the importance of visits to other educational spaces and the exchange of knowledge of groups, carried out in the dynamics in the classroom. In addition, contact with laboratory materials allowed young people to understand about the research processes and their complexity. Thus, it is understood the need for complementary activities in basic education that help the creation of critical, creative and responsible thoughts with the environment.
Figure 3. Presentation during a visit by the Instituto San Lucas school from Argentina to the Federal University of Latin American Integration (UNILA)
Taken by SynFronteras team
References
- Rodríguez C. et al. Water Context in Latin America and the Caribbean: Distribution, Regulations and Prospects for Water Reuse and Reclamation. Water. 2022; 14(21):3589.
- ANA - Agência Nacional de Águas e Saneamento Básico. Agência discute recursos hídricos e saneamento básico com países da América Latina e do Caribe. Brasília: ANA, 2023. Disponível em: