V.A.N.G.A Vicenza per Ambiente Nuove Generazioni in Azione

AT A GLANCE

The VANGA is a tool used in agriculture to loosen the soil: to till it, to make it suitable for receiving seeds.

Metaphorically, this is an action that well represents what the V.A.N.G.A. project proposes to do with its pedagogical tools and seeds of future: a network project for environmental education and empowerment of the younger generations (3-20 years old) through innovative pedagogical tools — experiential, participatory and creative — differentiated by age group, and the use of arts and performance languages as a privileged mode of involvement and participation. 

The project is developed along two axes: integration of school education and youth activism, by intervening both in schools, from preschool to high school, and with interactive and experiential activities during summer. 

Our methodology is based on a pedagogical approach that integrates the 3 dimensions of the human being: cognitive (mind), experiential (body) and creative (emotions). Focus of the project will be the reconnection between city and countryside, in the light of agro ecological thinking, involving, and relating to landscape and biodiversity, food, climate change, energy resources, responsible production and consumption, and quality of life on land and in water.

Objectives:

The environmental literacy of children, youth and young people, by improving both their scientific knowledge and that of the practical connections between everyday behaviours and the environment. Encourage their active participation in environmental protection, in a local vision and collective dimension;

The reduction of the phenomenon of eco-anxiety widespread among the younger generations, by making young people able to interpret environmental problems and imagine possible responses;

The improvement of schools’ training offerings in environmental education; supporting the training of educators and teachers and providing them with innovative pedagogical tools to be used within the educational curricula.

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