In the “Eco Hero Lab” you will get tips on how to BECOME an Eco Hero with the help of Pamela Peeters, an environmental economist and creator of this global educational project. You will also LEARN more about different ecosystems thanks to other international LAB experts and finally gain inspiration from youth in the DO-IT-YOURSELF section.
Become
in this section you will be able to see workshops and also get inspired by the initiatives of other kids who have already earned the title of “ECO HERO” because of the campaigns they created that help the planet and her ecosystems.
BECOME a member of the "ECO HERO LAB" and get your ECO HERO training
In this first video, we proudly present the new “ECO HERO” website. After having worked with schools in the USA, Canada, Bali, Kenya and Belgium, as well as some after school initiatives and other fun places of informal learning for more than a decade, it was time for a new challenge. The creator of the “Eco Hero Curriculum” therefore decided to develop this online portal for environmental education. Purpose? To train kids into becoming an Eco Hero – wherever they are. The website will be updated with new video’s regularly … so visit us frequently!
The “Eco Hero” character was created by our founder, environmental economist Pamela Peeters in 2000 as to make the call to learn about our planet and help Mother Earth appealing to kids around the World. In 2008 she developed the “Become an Eco Hero” workshop and released a first book in the “Eco Hero” series – inclusive of a teacher manual that same year. Since then, she wrote 3 more “Eco Hero” books and turned the workshop into a digital learning experience for schools, after school programs and other educational Institutions. If you want to invest in the future leaders of our planet, then this program is for you.
Join environmental economist Pamela Peeters at the Green School in Bali for a new episode of the “Eco Hero Lab.” In this video you will see how a real green school looks like. It was amazing to discover that not only curriculum was teaching kids how to become environmentally engaged citizens, but it was also quite unreal to discover the building itself: entirely made out of bamboo! Also make sure to take notice of the BIG crystal that is a part of the school premises. Let us know if your school encourages you to make a campaign as well.
LEARN
in this part of the page you will LEARN more about the different ecosystems forests, air, water and soil with other international LAB experts.
Join our “Eco Hero Lab” expert Luc Bas (European Director IUCN or International Union for the Conservation of Nature) for an introduction to “Nature Based Solutions,” a great approach to restore degraded land after forest ecosystems have been disrupted. In the category of “FOREST” ecosystems, we turn to this solution to help humanity evolve towards a more sustainable planet. His call for Eco Heroes: “become a restorer of our planet, which is a different from what the generation of adults have been doing before you.”
Join “Eco Hero Lab” expert Nilda Mesa (Director of Urban Sustainability and Equity Planning with the Urban Design Lab at the Earth Institute – Columbia University) who details on the things she is most proud about accomplishing in her career. In the category of “AIR” ecosystems, we turn to the expertise she used in her role as the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability for NYC and receive an example on how to improve air quality and health with ONE measure! Her call for Eco Heroes: “look at the science and get to work!”
Join “Eco Hero Lab” expert Chris Garvin, an architect who has been working in the sustainability space for the past 22 years. Chris will give you an introduction into Biomimicry, an emerging science emulating natures’ genius to create solutions for our planet. In the category of “FOREST” ecosystems, we turn to Biomimicry as an innovative solution to help humanity evolve towards a more sustainable planet. His call for Eco Heroes: “create a wold your children want to live in tomorrow, and live it today!”
DO-IT-YOURSELF
in the DO-IT-YOURSELF section you can watch video’s of youth showcasing the different skills they are learning and the results they are creating in the process of becoming an “ECO HERO”.
You can never be young enough to plant a tree and it was therefore a treat to attend a tree planting day with hundreds of young Belgian children. In this clip you can see how young Eco Heroes walked from their school to a field and – upon arrival – planted some 2000 trees so that a former piece of old farmland could slowly turn into a new forest! The kids got some (serious) help from the townspeople who prepared the pits and it shows that teamwork can lead to great things. Will you be inspired and do this same exercise with your local school too?
Let us know!
Meet the students from the Dewitt Clinton High School in the Bronx who invited me to visit their school garden during their annual sustainability expo! It was wonderful to see that some teenagers were excellent gardeners and on top of that were also able to inspire their friends to join them in the different activities involved. This includes preparing the soil, planting seeds, managing the plants and … harvesting. Take notice of the passion that some of these Eco Heroes showcase and get inspired! Good news: the garden will expand and become a real community experience.
Just before the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (or COP21) was held in Paris, I was invited to become the “Ambassador for Sustainable Knowledge” for the Vrije Universiteit Brussels. I trained some 80 college students to become “Eco Heroes” and took some of them to several companies considered doing great things for our planet. In this clip you see a group of college students visit the headquarters of the IUCN and interview Luc Bas. They not only met an inspiring top expert but also gained great training on how to become a good reporter.