At the invitation of Embrapa Florestas, on October 3 approximately 600 students from public and private schools in Curitiba, Brazil visited an exhibition showcasing the diversity of forests at the 25th World Congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). Students from 10 to 17 years old got to visit all 30 Brazilian and international booths and learned about the importance of trees and the environment in people’s everyday lives. The exhibition also showed students how scientific research works in the production of timber and non-timber products to ensure forest conservation.

Some of the visiting schools are part of Curitiba’s municipal "Lines of Knowledge” program (five schools in the morning and five in the afternoon, with an average of 30 students per class). Valeria Baccon, a teacher participating in the project, called it an excellent opportunity for the students because of the experience this kind of space provides.

"It was a wonderful day. They will definitely leave with many ideas to put down on paper. It is a chance to understand sustainability in practice, the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and many other things connected to the environment. From here they can take these elements into the classroom in a practical way, and there they can develop ideas, look for and add more knowledge, which will help them develop as students and as citizens," she said.
According to Carlos Anselmo Rocha de Mello, a computer science teacher at the Papa João XXIII school, participation in the exhibition helps students understand the importance of the environment, since during their visit they got to meet many people concerned and involved with this issue.

"They are our future. We are preparing this world for them, and they need to be prepared and engaged in this struggle, which is global. We have to realize that we are not alone, that this is all of our struggle, and they also need to participate from a young age," he said.
He added that the students were very interested in learning new things, and many questions arose at every booth they visited. Mello also spoke about the opportunity for students to experience new smells and tastes, from forests, seeds, etc.

"It was a very good interaction. This reality is not so present in the everyday lives of the children, who are very urban, but here they can think about sustainability and the importance of taking care of the environment. We as teachers need this to combine theory with practice. They already know the theory, they master it, but they haven't experienced it. As a result they end up not able to act in a way reflecting everything they learned in the classroom during their lives. These visits are used for this," he said.

Ana Amélia de Souza, a geography teacher at the Candido Portinari Municipal School, said the experience was enriching and guaranteed that a lot of new content will emerge as a consequence.
"They experienced situations that often are not possible, such as the issue of forest plantations or caring for the environment. I am sure that after this visit, their view of these issues will be different, because I have no doubt that experience changes their conscience. They are the future and are already thinking about it. We try to show that we as humans are responsible for everything that happens even far away, including in the Amazon, the Cerrado, and in other regions. We consequently try to teach that our actions and attitudes toward the environment need to change," she said.  

André Vitor dos Santos (age 15) said that during the visit he was able to see products he may not have ever had the opportunity to see otherwise. "Bringing this material here for us to see, get an idea of how it is made, and even taste it, since here we got to taste some fruit and foods from some states of Brazil. This is a great opportunity." He added that the experience helps provide more environmental awareness. "We must take care of trees, protect what we have today, because if we don’t there will be nothing in the future," he said.
On the same topic, student Amanda Muller Correa (12) added that she has noticed that people don’t care about the environment. "Today, most people only care about the internet and don’t see the world we have." She also said that in the exhibition she saw that "there are many products I never imagined could be made from the forest, many interesting things come from trees."

In terms of the exhibit, the students agreed that getting to experience different cultures made the visit unforgettable. For example, Cauã Lourenço da Silva (13) commented that he saw a person carving wood and learned how to do it. Felipe Gabriel Epifânio (13) said he enjoyed watching a woman extracting cacau, which he never imagined. Another student, Josué Rodrigo de Moura Maciel (13), mentioned learning about essential oils for relaxation, aches and pains, and other uses. “I liked it a lot, I got to experience different cultures from various places in Brazil,” Many of these things I never imagined came from trees," he confessed.

And for student Julia Cristina Pinto (13), the visit was even more special: she wants to work as a biologist, and learning about these varieties added to her motivation. She wants to do something for the environment. 
"A lot of people do not have environmental awareness, don’t think about the planet. We also don’t know how many things come from nature. We are the future of the planet, so we have to preserve and be aware of all this," she added.

Exhibition
One of the attractions is the Brazil space, which shows what is currently underway at Brazilian forest research institutions, such as network projects and international partnerships. The booth also features a virtual reality experience of integrated crop, livestock and forest systems, as well as mini-talks on various issues related to the forestry sector.

There is also a space dedicated to social diversity and biodiversity, with information and products from all of Brazil’s biomes (the Amazon, Cerrado, Caatinga, Atlantic Forest, Pantanal, and Pampa), an exhibit entitled "Wood and Art” highlighting work by artists and artisans from Curitiba who use raw materials from forests, the "Women in the Forest” photo exhibit, and a space spotlighting Curitiba and presented by the city’s department of tourism Visitors can finish by visiting the Stockholm 2024 space that presents the capital of Sweden as the next host city for IUFRO 26, with information about the city, country, and what is currently underway in the areas of forest research and development.  

The 25th IUFRO World Congress began on Sunday, September 29, and ends this Saturday, October 5. Approximately 2,500 participants from 90 countries are participating in the event. This Thursday, the program includes technical visits to industrial facilities, production areas, parks and reserves, which created a chance for the children to participate. 

The Congress is organized by Embrapa, the Brazilian Forest Service, and IUFRO.