Radio Mundo Real

A joint analysis about some of the most important environmental conflicts suffered by Latin America marked the beginning of the 4th edition of the Sustainability School organized every year by Friends of the Earth Latin America and the Caribbean. The opening ceremony took place in Porto Alegre, at the office of NAT/Friends of the Earth Brazil.

Around 30 representatives from the environmentalist federation and several local social movements, among them the Movement of Dam-Affected People, and the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), met in this space of political capacity building.

On Sunday, the activists watched a video about the Peruvian indigenous struggle against oil projects. Then, they received a copy of the book “La Amazonia rebelde – Perú 2009”, published by several organizations, among them the Latin American Social Sciences Council (CLACSO) and the National Confederation of Communities Affected by Mining of Peru.

This gave way to a group discussion about the capitalist development model, its production and consumption patterns, the role of the social movements, the characteristics of the environmental struggle, among other things.

From Friday to Sunday, educators and students participating in the School arrived to Porto Alegre, in addition to other representatives of the region.

Friends of the Earth Brazil took the opportunity to present an audiovisual material on tree monocultures and their social and environmental impacts in the Southern Cone.

After the opening ceremony, environmentalists and representatives of the social movements traveled by bus to a settlement of the Landless Rural Workers Movement in Viamao municipality, an hour away from Porto Alegre. The participants will be staying there and will carry out most of their activities until September 23rd.

Photo: Radio Mundo Real.