The return to classes marks the start of a new year of learning, but also an opportunity to transmit to children and young people knowledge, values, and behaviours that can accompany them throughout life. Among them is the importance of valuing and protecting plants, a theme that is not always associated with environmental education, but that is directly linked to biodiversity, the balance of ecosystems, and food production.
In this context, on September 25, National Sustainability Day, the Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary (DGAV) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reinforce the importance of educating new generations for the protection of plants and for a more responsible relationship with the environment.
Plants are present in a large part of our daily lives and ‘are essential for the functioning of the ecosystems we depend on’. Introducing their role from an early age ‘allows children to better understand the link between nature, food and biodiversity, making the importance of preserving this balance more evident’. Environmental education ‘can, thus, contribute to forming citizens more aware of the impacts of their choices and the role they can play in protecting the environment’.
In this context, parents and educators ‘have a fundamental role’. Teaching from an early age to observe and value nature can begin with simple daily activities, such as caring for a plant, following its growth, observing different species, or understanding what happens when a plant becomes ill. More than transmitting information, these experiences ‘allow children to develop a closer relationship with the natural world and understand that their protection also depends on individual behaviours’.
This learning can take place inside and outside the classroom. A visit to a garden, the care of a small allotment, or even a family conversation about the origin of foods are opportunities to spark children’s curiosity and show that plants have a much broader role than the one often attributed to them. By turning environmental concepts into concrete experiences, it becomes easier to create an awareness that can accompany young people as they grow.
“The protection of plants is a responsibility for everyone. By sensitising new generations to the importance of plant health, we are also contributing to greater environmental awareness and to the building of more responsible behaviours in the future,” says Ana Paula Cruz Garcia, Deputy Director-General of DGAV, cited in a press release.
It is precisely this awareness that the PlantHealth4Life campaign, promoted by EFSA in collaboration with national authorities, seeks to reinforce among citizens. The initiative aims to raise awareness of the importance of plant health and the role that everyone can play in protecting it, helping to preserve biodiversity, ecosystems and food production.
On this National Sustainability Day, ‘the message is simple: educate today to protect tomorrow. Raising awareness among new generations and their families about the value of nature is also contributing to a more conscious society prepared to preserve biodiversity and the environment’.
