GIC Brasil has supported two sustainability initiatives by the Favela Peace Institute (IFP) in São Paulo. The Sustainable Periphery project develops and implements low-cost sustainable technologies in communities, as an innovation arm of the IFP. The Mobile Lab Expedition project goes around municipal schools, stimulating important behavioral skills such as creativity, communication, persistence and collaboration, as well as working on self-esteem and socio-environmental awareness.
“Periferia Sustentável is an umbrella for various functional technology initiatives,” says Fabio Miranda, co-founder of the Institute and coordinator of the technology projects. The initiatives were selected for support by GIC Brasil in recent years, within the framework of Periferia Sustentável, and have been unfolding ever since.
“We believe in the social role of private enterprises, particularly in supporting human and technological development in communities. These actions are part of the company’s ESG (Social and Environmental Governance) standard criteria and this makes us very proud,” says GIC Brasil’s Sustainability and Institutional Relations Director, Stefania Fernandes.
“Our partnership with GIC Brasil goes back a long way and one of the initial projects supported by the partnership took place in 2019. It was the ‘Aquatech’ online course, which was aimed at the technological and sustainable use of water, and it was a success. We reached many people and the online format allowed people from different regions of Brazil and other countries, such as Chile, to take part,” says Fabio Miranda.
The initiatives in Periferia Sustentável focus on the generation and distribution of renewable energy and seek to contribute to a more harmonious relationship between technology, human beings and nature.
“We believe that the person is the initial core of transformation. From there, with the awareness of challenges and opportunities, the individual and collective relationship with nature and the effective and evolving use of humanized technology flourishes,” says Stefania, who sits on the board of the retail innovation and transformation company.
The Mobile Lab Expedition project was launched at the start of the 2023 school year in schools. The initiative has already been to seven schools and impacted more than a thousand students, as well as teachers and school coordinators. The partnership seeks to support and accompany the students’ projects.
The young people served by the initiative, mostly from low-income suburbs, are looking for opportunities for knowledge and social entrepreneurship, with many of them focusing on technology. The initiative has inspired young people to seek partnerships for their projects and life goals, a future with sustainability in all aspects.
“Our Mobile Lab Expedition in Schools 2023 project has been a success and is still reverberating a lot in the schools we’ve visited so far. The project’s objectives have been achieved with flying colors,” says coordinator Fabio Miranda.
