United Nations opens space for discussion on Education and sustainability
The workshop attracted professionals from the field of education from different countries; find out what they thought of the event.
By the Editorial Staff
Tuesday | October 14, 2014 | 10:39 AM | Last update: September 22, 2016, 4:07 PM (Brasilia time)
On August 29, the Legion of Good Will (LBV), a Brazilian civil society organization, coordinated a discussion panel entitled Educating Sustainable Citizens — Best practices of Brazil from the Rio+20. The workshop was part of the 65th Annual NGO Conference of the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI), which took place between August 27 - 29 in the UN Headquarters in New York.
LBV participates in the 65th Annual UN DPI / NGO Conference 2014
NEW YORK USA – The Supervisor of the LBV’s teaching proposal, Suelí Periotto, shows to the public the best-seller É urgente reeducar! [It is Urgent to Re-educate] written by educator Paiva Netto, which is the fundament of the Organization’s educational proposal. In this work the author presents his experience of decades in applying all-encompassing Ecumenical Spirituality in Education, directing himself at both common citizens as well as teaching professionals.(Foto: Nataly Peres)NEW YORK, USA – Partial view of the public present at the panel coordinated by the LBV at the UN. The photo registers everyone present following the talk of psychologist and psychoanalyst Joseph DeMeyer (R), Co-Chair of the United Nations NGO Committee on Education.(Foto: Nataly Peres)NEW YORK, USA – Friendly public participate in the discussion panel coordinated by the Legion of Good Will with comments and questions. (Foto: Eliana Gonçalves)NEW YORK, USA – The Supervisor of the LBV’s teaching proposal, Suelí Periotto, talks about Education for sustainability. On her left, interpreter Mariana Tamasan. At the table, from left to right: Vicente Amaral Bezerra, Representative of the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations; panel’s moderator Danilo Parmegiani, LBV’s Representative to the UN; Sâmara Malaman, Master’s degree in Special Education from Kean University; and psychologist and psychoanalyst Joseph DeMeyer, Co-Chair of the NGO Committee on Education and Representative of the Society of Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), both at the United Nations. (Foto: Eliana Gonçalves)NEW YORK, USA – The public interact with the speakers of the workshop coordinated by the LBV by bringing their comments and impressions about the teaching proposal of the Organization.(Foto: Nataly Peres)NEW YORK, USA – Video shows the results of the latest edition of the Good Will Students for Peace program applied at Lincoln Avenue Elementary school in Orange (New Jersey). The theme of this year’s first semester was "Planet Earth is Our Home – Our Role as Environmentally Aware Citizens". (Foto: Eliana Gonçalves)NEW YORK, USA – “Educating Sustainable Citizens — Best Practices of Brazil from the Rio+20” was the theme of the workshop coordinated by the LBV at the UN. (Foto: Nataly Peres)NEW YORK, USA – From left to right: Dr. Humphrey Tonkin, President Emeritus at the University of Hartford and former President of the Universal Esperanto Association (UEA); Kim Youn-Long, PhD student in Economic Geography at Clark University; Neil Blonstein, UEA’s Representative at the United Nations; and Felipe Duarte, from the Legion of Good Will. All of them were present at the panel coordinated by the LBV on Friday, August 29.(Foto: Nataly Peres)NEW YORK, USA – Representatives of the LBV at the event. From left to right, standing: Paulo Valim, Danilo Parmegiani, Wayniere Valim, Adriana Rocha, Nicholas Beck de Paiva, Alziro de Paiva, Suelí Periotto, Yrene Santana, and Felipe Duarte; Seated: Sâmara Malaman, Mariana Tamasan, Eliana Gonçalves, Amanda Vieira, Nataly Peres, and Veronica Anta.(Foto: Nataly Peres)NEW YORK, USA – Felipe Duarte (L), from the LBV, interviews Dr. Humphrey Tonkin, University Professor of Humanities and President Emeritus at the University of Hartford. Dr. Tonkin is also the former president of the Universal Esperanto Association (UEA) and has already visited the Legion of Good Will’s Representative Office to the United Nations in New York.(Foto: Nataly Peres)NEW YORK, USA – On Wednesday, August 27, the Legion of Good Will (LBV) gave an interview to UN Radio in Portuguese about the Organization’s educational proposal. On the occasion, host Eleutério Guevane (L) talked to Suelí Periotto, Supervisor of the Pedagogy of Affection and the Ecumenical Citizen Pedagogy and Principal of the José de Paiva Netto Educational Institute, and to Danilo Parmegiani, LBV’s representative to the United Nations.NEW YORK, USA – Jeffrey Huffines (R), Chair of the 65th Annual NGO Conference of the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI), receives from Danilo Parmegiani, from the LBV, a copy of the GOOD WILL Sustainable Development magazine in English specially forwarded to the event.(Foto: Eliana Gonçalves)NEW YORK, USA – The representative of the Legion of Good Will to the UN meets with psychologist and psychoanalyst Joseph DeMeyer (R), Co-Chair of the NGO Committee on Education and representative of the Society of Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), both at the United Nations. Dr. DeMeyer will be speaking at the panel coordinated by the LBV on Friday, August 29, during the 65th Annual UN DPI/NGO Conference.NEW YORK, USA – Dr. Michael Hansen, Senior Scientist of Consumers Union, receives the GOOD WILL Sustainable Development magazine from the representative of the LBV at the event Amanda Vieira.NEW YORK, USA – The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power (L), talks to Mariana Tamasan, from the LBV.(Foto: Nataly Peres)NEW YORK, USA – Olimar Maisonet (L), Specialist in Water and Energy Policy, receives the message of the Legion of Good Will during the 65th Annual NGO Conference of the Department of Public Information (DPI).NEW YORK, USA – Representatives of the LBV at the event, Nicholas Beck de Paiva (L) and Mariana Tamasan, met with writer Kurt Johnson, co-founder of InterSpiritual Dialogue ‘n Action.NEW YORK, USA – Bircan Ünver (L), Executive Director and President of The Light Millennium, receives the LBV’s special publication during the event.NEW YORK, USA – Nicholas Beck de Paiva, from the LBV, presents the Organization’s recommendations for the event to Grove Harris, representative to the United Nations for the NGO The Temple of Understanding. NEW YORK, USA – Eliana Gonçalves, from the LBV, talks to Divino Roberto Veríssimo, President of the Organization for Environmental Preservation (OPA) and articulator of the Brazilian Children’s Conference of the Millennium (CCBM). NEW YORK, USA – Ken Kitatani (L), Executive Director of the Forum 21 Institute, talks to members of the LBV’s team at the event. NEW YORK, USA – Amanda Vieira (standing) hands the GOOD WILL Sustainable Development magazine to Sindy Mendoza and Georgia Cadillo (R), representatives of Rutgers University.NEW YORK, USA – Nurse William T. Davis and New York University Professor Eliana Horta (R) also received the LBV’s message for the event.NEW YORK, USA – Doug King (C), President of the NGO Presence International, with Nicholas Beck de Paiva and Mariana Tamasan from the LBV.NEW YORK, USA – Amanda Vieira, from the LBV, presents the work of the Organization to Carol Wansong (L) and Billie Day, representatives of the League of Women Voters (LWV).NEW YORK, USA – Eliana Gonçalves presents the work developed in Brazil and abroad by the Legion of Good Will to Vadim Belikov, Co-Chairman of the Next Generation Energy Leaders Council (NGELC).NEW YORK, USA – Rabbi Roger Ross, Executive Director of the Rabbinical Seminary International, kindly receives from Adriana Rocha, representative of the LBV at the event, a copy of the GOOD WILL Sustainable Development magazine in English.NEW YORK, USA – Culinary nutritionist, educator, speaker, and author Stefanie Sacks (R) receives the special publication of the LBV from the hands of Eliana Gonçalves, representative of the Organization at the event.NEW YORK, USA – Eliana Gonçalves, from the LBV, presents the Organization’s special publication to Edward A. Lin, Counselor of the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association.NEW YORK, USA – Amanda Vieira (L), member of the LBV’s team at the event, talks to Marilyn D. Kinelski, representative of the Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani at the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO), and with CoNGO’s President, Cyril Ritchie.(Foto: Nataly Peres)NEW YORK, USA – Anne-Marie Carlson, Chair of the Executive Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations Associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information, receives a copy of the LBV’s special publication from Mariana Tamasan (R).(Foto: Eliana Gonçalves)NEW YORK, USA – Suelí Periotto, Supervisor of the Pedagogy of Affection and the Ecumenical Citizen Pedagogy and Principal of the José de Paiva Netto Educational Institute, meets with Kleber Marins De Paulo, President of Enactus Brazil. NEW YORK, USA – Mariana Tamasan (R), representative of the LBV at the event, meets with the bloggers of the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI). From left to right: Emma Hansen, Kate Turner, and Kelly Fernandes.NEW YORK, USA – The representative of the Universal Esperanto Association (UEA) at the United Nations, Neil Blonstein (second from left to right), meets with the team of the Legion of Good Will at the event: Danilo Parmegiani, Nicholas Beck de Paiva, Alziro de Paiva, Mariana Tamasan, Suelí Periotto, Eliana Gonçalves, Paulo Valim, Sâmara Malaman, Wayniere Valim, and Adriana Rocha.NEW YORK, USA – Felipe Duarte, representative of the LBV at the event, handfs a copy of the GOOD WILL Sustainable Development magazine (in English) to Dr. Valencia Browning-Keen (L), Professor of Sam Houston State University (USA), and to Janice Maison, Consultant to the Guyana Association of Home Economists (GAHE) and to the Caribbean Association of Home Economists (CAHE), from Guyana. (Foto: Nataly Peres)NEW YORK, USA – Amanda Vieira, from the LBV, presents the Organization’s recommendations to Ellen F. Haywood and Norma Foster, both from the National Council of Negro Women in the United States. (Foto: Nataly Peres)NEW YORK, USA – Members of the Federation of World Peace and Love (FOWPAL) also receive the message of the Legion of Good Will for the event. (Foto: Nataly Peres)NEW YORK, USA – Mariana Tamasan, representative of the LBV at the event, talks to Clint Carney, Secretary of the Family Justice Center Alliance. NEW YORK, USA – Sâmara Malaman, representative of the LBV at the event, meets with Theresa Cheong, Director of the School of Allied Health of Parkway College, from Singapore. NEW YORK, USA – The representative of the LBV at the event, Alziro de Paiva, hands a copy of the Organization’s special publication to the Executive Director of the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), Andrea Carmen. (Foto: Nataly Peres)NEW YORK, USA – Nicholas Beck de Paiva (L) hands a copy of the GOOD WILL Sustainable Development magazine to Casey Gerald, Chief Executive Officer of MBAs Across America. (Foto: Eliana Gonçalves)NEW YORK, USA – Main room of the 65th Annual NGO Conference of the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI), which began on Wednesday, August 27. (Foto: Mariana Tamasan)NEW YORK, USA – Representatives of the Legion of Good Will participating in the event that began on Wednesday, August 27. (Foto: Yrene Santana)
NEW YORK, USA – On Friday, August 29, the Legion of Good Will coordinated a discussion panel under the theme “Educating Sustainable Citizens — Best Practices of Brazil from the Rio+20”, which called the attention of professionals from the field of education from several countries.(Foto: Nataly Peres)
The panel, moderated by the LBV’s representative to the UN Danilo Parmegiani, was comprised of Mr. Vicente Amaral Bezerra, representative of the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations; psychologist and psychoanalyst Joseph DeMeyer, Co-Chair of the NGO Committee on Education and representative of the Society of Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), both at the United Nations; Suelí Periotto, PhD student in Education at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP), Supervisor of the Pedagogy of Affection and the Ecumenical Citizen Pedagogy, and Principal of the José de Paiva Netto Educational Institute; and Sâmara Malaman, MA in Special Education from Kean University.
In a talk on the teaching proposal of the Organization, the audience had the opportunity to hear some of the success stories and learn more about the results of the Pedagogy of Affection and the Ecumenical Citizen Pedagogy, which were created by educator Paiva Netto, the President of the LBV. Among the material exhibited was a video produced with students from the Good Will Educational Complex*¹ in São Paulo (Brazil), which gave a view of the importance of the rational use of water from the perspective of children. Watch the video:
The workshop attracted professionals from the field of education from various countries, as an example of Dr. Julie Gerland from France, representative of the World Organization of Prenatal Education Associations (OMAEP) at the United Nations. “I was delighted really to see such loving care in a school system that’s not just feeding the brains of the children but really educating them in how to live life, to how to build community, how to be aware of their environment,” she said in an interview with the Super Good Will Communications Network*².
Dr. Gerland also emphasized the importance of promoting education even before the birth of the child: “I’ve just learned that you do have a program which includes mothers. . . . If we could give mothers when they’re pregnant the opportunity to be surrounded by community instead of just being isolated in their own homes, . . . this would just be really contagious through her state of being pregnant, and that baby would come into the world feeling loved, feeling supported, feeling connected with the other children, and as a global citizen. And today we know that this is scientifically true: that Education does begin before birth, so why not include the mothers? And somebody said ‘include the fathers,’ which I’m totally in agreement with.”
From India, Mrs. Celine Paramunda, representative of the Medical Mission Sisters at the United Nations, said: “What you’re doing through educating the children, this kind of values, is very important. And I’m so glad I came for this program and congratulations for doing it. And I have also taken your video in my pen drive. So, I will be using it for the students where I give talks about the United Nations and best practices.”
STUDENTS FOR PEACE
The educational proposal of the Legion of Good Will has been achieving good results in seven countries: Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, the United States, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Portugal. On the occasion, educator Sâmara Malaman presented the results of the LBV’s educational program in the United States Good Will Students for Peace, which is developed in American public schools.
In a recent edition of the program, the LBV’s teaching method was applied in the Lincoln Avenue School in Orange (New Jersey) with the theme My Home is the Planet Earth — Our role as environmentally aware citizens. Based on research and studies, the students prepared posters and recycling projects for the classrooms and carried out a clean-up task-force in the area surrounding the school to mobilize the community into preserving the environment.
Check out the results of this partnership in a video produced by the students themselves:
From the Dominican Republic, Daniel Méndez, who is studying for master’s degree in Education at Lehigh University, talked about his impressions: “The information that I received in this workshop was very . . . I would say sustainable, because creating students that understand their environment, their civic demands, and participating in their community is very important. . . . Once I go back to my country I would like to try to take this program there.”
THE CONFERENCE
The 65th Annual UN DPI/NGO Conference brought together civil society, international networks, and activists to prepare a joint “Action Agenda” that mobilizes the negotiations on the post-2015 development goals. Under discussion were the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the deadline for which is 2015, as well as a new climate agreement to substitute the Kyoto Protocol.
On the second day of the event, UN Radio in Portuguese made room in its program schedule and invited the Legion of Good Will to talk about its teaching method. In an interview with reporter Eleutério Guevane, educator Suelí Periotto emphasized the LBV’s concern with offering quality education that is allied with values that enrich knowledge and that are applied in favor of society as a whole. She also explained that the Organization’s educational proposal has its own methodology, which allows the students to have a voice. In this way, they participate actively in the whole learning process. This enriches school projects and activities and ensures zero dropout rates. Find out more about the LBV’s teaching proposal.
Listen to the full interview (in Portuguese):
LBV at the UN
The Legion of Good Will is a civil society organization in general consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 1999, and associated with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) since 1994.
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*¹ Good Will Educational Complex — The Jesus Super Day Care Center and the José de Paiva Netto Educational Institute, which together make up the LBV’s Educational Complex, are operating units, by means of which the Organization seeks to fully prepare the pupil. In these places, the students — who attend lessons from nursery school to middle school — develop, in an harmonious way, their minds and hearts, and therefore their intellect allied with feeling, and are provided with all their socio-educational needs.
*² Super Good Will Communications Network — The term refers to the vehicles of communication 100% Jesus, whose purpose is to propagate the fraternal ideals of Ecumenism without restrictions: Super Good Will Radio Network, Good Will TV (SKY channel 20), Education and Future Television Network – Re-educate, Good Will Portal and publications of Ecumenical Spirituality.