EDU-CloudRoots: Transferring Fundamental Biospheric-Atmospheric Research to Elementary Schools in Remote Amazon Communities

Fundamental research into the interaction between biosphere and atmosphere is key to understand the future of the Amazon rain forest under climate change. Such research relies on data from actively operated research stations across the forest, such as the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO). Yet, in addition to conducting fundamental research, these observatories can directly help promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems and to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 17), by transferring their scientific knowledge to schoolchildren in remote communities, e.g. those along the Uatumã River near ATTO. These communities personally experience how changes in rainfall patterns are changing the river and forest they depend on, and they are motivated to understand why, and actively preserving their environment.

To promote science-to-school knowledge transfer, we assembled an interdisciplinary, multi-cultural team of experts in environmental and social sciences, education innovation and sustainable development, with a deep connection to the local communities. Together, we developed an educational platform that highlights the synergies between the rainforest and clouds. It comprises the GoLocalGlobal free online platform (https://edu-cloudroots.wur.nl/), which illustrates how local and global scales connect, thereby raising awareness of the current fragility of the Amazonian ecosystem. GoLocalGlobal aims to let students interactively explore and understand their local meteorological and ecophysiological environment, through practical experiments. Then, it extends these ideas to regional and global climatic scales through an app based on remote sensing technology. To reinforce this connection, we included a “Carbon Game”, which learn the children human impact on the global carbon cycle. To successfully implement this material in local schools, we focus on supporting and empowering local teachers. During this presentation, we will share the main concepts of the educational platform, our first experiences training teachers and running practical sessions with students in the Uatumã region, and our future plans.