The EPTV Institute – maintained by the television channel EPTV, an affiliate of the Globo Network in the São Paulo cities of Campinas, Ribeirão Preto and São Carlos and the Minas Gerais city Varginha – and the International Ecology Institute (IIE) launched the Aqua World Project, designed to encourage the conscious use of water through environmental education.

Sponsored by Foz do Brasil, Transportadora Americana, SABESP and EPTV, the initiative will benefit public and private schools from the states of Minas Gerais and São Paulo, and is focused on the use of a “traveling truck-school.” The vehicle, equipped with fun and interactive resources on aspects related to water and the environment, will travel through 30 municipalities from the region reached by the television station coverage over a 12-month period.

The official launch of Aqua World took place at the Paulínia Municipal Theater, located in rural São Paulo, on June 5 (World Environment Day) and continues until May 2013.

Next to the truck, inside a tent, there will be lectures, exhibits and cultural presentations. “The main focus is the 6th grade students, but the exhibit will be open to the entire community and monitored by professionals,” explained Ciro Porto, Editor-in-Chief at EPTV. He added that IIE will be responsible for the technical and scientific basing of the activities.

For the Coordinator of Foz do Brasil in Santa Gertrudes, Rogério Lima, supporting a project that has water as its main theme is aligned with the company’s objectives of working together with the communities, promoting knowledge and environmental awareness raising. “Water is Foz’ main product and is also a scarce natural resource, so that’s why it is crucial for the population, and primarily children, to learn to use it consciously,” said Lima.

The Aqua Mundo Project includes a hotsite with information to orient educators as to the concepts and goals related to the water topic: www.viaeptv.com/aquamundo.