Resurfacing Environmental Identity in Coastal Peru

Abstract

A Forest for Ancon is an urban reforestation project aimed at creating an environmental tool for children. The goal is to foster environmental literacy and identity in children and to incentivize teachers to deliver outdoor lessons. Human-centered design was used. The forest is located in Peru’s capital, Lima, inside a boarding school that houses 400 children. The project planted 450 trees from five different species that are endemic to and play an important ecological role in the Peruvian coastal desert. A diverse group of stakeholders came together to establish the forest: a non-profit ideated the project and executed it in collaboration with the non-profit responsible for housing and educating the children involved in the project, and a corporate bank that provided financing and labor through their staff volunteer program. A revenue stream was created by providing educational tours for other students. Teachers’ perspectives and barriers to implementing outdoor lessons have been identified. Moreover, the potential to use this area as therapy for disengaged students is explored. Recommendations for future designs in urban agriculture education are presented: including a multidisciplinary team, creating diverse new learning possibilities, how to make the project financially viable, and how to address barriers according to teachers’ perspectives. Finally, we propose how this project can be scaled up.