The Learning-Service (ApS) Awards have recognized the MANO-MAR project (Active Look for Nature and the Ocean, Environment and Resources), directed by Itahisa Pérez Pérez, a professor at the Faculty of Education of the University of La Laguna. The award ceremony took place on September 16th at the Tenerife Island Council, attended by the ULL's Vice-Rector for Teaching, José Manuel García Fraga; the Island Council's Minister of Employment and Education, Efraín Medina; and the director of the Learning-Service program at the ULL, María Gabino.
MANO-MAR was awarded in the university projects category. In the same category, an honorable mention was given to the project “Following the Footprints of the Past: An Interpretive Route Through La Laguna's Paleontological Treasures,” led by paleontology professor Carolina Castillo Ruiz, with collaboration from the La Laguna City Council and participation from Biology students of the University of La Laguna and the IES Dr. Antonio González de Tejina.
The MANO-MAR project's main objective has been to promote active environmental awareness, fostering the acquisition of sustainable habits and shared responsibility in caring for the environment and the ocean. To achieve this, practical and participatory activities were designed to transform acquired knowledge into concrete actions within the community.
The initiative was developed in collaboration with the CEIP Prácticas Aneja de La Laguna, involving 106 students from the 2nd year of the Pedagogy Degree and 395 children from Early Childhood and Primary Education, in addition to faculty from both institutions. Families, local businesses, and various administrations and entities related to environmental education and community participation also joined.
University students actively participated in the design, development, and evaluation of socio-educational interventions that combined in-classroom and out-of-classroom activities. These included robotics activities linked to environmental education, sustainability workshops, and cleanup actions for natural spaces and coastal areas.
Waste management and reduction was a central focus of the project, encouraging students to identify types of waste, reflect on their impact, and implement strategies for reduction, reuse, and proper separation. Families participated in creating marine animal figures from recycled materials, and local businesses were contacted to spread awareness messages.
The initiative benefited from the collaboration of various educational, environmental, and community stakeholders, including the Office for Environmental Participation and Volunteering of the Tenerife Island Council, the Tenerife Coastal Action Group (GAC Tenerife), and several departments of the La Laguna City Council, such as those for Festivals, Women, Equality and LGTBI; Education, Youth and OMIC; and Promotion and Local Development, Environment, Health, Mobility and Transport.
A key aspect of MANO-MAR has been its contribution to training change agents. Pedagogy students not only gained knowledge but also identified needs, designed educational proposals, intervened in real contexts, and reflected on the outcomes, connecting academic training with the territory's socio-environmental reality and developing professional competencies while providing a service to the community.
