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- Category: The Network
La Associació Guardians de l’Amazònia was born on 1 June 2016 and was formally constituted on 19 July of that same year. Since then it has run the Network of Guardian Schools of the Amazon, which connects classrooms here with Indigenous schools in the Juruá valley, in the Brazilian state of Acre.
Over ten years the Network has involved nine European schools and more than 2,000 pupils. On the other side, in 2025, 22 Indigenous educators completed 52 hours of training and 200 students took part in the environmental workshops at the Escola Ixubãy Rabuĩ Puyanawa.
This is what we do, part by part.
Schools that learn together
When a school joins the Network, the work lasts a term or the whole school year: it begins with the link to the Indigenous world, through the story «Els Puyanawa i l’Eruga de colors – Hêda Cêkaya», and from there the class works on the Amazon biome, climate change and caring for the land. There are video calls between classrooms, letters, projects and visits from Indigenous leaders to the schools.
In the Amazon the work is different: training for Indigenous teachers, digital inclusion, locally made materials and environmental workshops. We make knowledge travel in both directions.
How the Network works · Schools here · Schools in the Amazon
The peoples we work with
We work with the Puyanawa people, in Mâncio Lima, and since this year also with the Nukini people. Both belong to the Pano family and both lived through what they call “the time of captivity” on the rubber estates, when they were forbidden to speak their language.
We set out who they are, how many they are and where every figure comes from, and also why Indigenous peoples are decisive in keeping the forest standing: where Indigenous land is recognised, deforestation is far lower. It has been measured.
The guardian peoples · Puyanawa · Nukini
Workshops for your school
We offer five workshops, from Year 4 of primary to Year 10: the colourful caterpillar, interculturality and stereotypes, global citizenship, climate and waste, and a fifth on screens and social media that includes a talk for families. Each one has its own sheet with year groups, length, aims and what pupils take away, plus a PDF to share with the staff room.
In some cases they are free for the school, because a local council or an organisation funds them. Otherwise, just ask.
What we have made along the way
Besides the schools, these ten years have produced other things: a double album of traditional Puyanawa songs, recorded in the village in 2016; the story, now a teaching resource of the Network; a photography exhibition; un documentary filmed in the village, on hold for lack of funding; and support for the projects of Txai Macedo, an indigenist from Acre and honorary member of the association until his passing.
There is also a selection of twelve documentaries about the Amazon reviewed one by one, with where to watch them and which ages they suit, and eight talks by Indigenous voices: Ailton Krenak, Gersem Baniwa, Daniel Munduruku, Célia Xakriabá y el propio Puyanawa people.
Other projects · Materials · Documentaries
The accounts, in the open
All of this is held up by volunteer work —the team, the board, the teachers and everyone who helps—, by annual grants from the Fons Català de Cooperació and the councils of Molins de Rei, Begues, Sant Feliu de Llobregat and Sant Adrià de Besòs, and by donations.
The reports are published in full, with their tables of costs and funding: the Network one, the Catalonia one and the one for the Fons Català project. You can read them straight away, with nothing to download.
One thing worth saying plainly: the association is not registered as a public-interest body, so contributions are not tax-deductible. It is one of our aims.
How to join in
If you teach, there are two ways in: ask for a workshop for your school, or join the Network, which is a longer and finer commitment. If you do not teach, you can help with a monthly contribution from €5, volunteer, or, if you represent an organisation or a company, find a way to work together.
And if you find a wrong figure or a photo that should not be there, tell us. We really do appreciate it.
