The Sants-Montjuïc Environmental Classroom is a new facility for environmental education in this district. It was created to promote the culture of sustainability among local residents in all the district's neighbourhoods. Physically located in a hut in the Joan Prats gardens in Montjuïc, the official opening took place on Thursday, 10 October. The programme of activities is now under way, with events taking place in all the neighbourhoods of Sants-Montjuïc.
The Environmental Classroom is one of the projects proposed by local residents from the Poble Sec neighbourhood as part of the public participation process for the Neighbourhood Plan for 2021-2024, which has funded the construction of the classroom and paid for the furniture and office equipment, with a total cost of €214,734. Specifically, the Associació de l’Hort de la Font Trobada [Font Trobada Allotment Association] suggested in 2021 that the extension of these community allotments should include the construction of an environmental classroom in the Joan Prats gardens. Both the allotments and the new environmental classroom have been supported at a community-based level by eco-environmental organisations in the neighbourhood. In fact, the Poble Sec Environmental Classroom has been up and running for some time as a mobile initiative and was already part of the Network of Environmental Facilities in Barcelona (XEAB). Now the Environmental Classroom in Sants-Montjuïc is a municipal facility managed by the association Som la Clau.
The Environmental Classroom was built at the same time as the improvement works were carried out on the recreational areas in the Joan Prats gardens and the paths that lead there from Poble Sec, as proposed by the parents of students from the Tres Pins and Bosc de Montjuïc schools in the Participatory Budgets. These improvements mean that the Environmental Classroom is now in a more pleasant, secure school environment which is also more accessible both from Avinguda de Miramar and from the Poble Sec neighbourhood.
The Sants-Montjuïc Environmental Classroom is a district facility that specialises in environmental education and the promotion of sustainability culture in all the district’s neighbourhoods. It is based in this hut in the Joan Prats gardens, below Avinguda de Miramar on the side of Montjuïc closest to Poble Sec. The space is open to the public from Monday to Saturday, 10 am to 2 pm; and on Thursday and Friday also from 4 pm to 7 pm.
However, this new environmental education service in Sants-Montjuïc will promote the culture of sustainability in all the district’s neighbourhoods. This means the activities will be decentralised and will not always take place in the hut in Montjuïc. Some will be held in civic centres and communities facilities in the neighbourhoods themselves. So far, this is the programme for this quarter …
October
• Medicinal plants of Montjuïc
Tuesday 3 October from 6.00 pm to 7.30 pm, at the Font de la Guatlla Civic Centre (C/ Rabí Rubén, 24-26, la Font de la Guatlla)
Do you know the properties of herbs like rosemary and lesser calamint? Carme will introduce us to the world of herbs in a very practical way, explaining their uses and how we can make the most of them. All the plants we will be talking about can be found on the mountain and in the allotments of Montjuïc.
Free registration
• Waterless toilet: how does it work and what are the benefits?
Saturday, 5 October from 12.00 noon to 1.30 pm in the Environmental Classroom building (av. Miramar, 13, jardins de Joan Prats, Montjuïc)
There is a waterless toilet in the Environmental Classroom building. To find out how it works and why it is a good way to save water and protect the environment, sign up for this talk with the Saneseco cooperative.
Free registration
• Build an insect hotel
Wednesday 9 October, from 5.00 pm to 7.00 pm, at the Hort d’en Queni (c. Rosés, 8, Sants)
Insect hotels are structures that serve as a refuge for various species, boosting biodiversity and attracting pollinators. Would you like to make one for your allotment, terrace or balcony? Justine, from Recrea Barcelona, will teach you how to build one using reused, natural materials in this workshop at the Hort d’en Queni, which is an urban allotment and deaf-blind interpretation centre managed by APSoCeCat.
Free registration
• Official opening of the Sants-Montjuïc Environmental Classroom
Thursday, 10 October from 4.45 pm to 6.30 pm, in the Environmental Classroom building (av. Miramar, 13, jardins de Joan Prats, Montjuïc)
Children’s workshop for making fruit dipped in melted chocolate using a solar oven. Exhibition showing the various initiatives to promote the eco-social transition in the neighbourhoods of Sants-Montjuïc.
• How to move towards food sovereignty in Sants-Montjuïc: visit to the Economat Social
Tuesday, 15 October from 4.30 pm to 5.45 pm, at the Economat Social (c. Constitució, 85, la Bordeta)
Free registration
• How to move towards food sovereignty in Sants-Montjuïc: visit to the Igualitària
Thursday 17 October, from 6.30 pm to 7.45 pm, at the Igualitària Economat Cooperatiu (c. Vallhonrat, 18, Poble-sec)
Free registration
• Family workshop for creating drawings using natural materials.
Saturday 19 October from 11.00 am to 1.30 pm in the Environmental Classroom building (av. Miramar, 13, jardins de Joan Prats, Montjuïc)
We’ll be using leaves, flowers and other natural elements to create pictures that we can put on our walls at home or give as gifts. Registration not required.
• Make a planter from recovered materials
Friday 25 October, from 5.00 pm to 6.30 pm, in the Environmental Classroom building (av. Miramar, 13, jardins de Joan Prats, Montjuïc)
Free registration
November
• Fauna of Montjuïc
Saturday 9 November, from 10.30 am to 1.30 pm, in the Environmental Classroom building (av. Miramar, 13, jardins de Joan Prats, Montjuïc)
Free registration
• Ecological cleaning
Monday 11 November, from 6.30 pm to 8.00 pm, at the Casa del Rellotge Civic Centre (pg. Zona Franca, 116, jardins de Can Farrero, la Marina de Port)
Free registration
• Reconnecting with nature
Tuesday 19 November, from 7.00 pm to 8.30 pm, at the Cotxeres de Sants Civic Centre (c. Sants, 79)
Free registration
• Make a homemade filter for recovering water from the washing machine
Saturday 23 November from 11,00 am to 2,00 pm, in the Environmental Classroom building (av. Miramar, 13, jardins de Joan Prats, Montjuïc)
Activity in collaboration with the Poble Sec Environmental Classroom. Free registration
December
• Sustainability and artificial intelligence
Tuesday, 10 December, from 6.30 pm to 8.00 pm, at the Casinet d’Hostafrancs Civic Centre (c. Rector Triadó, 53, Hostafrancs)
Free registration
• Make Christmas decorations using recovered materials
Saturday 14 December from 6.30 pm to 8.00 pm, in Plaça de l’Orgull, 1 (la Marina de Port)
Free registration