Sustainable Rio
The sustainable initiatives from Rio de Janeiro State are gathered in this text for the knowledge of the population and the international society. Several State Secretariats are committed to the challenge of redesigning the Pluriannual Plan will be a keen to benhancing and integrating sustainable practices. The final result of this work is Rio de Janeiro State´s Green Economy Route. Other highlighted initiatives, such as the Green Environmental Assets Exchange and the Green District, will be launched in the realm of the Rio+20 Conference.
1. State Secretariat of Environment
Green Zones
The Green Zone Program from the Rio de Janeiro State aims at the development of the economic potential of the regions with a focus on activities that contribute to the Green Economy. In other words, the economic activities must be environmentally cleaner and more responsible in social terms. The Program must adopt the strategy of specialized Zones, foreseeing, among others, the creation of:
- Technological Green Zones: Areas that concentrate Research Centers for technological development and innovation, integrating Academia and Industry.
- Agricultural Technology Green Zones: Regions which concentrate farms that employ advanced agricultural handling techniques, including for Silviculture, and that run on an integrated form with the Agribusiness.
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BVRIO
BVRio is an institutional environment dedicated to the creation and transaction of environmental assets, to foment the Green Economy. It is a non-profit civil association, whose Council will have the participation of several sector of society. BVRio will act in two main fronts to enable its operations: in the creation and operation of the electronic platform (which will run with the cap and trade system) and in the modeling and creation of regulatory environmental assets which will be negotiated in this platform. BVRio is expected to be one of the most effective tools in the reduction of greenhouse gases. The beginning of operations is expected for June 2012.
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Green Economy Guideline
Aiming at Rio´s economy transition to a more sustainable pattern, the State Secretariat of Environment, through the Green Economy Undersecretariat is elaborating the Green Economy Guideline. This document points the pats to reach one of the State´s goals – Sustainable Development – being the Green Economy a core instrument towards this level. Besides describing the main elements of the economy of Rio de Janeiro State to base its strategy and action, the Green Economy Guideline presents initiatives already in practice in the State aligned with sustainable development. The document also presents several planning proposals in the public sector which favor the accomplishment of this “vision of the future”. In addition, the Guide explicits factible goals for key sectors of the State in the promotion of Green Economy.
2. State Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock
Sustainable Rural Development
The State Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock of Rio de Janeiro holds in its Rural Rio program the synthesis of its actions for sustainable rural development. In partnership with the World Bank, the program from the Rio de Janeiro government is acknowledged in Brazil and abroad as a model of well-succeeded experience. By promoting sustainable agricultural practices, it shows that harmonizing food production with environmental preservation is possible and, most of all, placing the rural producer as the guardian of these resources. Read more
Topics such as green economy, carbon sequestration, sanitation, biodiversity, water resources, food security and the strengthening of social organizations, which will be in the center of the discussions of Rio+20, will guide the actions of Rio Rural. Learn about this work and find out why Agriculture is the key for the sustainability of the planet. To know more about it, click here
3. State Secretariat of Regional Development, Supply and Fishing
The Secretariat and its associates work in actions which promote sustainable development. Through the Fishing Institute Foundation of Rio de Janeiro State (FIPERJ), it fosters and develops projects in the area of aquaculture; it also encourages good practices and sustainable management, as well as contributes as an alternative source of animal protein from the crops, since there is a global trend of reducing the capacity of exploitation of fish stocks. One highlight is the ongoing project on the Paraíba do Sul River, where hatchery stations will be developed for the reproduction of native species in this basin, aiming the growth of the species. Read more
FIPERJ also maintains a Fishing School where it promotes qualification and capacitation courses for fishermen in the scope of environmental education. This instructional project runs on an itinerant basis, in fishing communities throughout the State, so as to form citizens aware of preservation and environmental conservation.
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4. State Secretariat of Education
In June 2008, the State Secretariat of Education of Rio de Janeiro created the Environment Education State Coordination – CEEA, an action which institutionalized the Environmental Education in the field of political-pedagogic education. The action came in compliance with the guidelines foreseen in the legal frameworks that guide Environmental Education. Ever since, the professionals from the 1,357 schools from the stated started have the support of a new team in the promotion of a critical, democratic, plural, inclusive and solidary reflection of policies, treaties, agreements, guidelines, and world frameworks on the topic. Read more
The pedagogic initiatives implemented in the schools have the main goal to follow the principles signed in the “Environmental Education Treaty for Sustainable Societies and Global Responsibility”. The document was created in 1992, during the II United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development – CNUMAD – Rio 92, and, in it, principles, plan of action and guidelines were reaffirmed for environmental education.
Over the school year, the state school system implants – through their teachers, pedagogic coordinators and principals – several programs, projects and actions which will promote within the educational system reflections on environmental matters and problems. The goal is to make students and teaching staff implant a new environmental culture and commitment, through good pedagogic practices. The social environmental actions in the school units contemplate the school community and the surroundings of the schools, so that, together – society and school system – may establish new values on social, environmental, economic and cultural matters.
In May 2011, the State Education Office opened the country´s first sustainable school, the Erich Walter Heine High School, in Santa Cruz, West Rio. In the unit, more than 50 actions were adopted to improve the usage of natural resources and achieve greater energy efficiency, as an example, the shape in the construction of Wind Fans, for greater air circulation and reduction of cooling expenditures, ecologically correct materials in the construction, using LED bulbs, selective garbage collection, rain water usage system and recycling area such as the eco-roof with special vegetation, to decrease the heat and water re-absorption of the rain, among others. The creation of the high school, a public-private partnership, came add to the work already developed by SEEDUC, by proposing, stimulating and supporting actions and projects in this area in schools throughout the State.
In this new conference, the good educational and social practices will be presented to the Chiefs of State, giving visibility to the state policies to what accessibility and sustainable development are concerned. During the entire preparation of Rio+20, several actions from teachers, principals and community will be announced, focussed on the event, as a perception of the public schools as educational spaces of reference for the building-up of new habits and attitudes from the society, as well as a reflection on conscious consumption and social co-responsibility.
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5. State Transportation Secretariat
Rio, State of the Bicycles
With the purpose of stimulating the culture of alternative transportation in the State of Rio de Janeiro, the Secretariat of TRansport hás created the ‘Rio – State of the Bicycle’ Program, which promotes the use of bicycles as a means of transportation. Several projects have been viabilized through the program, which highlights the Non Motorized Transportation Plan which, through a partnership signed with the Interamerican Development Bank (IADB), should elaborate a wide study to provide the cities of the State with the infrastructure to guarantee safe and adequate mobility for pedestrians and cyclists. Read more
Clean Fuels
Thinking about the environment and sustainable growth in the urban mobility sector, the State Transportation Secretariat supports the research and the use of clean fuels in the fleet of buses in the State. Among them is Biodiesel B20, which reduces toxic gas emission and CNG up to 20%.
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6. State Secretariat of Sciences and Technology
Support, technologies and education in the projects from the Secretariat of Sciences and Technology
Through the Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for the Support on Research in Rio de Janeiro State (FAPERJ), the Secretariat of Science and Technology will destine BRL 5 million for environmental projects. There are two Public Notices issued in March: Support for Studies on the Solution for Environment Related Problems and Support for Studies on the Biodiversity in Rio de Janeiro State. Read more
Apart from that, the Secretariat maintains digital inclusion and distant learning programs. Those are actions which serve the social matter, a pivotal aspect on sustainability. Present in six communities – Santa Marta, Cidade de Deus, Pavão-Pavãozinho / Cantagalo, Rocinha, Providência and Complexo do Alemão -, the Rio Digital State program supplies free wideband Wi-Fi signal for their residents. The CECIERJ Foundation offers college level courses in consortium with the public universities of the State (CEDERJ Consortium), taking quality education to the upper state and reducing the students´ commuting costs.
In the units of the Technical School Support Foundation network (FAETEC) several programs, which seek sustainability, are developed. We highlight the Do Óleo ao Sabão project, which turns used kitchen oil into toilet soap; and the organic cooking, which teaches the students to cook with food parts which are normally discarted, such as the peel of fruits and legumes. For further information, click here
7. State Secretariat of Social Work and Human Rights
Peace Territory
The Peace Territory Program develops social management tasks in the “favelas” which have Pacifier Police Units (PPU). Managers and assistants, chosen through public selection, are responsible for strenghthening the local networks, potentialize the leaderships that act in the territory and facilitate the dialogue between the community and the State. For further information click here
8. State Secretariat of Planning and Management
The State Secretariat of Planning and Management of Rio de Janeiro – SEPLAG presents, in this United Nations Conference, the 2012-2031 Rio de Janeiro Government Strategic Plan and the 2012-2015 Pluriannual Plan, instruments that the State is currently seeking to transform into tools for the qualification in the performing process of the governmental actions at a short, medium and long term. Thus, apart from expressing the commitment of the Government with the development in its sectorial and intersectorial aspects, the plans seek to promote the building up of citizenship to the current generations and the formation of a legacy of citizenship benefits of future generations. Read more
The assessment of the results of the sustainable development agenda in the past 20 years is a special opportunity for a reflection and planning of the States before the challenges they will face in the next 20 years. The long term is the accomplishing place of this agenda, since sustainability is equivalent to inter-generational democratization of the resources, fundamental to the social wellbeing, a sine qua non condition for the full exercise of citizenship of all social segments. It is in this spirit that the SEPLAG investments in the planning process seek to contribute today for the performance of the strategic agendas on sustainable planning in Rio de Janeiro.
9. State Secretariat for Culture
Care with the Environment and Sustainability Guide SEC´s Cultural Spaces
The State Secretariat for Culture (SEC) is constructing Latin America´s first green building to host a museum and a library. Therefore, the works of the new headquarters for the Sound and Image Museum (MIS), in Copacabana, as well as the remodeling and modernization of the State Public Library (BPE), downtown, are a transformation milestone in public construction. Read more
The buildings are sustainable and the edification of the built area has the goal to reduce the negative impact caused on the environment and human health through the use of acknowledged concepts and procedures of environmental sustainability.
Once ready, both buildings will be credentialed for the LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), issued by the Green Building Council Brazil for “excellency in the use of energy and environmental design”. The LEED certification is issued for buildings whose project guarantees the high performance of the interior, in terms of healthy environment, productive work area, low maintenance and operational costs and reduction of environmental impact.
The demolition of the building itself, which occupied the land where the new MIS headquarters is being built, was carried out on a selective basis and had a recycling index and reusability of 99.81% of the materials.
Meanwhile, the practices adopted at BPE and which make it a sustainable building include pluvial water reusage system; natural lighting; water consumption reduction accessories (automatic closure taps, double flow flush valves, etc); residue management plan, which yields financial return to the worksite; use of energy saving equipment and lamp bulbs; use of paint, materials and technologies which harm the environment the least; Air and Comfort Quality Management; artificial lighting complementary to the natural, meeting the local working; stimulation for healthier and more relaxing alternative transportation; concern with the transportation infrastructure and the vicinity of public facilities; stimulation for the use of bicycles.
It is intended that the user, by interacting with the space of a sustainable building, a green building – allied to the environmental education programs developed by BPE – incorporates conscious consumption concept. The environmental benefit is an important differential: a sustainable enterprise can reduce energy consumption in 30%, water consumption in 50%, CO2 emission in 35% and residue disposal up to 70%.
