Projects

With the purpose of reducing education inequalities of children and adolescents, Instituto Neoenergiain a partnership with CIEDS,  has developed since 2019 the project called "Balcão de Ideias e Práticas Educativas " (Counter of Educational Ideas and Practices), that aims to consolidate a network for the dissemination of innovative ideas and solutions, through the systematization of teaching practices that work on the 10 general competencies of the Base Nacional Comum Curricular (National Common Curriculum Base - BNCC). 

This year, the initiative launched an online platform free of charge, gathering together different innovative teaching practices, co-created by teachers from the municipal education networks in Bahia and São Paulo, during training programs held by the project during 2019. 

A total amount of 100 practices are available, developed by teachers to teachers. The platform is available at https://www.cieds.org.br/balcaodeideias . ​

In February, 2020, Instituto Neoenergia delivered the new cultural lighting of Memorial Câmara Cascudo, located in the historical center of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte. This initiative, carried out in a partnership with Fundação José Augusto, is a part of a program aimed at increasing the appreciation of the historic, artistic and cultural heritage of the historical buildings located in states where Neoenergia operates.

The Memorial's new lighting comprises 53 reflectors, using LED lamps to light up Câmara Cascudo statue and the historic building's façade. The system is fully automated, using sensors to turn on and off the lamps, according to the natural light in the place.

Due to the use of LED lamps and automatic sensors, this new lighting system is expected to generate a 65% saving in the building's energy consumption when compared to the traditional system (using discharge lamps and manually operated).

The Lighting Program of Instituto Neoenergia , has benefited other Brazilian historic buildings, such as the Forte das Cinco Pontas, in Recife, Pernambuco; Fortaleza da Barra Grande, in Guarujá, São Paulo; and Cruz de Cabrália, in Santa Cruz de Cabrália, Bahia.​

Committed to improving public education, the Neoenergia Institute is supporting the "Educational Ideas and Solutions Desk" project, developed by the Integrated Center for Sustainable Development Studies and Programs (CIEDS), whose purpose is to reduce the educational inequalities of children and adolescents.

The initiative aims to consolidate a network of diffusion of ideas and innovative solutions, through the systematization of pedagogical practices that work the ten General Competences of the National Curricular Common Base - BNCC. In practice, the project will support the Municipal Education Plans of cities of the countryside of Bahia and São Paulo.

720 teachers from the public school system will be trained so that they can apply the pedagogical concepts they already have, using innovative solutions and methodologies in the classroom.

Since 2015, the Institute has developed the Flyways project, in partnership with SAVE Brasil, which seeks to ensure the conservation of birds and their habitats, contributing to the preservation of species at the hemispheric level. To this end, it conducts actions aimed at monitoring the population size of five endangered species in some places in Brazilian Northeast and Southern regions. 

The work also seeks to involve the local community to help the bird preservation. In its initial cycle (2015-2017), the project impacted about 5,500 people and involved 68 volunteers from the local community. SAVE Brasil is a member of BirdLife International, an alliance of conservation organizations with a footprint in 110 countries.

​

Developed by WWF-Brasil, in partnership with Neonergia Institute, Restoring Corals project aims to generate and disseminate knowledge about coral restoration to society and relevant actors in Brazilian society, as well as to promote innovative initiatives to be used to nationally and internationally stagger the agenda of corals restoration, through the generation of knowledge, employment and income. 

The restoration and maintenance of corals is a priority agenda for the Brazilian population and for the global community, from facing climate change to maintaining the quality of life of coastal populations. In the first year of the project, an expedition will be made to the Atol das Rocas (RN) biological reserve to understand its potential to mitigate the effects of climate change on shallower reefs, followed by innovative coral restoration experiments on the Brazilian coast. The project also aims to foster new business models, innovation, income and employment generation through coral restoration initiatives. 

The Atol das Rocas biological reserve is the only atoll formation in the South Atlantic and has been a protected marine area model in Brazil. Due to its peculiar biodiversity, in addition to its fundamental role in biological processes such as reproduction, dispersion and colonization of the marine biota, Atol das Rocas is considered a World Natural Heritage site by Unesco, it is part of the RAMSAR (List of International Importance Zones) and houses a Conservation Unit of integral protection of the resources of the sea.

Developed through the Federal Culture Incentive Law, the project proposes to enhance the development of socio-emotional competences of students from the public school system of Andradina, Rio Claro and Caieiras (SP), boosting academic performance through body expression (theater) , besides contemplating the revitalization of a classroom for the project development, offering vocational guidance and psycho-pedagogical accompaniment. 

The estimate is to reach 3,000 students, divided into eight classes of 30 students per city, in four schools in each chosen location.

In 2019, the Neoenergia Institute inaugurated the new lighting of the Fortaleza da Barra Grande, in Guarujá (SP). The monument is the only Spanish fortification in Brazil and is competing for UNESCO´s historical heritage. The fortification houses the Historical Museum, a place much visited by students of the region.

The lighting project, in addition to appreciating the historical importance of the monument, replaced the existing electrical and lighting system with a new, more efficient system. The building's internal facilities, erected in 1584, were fully revitalized, illuminating and supplying energy in previously unattended spaces. The external area also received new points of illumination that highlight the walls of the fortification.

In addition to the preservation of artistic and cultural heritage, the new electrical system provides an efficiency of 25% in relation to the old lighting project. Installed equipment is expected to last 20 times longer than conventional lighting, which significantly reduces the on-site maintenance cost.  The revitalization project was conducted in partnership with Formarte and Guarujá Municipality, through the Secretary of Culture. 

The project Sports Education, developed through the Federal Law of Sports Incentive, is aimed at 300 children and pre-adolescents between 6 and 14 years old in social vulnerability in the surroundings of the municipal schools of Caieiras. 

Assisted by the Sports and Cultural Educational Association (ASSEDEC), the project aims to promote the practice of basketball, in the school counterpart, with technical and pedagogical support and support from the City Hall, through the city's Education Department. 

Having the family as a partner in the process and taking the children out of the streets, the project also seeks to help combat drug and alcohol use, thus contributing to their integral formation with their families. 

The DroPs (Social Entrepreneurship Discovery Program) aims to present the social ecosystem for 50 ideas and impact projects and to bring capacity building in relevant areas for their maturation. Projects approved to participate in the DroPs meet all 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which means that the project will enhance the impact on all areas of social and environmental development listed by the UN. 

The meetings take place monthly and have an exclusive methodology developed in partnership with Verda, a school of positive impact that was incubated in the first class of the Social Port. 

The trainings are divided into two groups of 25 participants each and have a workload of four hours per class, totaling 96 hours of activities.

The Neoenergia Institute is associated to GIFE, an association of Brazilian social investors, be they institutes, foundations or companies. 

The objective of GIFE is to promote private social investment, through technical qualification, networking, institutional political strengthening and support to the strategic action of institutes and foundations of business origin and other private institutions that carry out this on a voluntary basis and systematic, focused on the public interest, contributing to sustainable development. ​

In 2018, the Institute completed the third consecutive year of Scholarship Program offered by Fundación Iberdrola and contributed to the education of nine young Brazilians, with eight scholarships to universities in Spain and one to the United Kingdom. 

The project, held in Ubatuba (SP) and developed in partnership with Instituto de Permacultura e Ecovilas da Mata Atlântica (IPEMA), offered free training courses for professionals in sustainable construction. 

About 100 professionals were trained and 500 people benefited from the implementation of bio-construction techniques in the location.

Developed in partnership with the Instituto Socioambiental Cenários Futuros, the project transformed the school space of three schools of the public network into innovation labs for teaching robotics. 

The cities included were Araras (SP), Três Lagoas (MS) and Registro (SP) and about 249 students were benefited.

The Institute also invested in the architectural lighting of Forte das Cinco Pontas, located in the central area of Recife.

The Fort is the last Dutch building in Recife and one of the most representative monuments of colonial architecture. In order to preserve the national heritage, this building was transformed into the Museum of the City of Recife in 1982.

The museum has a vast and important iconographic collection, collected in Pernambuco and Portugal, where original designs of civil, military and ecclesiastical constructions, cartographies, paintings, drawings, sculptures and engravings are on display. ​