At the end of the 2025/2026 school year, Porto City Council completed the third edition of the “My School is Green” educational programme, run at Falcão Primary School as part of the LIFE-myBUILDINGisGREEN project.

After a first year devoted to discovering the Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) put in place at the school, and a second year focused on assessing their impact by observing bioindicator animal species, this third edition challenged pupils to deepen their knowledge of the diversity of plant species found across the school’s various green spaces and to understand the ecological processes associated with them.

In the first stage, the three Year 3 and Year 4 classes went on field trips to the school’s outdoor spaces and to Parque da Alameda de Cartes, next to the school, where they observed, identified and collected different plant species.

Field activities observing and collecting plant species © Câmara do Porto

The pupils then carried out a research process on the species they had collected. Through observation, research, identification and characterisation of the plants, they built a herbarium with the specimens gathered and discovered their main features, adaptations to their environment, ecological facts of interest and contributions to urban ecosystems — in particular in promoting biodiversity, attracting pollinators and improving environmental quality. This activity helped to strengthen their understanding of the role of NBS in adapting to climate change and building more resilient cities.

The programme culminated in a presentation session for parents and carers, which included a circuit of challenges devised by the pupils, allowing them to share what they had learned about plant species, biodiversity and NBS in an interactive way. The herbarium built over the course of the programme was also presented, as a record of the pupils’ work in observing, researching and valuing local flora.

Species identification activities in the classroom © Câmara do Porto

With the completion of this third edition, the “My School is Green” educational programme builds on the journey begun in 2023/2024, further establishing Falcão Primary School as a living laboratory for learning about Nature-Based Solutions. Over these three school years, pupils have had the opportunity to follow the evolution of the sites that have been worked on, understand the benefits of green infrastructure and deepen their knowledge of the biodiversity present in and around the school grounds. The programme will continue next school year, building on the learning developed so far and exploring new dimensions of the relationship between nature, schools and adapting to climate change.

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