Who we are
Erasmus+ Program
2023/2024
ROMANIA
Călin Poptelecan
Graduated in Biology, specializing in Ecology and Environmental Protection, at the Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, he is currently a biology teacher in preuniversity and post-secondary education. He was the activity manager of the students’ Ecology Circle Pro-Eco and mentor of the University 1 December Alba-Iulia in the specialization Ecology and Environmental Protection in 2017. He has numerous participations in National and International Symposia and articles published in specialized journals on environment, sustainable development, biodiversity and environmental education.
Daria Bârsan
She graduated Applied Modern Languages in 2005, majoring in English and French, languages from which she translated and published several books, and is currently in her final year of studies in Conservation-Restoration. In 2018 she founded with two friends the Cultural Association In Ars Veritas, with which she initiated and implemented various projects for children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. She is the author of the children's book The Unknown Life of the Garden and coordinator of the environmental education project with the same title.
Iulian Mezei
Artist and teacher of visual arts, graduated from the University of Art and Design in Cluj Napoca in 2014. Currently, he exercises his pedagogical vocation at the Regina Maria High School of Arts in Alba Iulia, where he carries out artistic projects, partnerships, group activities and experimental methods in visual arts pedagogy with students. He believes that knowledge is not related to what we know but to what we don’t know. He is passionate about non-formal and alternative pedagogies, in particular Waldorf pedagogy and is a co-founder of the Cultural Association In Ars Veritas.
Simona Lazea
She is a wife, mother of four children aged 17 to 8, and a teacher by training. She loves nature gardening, and after 11 years of teaching, she gave up her job in the public education system and, together with her family, moved to the countryside to live as naturally, healthily and peacefully as possible. She has enjoyed sharing with her sons how you can live healthily and with impact. Because, yes, what you sow is what you will harvest.
PORTUGAL
Carlos Bártolo
Designer graduated from ESBAP and FAUP; since 1992, he has collaborated with several organisations and institutions, mainly in the cultural domain (scenography, exhibition and editorial design). Simultaneously, he teaches composition, art history, design history and cinema history at the Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa and academically researches design history in Portugal.
Joana Peres
Curious by nature - or by profession - the journalist embraced this project intending to discover a new world: that of seeds. She co-founded the nonprofit association margens simples, developed - through characters - the project "Germinar um banco de sementes" and is responsible for the project's communication.
Luísa Passos
She graduated in Fine Arts and specialized in Scientific Illustration; what she likes most is to travel through drawing. In recent years she has had the privilege of working with a vast team of naturalists who have a lot of fun but draw even more. These projects have, as their primary goals, the dissemination of Natural Heritage and raising awareness on Environmental Education. Anything is accepted conceptual or scientific drawings.
Maria João Fonseca
She has a degree in Landscape Architecture and a PhD in Architecture. Currently, she divides herself between the pleasure of thinking about and organising archives with documents of landscape architecture and the desire to see more seeds preserved and more vegetable gardens in the city. Co-founder of the nonprofit association margens simples, she designed the project "Germinar um banco de sementes" and is involved in its development and general coordination.
Rebecca Mateus
Biologist, ecologist, educator, dancer, performer. A jigsaw puzzle of stories, interests and motivations. She has a degree in Biology and a master's degree in Ecology and Environmental Management from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. She is a co-founder of the Dunas Livres Environmental Association. As a biologist, she has worked as a field assistant on species monitoring projects in various contexts and developed her master's thesis on DNA metabarcoding at CiBIO. She was part of a team that designed and implemented a market garden (Tenerife, 2019). She has been involved in the HortaFCUL collective since 2012 and co-founded Entr'hortas in 2020 - community horticulture and agroecology projects (designing and maintaining urban gardens, guided tours, and events). As a dancer, she has focussed on street dance and clubbing. Housedance is one of her main expressions, and she also practises other styles. She is a student of Capoeira.
2021 BIP/ZIP Program
Dimension: Good Practices
ANTÓNIO ALEXANDRE
Biologist specialized in orangutans with a great appreciation for both non-human and human young primates. Co-founder of the permaculture project "Horta FCUL" at the University of Lisbon. He dreams of combining his passion for music with that for education and sustainability. Simultaneously he does his utmost to enjoy the beautiful things in life.
CARLOS BARTOLO
Designer, graduated from ESBAP and FAUP; since 1992, he has collaborated with several organizations and institutions, mainly in the cultural domain (scenography, exhibition and editorial design). Simultaneously, he teaches design, art history, design history and cinema history at the Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa and academically researches design history in Portugal.
IVO ROSA
He attends a degree in Biology at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (FCUL), is a trainer in the area of Environmental Education and is a naturalist in his spare time. He develops activities on eco-citizenship supported by digital tools to empower citizens to participate in local decisions on environmental and biodiversity issues.
JOANA ANDRADE
Born in Lisbon in 1967, she is the mother of three children, an architect, an artistic mediator in educational programs at various cultural and museum institutions, founder and coordinator of the Espaço_corpo project, and a researcher in Art Education.
JOANA PERES
Curious by nature - or by profession - the journalist embraced this project intending to discover a new world: that of seeds. She co-founded the nonprofit association margens simples, developed - through characters - the project "Germinar um banco de sementes" and is responsible for the project's communication.
LUÍSA PASSOS
She graduated in Fine Arts and specialized in Scientific Illustration; what she likes most is to travel through drawing. In recent years she has had the privilege of working with a vast team of naturalists who have a lot of fun but draw even more. These projects have, as their primary goals, the dissemination of Natural Heritage and raising awareness on Environmental Education. Anything is accepted conceptual or scientific drawings.
MARIA JOÃO FONSECA
She has a degree in Landscape Architecture and a PhD in Architecture. Currently, she divides herself between the pleasure of thinking about and organizing archives with documents of landscape architecture and the desire to see more seeds preserved and more vegetable gardens in the city. Co-founder of the nonprofit association margens simples, she designed the project "Germinar um banco de sementes" and is involved in its development and general coordination.
2019 BIP/ZIP Program
Dimension: Ignition
ANA MANTA
Graduated in Landscape Architecture and Maste's in Teaching Music Education, she currently develops a diversified activity, using these areas to raise children's awareness of the importance of preserving nature. She regularly develops pedagogical activities for FCGulbenkian, occasionally collaborating with other institutions such as MAAT|Fundação EDP and Fábrica das Artes|CCB.
ANTÓNIO ALEXANDRE
Biologist specialized in orangutans with a great appreciation for both non-human and human young primates. Co-founder of the permaculture project "Horta FCUL" at the University of Lisbon. He dreams of combining his passion for music with that for education and sustainability. Simultaneously he does his utmost to enjoy the beautiful things in life.
CARLOS BARTOLO
Designer, graduated from ESBAP and FAUP; since 1992, he has collaborated with several organizations and institutions, mainly in the cultural domain (scenography, exhibition and editorial design). Simultaneously, he teaches design, art history, design history and cinema history at the Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa and academically researches design history in Portugal.
JOANA PERES
Curious by nature - or by profession - the journalist embraced this project intending to discover a new world: that of seeds. She co-founded the nonprofit association margens simples, developed - through characters - the project "Germinar um banco de sementes" and is responsible for the project's communication. Children and nature are, for her, a perfect combination.
LUÍSA PASSOS
She graduated in Fine Arts and specialized in Scientific Illustration; what she likes most is to travel through drawing. In recent years she has had the privilege of working with a vast team of naturalists who have a lot of fun but draw even more. These projects have, as their primary goals, the dissemination of Natural Heritage and raising awareness on Environmental Education. Anything is accepted conceptual or scientific drawings.
MARIA JOÃO FONSECA
She has a degree in Landscape Architecture and a PhD in Architecture. Currently, she divides herself between the pleasure of thinking about and organizing archives with documents of landscape architecture and the desire to see more seeds preserved and more vegetable gardens in the city. Co-founder of the nonprofit association margens simples, she designed the project "Germinar um banco de sementes" and is involved in its development and general coordination.
RUI ALVES
Independent architect, he experiments with music, cinema, design and, recently, with permaculture to contaminate the work he develops. Since he was young, he has participated as an associative leader in the area of the environment and mobility, namely by promoting the use of the bicycle as a means of utilitarian transport. He is the coordinator of this project.