The year of 2016 was marked by transformative encounters. Students, partners, investors, journalists and Odebrecht Members traveled to the Southern Bahia Lowlands and were able to experience how contextualized education; work and income generation; citizenship and respect for the environment take place in actuality. The result was a great exchange of experiences between visitors and the beneficiaries of the programs supported by the Odebrecht Foundation.

One of them took place in January, when journalist Marcela Caetano and photographer Felipe Gabriel da Silva from Dinheiro Rural (Rural Money) magazine interviewed family farmers who, in 2015, achieved the socio-environmental certification of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (RAS), identified by Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal. They, together with the team of the Land Conservation Organization, the institution which supported the group of 17 producers to achieve this feat (RAS), observed that all were in compliance with standards that respect the conservation of natural resources. The visit has turned into a printed news report and publications on the vehicle’s digital channels.

The year was also a breakthrough for the two groups of students of journalism who participated in the Correio Newspaper Correio de Futuro (Post of the Future) Program in 2016. In June and November, they came to know the family houses, the cooperatives and the reforested areas with international certification. Everything has been recorded by the lenses and recorders of the future reporters, who used the collected material for audiovisual news stories and contents. 

As early as September, two major visits took place. On September 6 , the Foundation received the winners of the Mexico’s Odebrecht Award for Sustainable Development as part of the award, won through a project aimed at reforestation and commercialization of endemic plants threatened with extinction. On the 14th and the 15th, it was the turn of executives from the Mitsubishi Corporation to meet the teenagers benefited by the Family Houses. Since 2009, the institution has been a partner of these educational units, in favor of a contextualized education, aimed at forming new rural entrepreneurs in the region. 

Between September and December, four visits were carried out by more than 100 members  of Braskem, coming from units from all over the country. Common to all, the thrill of talking to the teenagers they support, through the Foundation’s Tribute to the Future Program – New Generations. “I’ve been an Agent of the Future since last year, but I’ve never come here and seen the project up close. It’s different because we can see the greatness of this work, “said Crisnei Spitti, from the Camaçari (BA) unit. Members were also impacted by the work of the Right and Citizenship Institute (IDC), which is part of the citizenship component of the Foundation’s PDCIS Program. 

In addition to these meetings, students from various institutions in the country and representatives of the private and public sectors also came to the region. During the year, about 40 visits were made.