STORIES FROM THE GREEN HEART

Stories from the Green Heart is an intergenerational project that uses collaborative video to mobilize citizens and inspire solutions for forest fires.

In the Sertã region, we chose a decentralized approach to foster debate about the fires that ravage central Portugal. We began with the perspectives of those whose lives and livelihoods are most affected—people who so often feel excluded from decisions made by governmental, regional, and local bodies.

Using participatory video as a tool, we explore solutions and collectively imagine what the future might look like. The people of today, and their stories from yesterday, come together to build the day of tomorrow.

This is the project’s experience website—what happens here is recorded, invites replication, and inspires future initiatives.

Stories from the Green Heart, in the villages of Macieira and Amioso and in the town of Sertã, thrived on the involvement of the people who live, study, and work there. To further this purpose—expanding local engagement and strengthening the project’s contribution to local and regional Climate Action Plans—the Sertã Municipal Council, the Troviscal Parish Council, the Sertã Parish Council, the Macieira Association, and the Acramioso Amioso Association enthusiastically joined the initiative.

The Stories from the Green Heart project was selected by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to be part of the Climate Participation Initiative. Through this initiative, the Gulbenkian Foundation aims to promote public mobilization for climate action.