The role of museums as teachers of their values and, more specifically, their importance when it comes to citizenship and environmental values, is one of the themes covered by the Sociedade Ponto Verde GPA Best Original Work Award Bem Público – Valor Público. A Educação para os valores ambientais no Museu da Água da EPAL, by Margarida Ramos. It will be on sale from 21 February.

This research was the winner of the award instituted by Sociedade Ponto Verde and the Princípia publishing company in the fifth Green Project Awards in 2012 to recognise the best original work on the environment. 

The award was for the publication of academic essays in the areas of environmental education and applied research.

\"By introducing this award, Sociedade Ponto Verde once again wished to promote the environmental cause and help to encourage the publication of works on the environment that would otherwise not have been published, in spite of their importance,\" said Luís Veiga Martins, Managing Director of Sociedade Ponto Verde.

\"Based on the work done by the Águas Livres Education Service and its activities with the school community, this thesis reflected on the role of museums as teachers of environmental and citizenship values. I would like to say thank you for the award, which I hope will be able to contribute to greater knowledge on the subject,\" said Margarida Ramos.

The author based her work on a case study of Museu da Água da Empresa Portuguesa das Águas Livres (EPAL) on the basis of an analysis of its dynamic with schools.

In the first part of the book, Margarida Ramos reflects on the need for education on values from a formal point of view and the main methods used to teach them, establishing a parallel with the main theories of learning at museums and the role of cultural institutions in non-formal education.

The second part addresses her case study of EPAL Museu da Água and its relationship with school audiences. Her analysis of assignments done by lower secondary school students shows some environmental concerns about pollution and efficient use of water and describes environmental attitudes on them: biocentric (water as essential to life) and anthropocentric (its uses to man).