Muuvit

Muuvit to activate Brazilian schools (8/27/2014)

Health, learning and digital tools combined!

“No more sitting at the desks while the teacher preaches in the front of the class. Learning by heart, copying, repeating. No way!” This is the motto of Muuvit Health and Learning Oy Ltd., an elementary school programme created in Finland, which helps teachers, principals and managers to promote interdisciplinary education. It is an engaging and easy to use platform that integrates physical activity with “distant” fields of knowledge such as Arithmetic, Global Citizenship, Geography, Tourism, Health, Foreign Languages and, in the case of Brazil, also Culture of Peace.

Mr. Maxwill Braga, of the Instituto Compartilhar, is leading the process in Brazil. “Instituto Compartilhar has embraced the opportunity to bring Muuvit to Brazil because it is in line with our understanding of sport as an instrument for positive social change. Besides, Muuvit fits the necessity to promote innovative and fun physical activities in schools to a younger age group which our projects usually do not reach. We also envisioned the benefits for the institute to learn the backstage experience combining education and digital tools”, says Maxwill Braga.

Instituto Compartilhar is part of Brazil’s Sports Network for Social Change (known as REMS in Portuguese), which is one of the champions of the platform Designed to Move (DTM) in the country. A long-term partner of REMS and Instituto Compartilhar, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Brazil holds the role of champion and coordinator of the sports and activities platform.

“This partnership between Muuvit, the Finnish Foreign Ministry and the Brazilian NGO Instituto Compartilhar is an important step for us to reinforce the link between education and physical activities”, says Jenny Karlsen, UNDP Brazil’s Strategic Partnerships Officer. “UNDP Brazil is proud to support this partnership which aims to promote kids´ healthy lifestyle and joy of learning.”

The first school classes are ready to start in mid-September, in the city of Curitiba. Furthermore, the Finnish Foreign Ministry has its focus on the educational innovation. Mrs. Raisa Ojala of the Finnish Embassy in Brazil has ambitious goals.

“The Finnish experience shows that education is in fact the key to success and that's what we want to tell the world. That is the reason we want to bring new, innovative models to learning. We see Muuvit as a great way to bring joy to the classroom. It is opening the horizons of the pupils and getting them to be healthier, happier and to move!”