Jovens Mulheres nas STEAM

According to UNESCO data, it is estimated that only 30% of the world’s scientists are women. This reality can be changed if, since the school year, young girls are encouraged to have more knowledge about exact sciences, engineering and computing.
In partnership with the Integrated Center for Sustainable Development Studies and Programs (CIEDS), the Toyota Foundation takes the STEAM methodology (in English – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) to young women in Ceará’s municipal school system.
In addition to encouraging students’ interest in these areas, the Jovens Mulheres nas STEAM Program seeks to break paradigms that women would be better suited to careers focused on the humanities, through the promotion of gender equality strategies and encouragement of female representation in the technology job market.
The “A” added to the original acronym comes from “Art”, since the program also works on the artistic side of the students, from the reuse of materials that would be discarded to complement the construction of systems, automation, robotics, among others.
The action, which will start on April 5, 2022 and is expected to end in July of the same year, will benefit 50 students (cis and trans) from the municipal education network of Vale do Caju, which is located in the metropolitan region of Fortaleza (CE).
At the end of the course, which will be in person, the students will participate in a “tech marathon”, with exhibition of prototypes produced by the group, conversation circles, lectures and didactic and interactive games.
The Jovens Mulheres nas STEAM Program is also connected to SDGs 4 (Quality Education), 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), 10 (Reducing Inequalities) and 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).

Mulheres em Expressão

The economic empowerment of women in situations of social vulnerability helps to transform their realities and their surroundings and is a mechanism for promoting gender equity.

The Association Support Group for Needy Communities (AGACC), with support from the Toyota Foundation, seeks to change the reality of women living in vulnerable communities on the periphery, in Fortaleza (CE), through qualification and training in sewing, basic cooking and entrepreneurship. AGACC is an NGO from Ceará that, since 1985, has been promoting socioeconomic development in the most vulnerable communities in the State, having benefited more than 65 thousand people.

Selected in 2021 in the Toyota Foundation Public Notice, the program focuses on the professional qualification of women in situations of social vulnerability through sewing and cooking workshops. The selected students will also receive guidance on financial organization and entrepreneurship.

The students of the Mulheres em Expressão project will participate in virtual/face-to-face workshops that will help them to develop professional qualifications, in addition to enabling their insertion in the world of work and contributing to the generation and expansion of family income.

The qualification, which will start on March 23, 2022 and is expected to end in July of the same year, will benefit 75 women from Fortaleza. At the end of the course, students who wish to undertake and start their businesses will receive a kit, assembled according to each one’s needs, to help them get started, applying the project’s teachings in a practical way.

The Mulheres em Expressão project is also connected to SDGs 1 (Eradication of Poverty), 4 (Quality Education), 8 (Decent Work, Economic Growth) and 10 (Reducing Inequalities).

Mulheres PRRONTO!

Women professionals represent less than 10% of the workforce in the civil construction area. To contribute to changing this reality and promoting gender equity in the sector, the Toyota do Brasil Foundation sponsors the new group of Mulheres Prronto!, a Low Voltage Building Electricity course. Aimed at women in a state of social vulnerability who live in the Barreiro region, in Belo Horizonte (MG).

In addition to the new profession, the program seeks to develop skills such as entrepreneurship, teamwork and financial planning. During the course, the students will also receive information about the network to combat violence against women.

The course started on March 3, 2022, will last for three months and will have 160 hours of practical and theoretical classes. The 20 selected students will receive a kit so that they can apply the teachings in practice. At the end of the course, the students will be able to work in building electrical maintenance and, thus, generate more income and quality of life for themselves and/or their families.

Methodology

The course approach is based on “learning to do”, that is, on Active Methodologies, in which effective learning takes place only when the student is responsible for her experience; she is the protagonist, participating dynamically, interacting with colleagues and teachers.

Positive Impacts
Women’s Empowerment: generation of work and income, as well as preparation for financial and entrepreneurship planning.
Skills development: enables women to better understand themselves, helping to raise their self-esteem and confidence, as well as helping them to establish strategies to achieve other life projects;

Toyota Foundation Notice

The Ready Women! is one of the projects selected in the Toyota Foundation Public Notice, launched in 2021, to support the development of actions with diversity groups and minority groups, promoting awareness and discussion of public, educational policies and good practices.

In addition to being connected to SDG 5, Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering Women. the initiative also dialogues with four other SDGs:
01 — Income generation that may or may not be complementary.
04 — Inclusive and equitable education promotion of learning opportunities and professional qualification;
08 — Decent work and sustainable economic growth;
10 — Reduction of inequalities.

Ecobike

Aiming to promote sustainability, the Toyota do Brasil Foundation was one of the partners in the Ecobike Project, created by the Indaiatuba City Hall. The initiative aims to offer alternative transportation and a leisure option to the city’s residents, thus, encouraging the practice of sports, reducing the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere and, above all, making citizens aware of traffic education.

The stations for picking up and returning bicycles are equipped with self-service totems, where besides registering, users can check the availability of bicycles in other stations, which are distributed in different parts of the city: at Dom Pedro II Square, at the Municipal Guard headquarters, and in front of the City Hall.

The Eco-Friendly Bicycle

The project provides 200 bicycles, which were produced with recycled material. The model has its structures made with PET bottles, which has a natural flexibility that protects from small impacts from uneven terrain.

Among the advantages of the eco-friendly bicycle are: clean development process, reuse of PET bottles, lower price than the traditional version, no rust, elimination of welding and painting — reducing the extraction of natural resources, such as bauxite and iron ore — and also releasing less CO2 than in the standard production process.

Vitrine Cultural

In 2013, the Toyota do Brasil Foundation, in partnership with the Guaíba City Hall (RS), restored the “Casa do Juiz” (Judge’s House), which served as the residence for the first judges of the city’s district in the 1960s to 1990s, for the installation of the Vitrine Cultural.

The goal is to encourage the touristic and cultural development of Guaíba and to serve as an information center for the Costa Doce region, in addition to working with the population to promote knowledge about the place where they live.

Vitrine Cultural is a public open space for exhibitions, book launches, workshops, and lectures, in addition to serving as a stage for discussions and forums related to the education, environment, and culture sectors.

The space is located in a privileged area of the city, inside the Historic Site. The region is home to buildings listed by the State’s Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAE-RS), such as the Gomes Jardim House, where leaders of the Farroupilha Revolution (Bento Gonçalves, for example) lived.

Visits or events

For more information, call us at: +55 51 3480 7089.

Address: Rua Quatorze de Outubro, no. 313 – Centro, Guaíba (RS).

Monteiro Lobato Library

In 2016, the Toyota do Brasil Foundation modernized and expanded the Monteiro Lobato Municipal Public Library in São Bernardo do Campo (SP), a demand requested by the city’s Participatory Budgeting.

The city was the first to host a Toyota plant outside Japan, so it has great historical importance for the Japanese brand — which has already supported other social projects in the municipality, such as: Trilhas Culturais (Cultural Trails) and Memória Local na Escola (Local Memory at School). 

Besides recovering the building’s conditions and revitalizing the town square, the Monteiro Lobato Library Project has offered more accessibility, comfort to people, and security to protect the collections. The ground floor follows the “open library” concept, which involves a single room divided by low glass-enclosed bookshelves. Besides the improvements in the renovation, the building has also gained the “green” concept through the installation of solar energy panels and rainwater harvesting.

Visits

For more information, call us at: +55 11 2630 5100.

Address: Rua Dr. Fláquer, no. 26 – Centro, São Bernardo do Campo (SP).

Toyota e a Mata Altântica

Toyota e a Mata Atlântica project was developed by the Toyota do Brasil Foundation from 2009 to 2011, when the organization expanded its focus and created the Toyota APA Costa dos Corais Project, operated by ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation), with support from the SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation.

Ambientação Project

The Ambientação Project was created in 2008 by Toyota do Brasil, initially in partnership with the city halls of the regions where Toyota do Brasil has manufacturing plants, such as: Campinas, Indaiatuba and Sorocaba (in the State of São Paulo). As of 2009, the project was incorporated by the Toyota do Brasil Foundation.

The goal is to disseminate knowledge and promote the sustainable development of society by using TBP (Toyota Business Practices), the Japanese carmaker’s unique methodology. 

During the Ambientação Project, participants were introduced to the environmental conservation activities that Toyota carried out in its plants, such as: reforestation, chemical product control, waste recycling, wastewater treatment, and rational use of electricity and water. 

Based on the values of the institution, they have developed a final project that was monitored by employees from the company and Toyota do Brasil Foundation, which involved developing strategies and proposing goals for reducing consumption of natural resources (water and electricity) on site, as well as implementing waste management.

TBP can be used in public buildings, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or even at home, for example.

In 2019, EAD Ambientação was launched — an online project.

Did you know?

The Ambientação Project has already engaged more than 500,000 people, including students, teachers and public servants, who act as multipliers of good practices for the community where they live. 

In addition, the initiative has already won two important awards: the Top Car TV in 2014 — the main national television award, which focuses on the automotive sector, in the “Best Social Responsibility Action” category, and the REI 2016 Award (Recognition of Excellence and Innovation) in the Sustainability and Socio-Environmental Responsibility category.