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Twelve students and six teachers from different provinces of the Ecuador They learned sustainability from experience, touring environmental projects and circular economy initiatives together with the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture and the Galapagos Ecological Airport.
for three days, the Baltra Seymour Airport was the scene of the second national edition of Galapagos EduLab, an initiative developed together with the State portfolio that allowed the winners of the CREA Fair to learn in a practical and experiential way the main sustainability strategies implemented in the air terminal.
Students visit the Galapagos Airport
This educational visit takes on greater relevance as it coincides with the 15 years of airport operation, consolidated as the main air gateway to the Galapagos Islands. Throughout his career, connectivity has shown notable dynamism: after registering 354.684 passengers in 2012, The flow surpassed historical records by reaching 578.218 travelers in 2023, maintaining a solid plateau of maturity with more than 527.000 passengers and near 6.390 aircraft movements at the close of 2025.
The Deputy Minister of Education, Jose Luis Torres, highlighted the value of this type of initiatives by pointing out that it is very important to have spaces like these, where students learn first-hand about different sustainable practices, not from theory, but from practice. He added that experiences of this nature strengthen meaningful learning and allow young people to understand how sustainability can become a tool of transformation for their communities..
During the tour, The participants learned firsthand about the infrastructure that makes this management model possible., where aviation and eco-efficiency coexist in one of the most fragile ecosystems on the planet. Among the technical attractions observed are:
- Bioclimatic architecture and certification: Its avant-garde design allows annual energy savings of 4,36 GWh through cross ventilation and natural lighting, merits that led it to be the first ecological airport in the world to obtain LEED Gold certification.
- Circular economy and reuse: The reuse of more than 75% of metals and wood from the old terminal—including pipes from an old Amazonian oil pipeline converted into 120 structural columns—, added to the Baltra Plastic Free projects, Galapagos PlastiLab and the use of refilling stations that avoid thousands of single-use bottles.
- Water autonomy and clean energy: A circular system that transforms seawater by reverse osmosis and reuses it up to 85% of treated effluents, complemented with the use of solar panels and wind turbines.
- Biodiversity management: Conservation and safe relocation programs for endemic species such as the Baltra yellow iguanas.
The agenda concluded with a day of reforestation by planting endemic species of Galapagos in the Baltra island. For Ariel López, student at the Babahoyo Educational Unit, The experience was deeply inspiring when visiting a pioneering infrastructure: Knowing the first ecological airport in the world has marked my life, stated upon understanding the importance of environmental awareness.
At the end of the project, the head of Sustainability of the Galapagos Ecological Airport, Ivan Vidal, reaffirmed that the terminal will continue to open its doors to educational initiatives that promote care for the environment. These spaces are open to promote environmental awareness and build, with the new generations, one more future sustainable, he pointed, highlighting that the best way to learn sustainability is by living it and putting it into practice.
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