Non-Formal Environmental Education in a Vulnerable Region: Insights from a 20-Year Long Engagement in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Atila Calvente, Ali Kharrazi, Shogo Kudo and Paulo Savaget
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Atila Calvente: Graduate Program in Public Policies, Strategies, Development and Sustainability, Institute of Economics, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 22290-240, Brazil
Ali Kharrazi: Advanced Systems Analysis Group, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Shogo Kudo: Graduate Program in Sustainability Science—Global Leadership Initiative, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8561, Japan
Paulo Savaget: Institute for Manufacturing, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FS, UK

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-13

Abstract: Environmental education is essential in the diffusion of the ethics, values, and skills that are critical to sustainable transformations. This paper presents the experience of non-formal environmental education approaches held in schools in the Petrópolis region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil between 1997–2016. This paper adds to the literature on the relevant approaches and effectives of non-formal environmental education, especially in the vulnerable areas of low and middle-income regions that face critical environmental challenges. Specifically, to set up the context, this paper intends to firstly convey the commonly identified environmental sustainability challenges that the communities of the Petrópolis region are facing. Secondly, this report aims to convey key insights on how non-formal environmental education practices can strengthen gardening skills, environmental ethics, and sustainable food practices. These approaches have the potential to enhance the capacity of students toward sustainable transformations through encouraging them to be engaged with local social-environmental challenges. This paper adds new insights to the growing literature on non-formal environmental education, and it is hoped to inspire new educational approaches among sustainability educators.

Keywords: non-formal environmental education; environmental ethics; sustainable practices; vulnerable communities; Brazil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:4247-:d:183510

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