Sustainable development in action: a graduate program’s contribution to environmental education

Resumen

Environmental education fosters attitudes that support environmental protection and motivate action. This report highlights the implementation of a project within a Biodiversity Graduate program in the Brazilian Amazon, targeting Sustainable Development Goals 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and 4 (Quality Education). A 30-hour course, “Biodiversity in Action,” was integrated into the master’s program at the Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará in Central Amazonia, Brazil. In 2019, activities were held at Escola da Floresta, a public school with a 33-hectare forest fragment in Santarém, Pará, visited annually by around 5,000 people, mostly children and teenagers from local public schools. The school offers guided forest walks and environmental education activities. Graduate students identified the interests, needs, and challenges of the school staff, who expressed a desire for training in tree identification, medicinal plants, and epiphyte diversity. By the end of the course, students and staff collaboratively produced a textbook on the school’s flora, which was celebrated and integrated into future visits. This outreach initiative combined education, scientific knowledge, and environmental engagement, involving 20 participants in a low-cost, multidisciplinary approach. It addressed local needs, promoted local culture, and fostered community ownership in a vulnerable region of Central Amazonia.

Citation: Mortati, A. & André, T. 2025. Sustainable development in action: a graduate program’s contribution to environmental education. Revista Jard. Bot. Nac. Univ. Habana 46 (Número especial 1):  16.

Trabajo presentado en el XIII Congreso Latinoamericano de Botánica. Simposio Estado de la Botánica en Latinoamérica.