Educação ambiental no município de Uberlândia(MG): reflexões sobre a práxis e sua relação com o processo de planejamento e gestão ambiental

Abstract

Environmental Education (EE) is a formation process of values, skills and attitudes, and it has as view the construction of Sustainable Development (SD). The aim of this study is to understand how the EE is developed in the city of Uberlândia (MG), considering the theoretical concepts defined by the International Conferences, technical and legal principles established by the Public Policy, the relationships established between the main active social actors and the environmental perception of the population, has the planning and Environmental Management (EM) as guiding elements of analysis and reflection process. The specific objectives are to identify and characterize the main actions developed by EE social actors that represent the population from Uberlândia; analyze the integration level and partnerships established between the social actors; understand how does the definition of EE tasks, the level of the projects/programs formalization, sharing of results with the community; identify the main obstacles faced by the social actors in the development of EE tasks, as well to know what is the target audience and the professionals responsible for driving these actions; to identify and evaluate the Environmental Management System s importance to the success of EE actions and evaluate the level of awareness and the involvement of the population from Uberlândia in relation to the environmental issues. The methodology is based on qualitative research. The city of Uberlândia (MG) was taken as a case of study. It was accomplished a literature review and some interviews with representatives of 40 institutions (schools, businesses, public agencies, professional associations, NGO s) and 200 citizens. The results indicate that the population has a naturalistic and ecological vision of \"environment\". It wasn t noticed with concern the causes of environmental problems. 61,5% of the interviewees have too much interest in learning or how to conduct environmental preservation actions. 76% evaluate that the consequences of their daily actions can harm the environment. 52% evaluate the environmental conditions of Uberlândia as regular. 71% don t know companies that develop environmental actions protection. 79% do their daily activities looking for not harm \"the environment\". To inform and supervise offenders are considered efficient ways to promote friendly environmental attitudes. 60,5 % say that they consume more than the necessary. 51% don t do the separation of the recyclable waste at home. The main institutions that influence people to adopt environmentally correct attitudes are the media, followed by school, family and the place of work. Institutions develop EE in a timely manner and without continuity. The main obstacles faced are people\'s resistance to change, bureaucracy and lack of human and financial resources. The integration between institutions is incipient. There is a lack of registration, formalization and socialization of EE activities. The need to improve the process of EM and expand the commitment of managers is considered essential. It can noticed that there is a need for the institutions to adopt a permanent environmental policy and continuing to encourage people to adopt right attitudes. The implementation of the Local Agenda 21, with active participation of the community and its institutions, is an alternative to that EE is consolidated as a Public Policy. EE and EM are complementary processes and inseparable, indispensable to the SD path.