Abstract

This article presents examples of environmental education programs and events run in protected areas of Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, and a brief overview of novel findings in the histo-ry, sociology, anthropology, and geography of childhood, converging with those from the area of education, in which children’s agency in cultural production, the diversity of children’s cultures, and multiple childhoods are recognized. This article outlines the importance of continued efforts to take children from private and public schools, from kindergarten to high school, to engage in play-ful activities in preserved nature, as demonstrated in the initiatives described. When the full po-tential of protected areas is harnessed for children’s development and education, in particular by helping them forge emotional bonds with space, which transform space into place and are essen-tial for human memory, then new ways of fostering empathy and engagement with nature conser-vation can come to light. These attributes kindle and excite curiosity, the desire to learn and dis-cover, boosting the learning process in an organic, spontaneous, and integrated way.

Keywords

participative design, environmental conservation units, playful activities, empathy, teaching materials

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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Sep 24th, 9:00 AM

Environmental education in protected areas in petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro: children as agents of empathy for and engagement with the cause of nature conservation

This article presents examples of environmental education programs and events run in protected areas of Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, and a brief overview of novel findings in the histo-ry, sociology, anthropology, and geography of childhood, converging with those from the area of education, in which children’s agency in cultural production, the diversity of children’s cultures, and multiple childhoods are recognized. This article outlines the importance of continued efforts to take children from private and public schools, from kindergarten to high school, to engage in play-ful activities in preserved nature, as demonstrated in the initiatives described. When the full po-tential of protected areas is harnessed for children’s development and education, in particular by helping them forge emotional bonds with space, which transform space into place and are essen-tial for human memory, then new ways of fostering empathy and engagement with nature conser-vation can come to light. These attributes kindle and excite curiosity, the desire to learn and dis-cover, boosting the learning process in an organic, spontaneous, and integrated way.

 

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