Synergia presents a panel on Participatory Methodologies at the 1st International Congress of Interdisciplinary Environmental Education (CINEAI)

The 1st International Congress of Interdisciplinary Environmental Education ( CINEAI ) took place between the 22nd and 25th of November, in Juazeiro (BA). The congress, which featured a hybrid and in-person program, brought together experts in environmental education, environmentalists, students, teachers and research professionals.

For I CINEAI, Leonardo Barbosa, specialist in Environmental Education at Synergia, and Fernanda Mendes de Carvalho, project coordinator at Synergia, presented the workshop “ Participatory Methodologies in the context of Environmental Education ”.

The workshop addressed participatory techniques for group work capable of developing collaborative projects, including:

• Social cartography and  world café  (diagnosis phase);
• Tree of problems and solutions (diagnosis and action construction phases);
• Venn diagram (partnership survey).

These participatory methods play a crucial role in the development of work in Environmental Education. In addition to ensuring the linkage of actions to territorial issues, they promote the strengthening of people’s sense of participation .

In this context, the participants highlighted the appreciation of the theoretical and reflective approaches presented during the workshop, as well as the practical exercises related to these proposed tools.

Furthermore, material was made available that presented a tree, where each branch described a type of method applicable in the process of construction and development of Environmental Education Programs , adapting to the context of its implementation.

Synergy and Environmental Education

For Leonardo Barbosa, participation in the I CINEAI was important to show Synergia’s experience with Environmental Education: “Synergia, for more than ten years, has worked uninterruptedly in Environmental Education projects across several Brazilian states. During the workshop, we shared information about this trajectory, the challenges faced in practice and some of the results obtained in the more than 15 projects carried out.”

Leonardo also emphasized that the diversity in the group of workshop participants enabled an exchange of knowledge and a very enriching collective learning environment.

It is important to highlight that Synergia has a Center of Educators dedicated especially to Social and Environmental Education themes, always attentive to the development of new methods and approaches that bring knowledge and effective learning in our territories of operation. The Center team prepared a series of articles seeking to clarify the context and relevance of Environmental Education in contemporary society.