Sustainability practices and ecosophies in Primary Education schools in Brazil and Australia¹

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to put in perspective how practices in sustainability are undertaken by public primary schools within the context of neoliberalism and top-down model approaches in two different realities: in Brazil (Espirito Santo) and in Australia (Victoria). This study is based on the philosophy of ecosophy, a term coined by Guattari (1989). This qualitative study adopts cartography as a methodology to produce research narratives based on a doctoral project conducted between 2017 and 2020. The data collection consisted of individual and focus group interviews as a form of cartographic management. In Brazil, this study was conducted in the state of Espirito Santo in 13 schools that developed practices in sustainability or that joined the Programa Dinheiro Direto na Escola [Direct Money in Schools Program] (PDDE) in the cities of Vitoria (capital), Cariacica, Vila Velha, Viana and Serra. In Australia, the data collection was conducted in six schools that joined the ResourceSmart School (RSS) program in the cities of Melbourne and Geelong, both in the State of Victoria. This study finding indicates that, even in such diverse contexts, schools weave a nets of relationships and develop agency in an open space for creation, allowing for solidarity nets that emerge from the emergence of practices from people in these schools, permeated by the plurality of everyday interactions.

Keywords:
Sustainability; Ecosophical practices; Narratives; Sustainable schools