Cidadania Ambiental Ativa de Jovens na Prevenção de Resíduos: Um Estudo de Caso em Cursos Profissionais

Abstract

The present study aimed to develop an environmental citizenship project so that young people from professional courses become more responsible in consumption and waste prevention and are also agents of change. The project placed these young people at the center of all dynamics, carried out bibliographic research, reflected on their consumption habits, debated, formulated opinions, shared ideas and experiences, developed actions that they had planned, defined waste prevention measures for different contexts and, finally, they evaluated the project itself. In all these activities, the young students were participatory and sensitive to all the issues addressed. A set of participatory instruments was applied, which made them more active and more sensitive to consumption and waste prevention issues. In addition to the application of questionnaire surveys and the holding of a debate and videos, the action-research methodology was also applied and a workshop was held, where students prepared an action plan with a set of waste prevention measures to the places where they usually go and adjusted to their future professional life. To better understand the interests and actions of young people, a qualitative approach was made using the participant-observer technique. The data collected in the questionnaires served to make a quantitative analysis with the application of statistical tests, to trace the profile of these students concerning the dimensions of knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. This project used different forms of evaluation that contributed to carrying out a careful and in-depth evaluation of the project. This work presents an innovative aspect as it was developed in professional courses, not having found other works developed in this target audience. Thus, it is understood that the application of the project in other schools with professional courses can help to awareness these young people who are very close to entering the job market to the issues of waste prevention and sustainability.