ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN RURAL EDUCATION: YOUTH, ACTION RESEARCH AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Abstract

Climate change represents one of the most complex challenges to the ecosystems, with a high cost to the sustainability of life on Earth. Globally, climate change crises will put a devastating strain for the future generations. Vulnerable to the impacts of these changes, young people are not always included in the debates and projects around these challenges. This article aims to understand the perceptions of young students of rural education about climate change, reflect on their protagonism and disseminate their contributions to the development of adaptive capacity to these changes. Using methodology of participatory action research, participant observation and thematic analysis, the study concluded that young people perceive the signs of climate change with apprehension and when being included in actions to design strategies for a sustainable future, opted for environmental education for awareness and collective production of adaptive capacity to the socioenvironmental urgencies of their surroundings and their communities.