Por uma educação ambiental mais inclusiva : despertando os sentidos com o jardim sensorial

Abstract

Environmental Education has the capacity to awaken a transformation in people's behaviors and attitudes, so that they interact more harmoniously with the environment. Environmental Education can especially focus on promoting environmental awareness through direct contact with the natural environment. Incorporating social and interdisciplinary approaches is necessary to enable diverse learning needs. The sensory garden appears as a possible tool for social inclusion and education, transforming itself not only into a leisure space. The general objective of the research is to understand how the construction of an interdisciplinary environment, which covers local problems through the observation and exploration of a sensory garden, can be a path towards creating a more inclusive environmental education, respecting the differences of each individual. and valuing diversity. The work takes a qualitative approach to understanding interactions between people and the environment. It also has an inspiration from Participant Action Research, where one interferes with the research object itself while studying it. Through the literature review carried out in the research, we identified that Sensory Gardens have applicability in several areas, such as environmental education, inclusive education and scientific literacy. Emotions play a crucial role among the elements that facilitate the reasoning process, with the 41 questionnaires answered, the results suggest that the act of visiting JS awakens predominantly positive feelings, regardless of whether you make the journey blindfolded or with eyesight. It is noteworthy that it stimulates the emergence of emotions, mostly positive, increasing sensitivity. In general terms, the Sensory Garden was a non-formal Environmental Education space in Parque da Cidade, during its existence, it was used as an educational and sustainable space, where practical and transformative activities were developed in the space, awakening curiosity through senses stimulated.