Entre saberes e discursos: percepções de graduandos sobre a crise climática e educação ambiental

Abstract

This study investigates the perceptions of undergraduate and recently graduated students from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) regarding the climate crisis and Environmental Education, analyzing how these themes are addressed in their academic training and their impact on awareness and professional engagement. The research aimed to understand the tensions between development, social justice, and sustainability from the students’ perspective, through semi-structured interviews with 10 participants from different programs (including both environmental and non-environmental fields). Employing Discursive Textual Analysis (DTA) methodology, meaning units were constructed to better represent the ideas shared by participants, which were crucial for the subsequent elaboration of a metatext. Data analysis revealed that, although there is an awareness of the seriousness of the climate crisis, feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness predominate, exacerbated by the perception of political inaction and the difficulty of envisioning effective solutions in the current context. Eco-anxiety—a psychological distress generated by environmental degradation—emerged as a relevant phenomenon, even if rarely explicitly named by the interviewees. Regarding academic training, the findings point to an insufficient approach to Environmental Education within curricula, even in programs directly related to the field, where participants highlighted the importance of integrating the theme transversally, connecting it to their professional and social realities. The study concludes that, although there is recognition of the urgency of the climate crisis, a gap persists between awareness and practical action, both at individual and institutional levels. The university, as a space for critical education, holds the potential to foster change but must rethink its curriculum to address the socio-environmental challenges of the 21st century. For future studies, a more in-depth analysis of curriculum greening and the impacts of eco-anxiety on collective mobilization is recommended.