Educação ambiental: o papel socioambiental dos catadores atuantes no município de Santiago, RS

Abstract

The present work is to present the environmental conceptions, the role of the socio-environmental representation and the valorization of the pickers working in the municipality of Santiago, RS, who exercise their activities in the Association of Recyclers Prophets of Ecology of Santiago (ARPES). Thus demonstrating the current reality of these, regarding their way of working, their knowledge of Environmental Education and their socio-environmental representativeness. The research took place in five stages starting with study and bibliographic research; choice of qualitative methodologies for data collection (structuring the interview and questionnaire) and methodological technique for data analysis; recognizing the location and conducting the interview; analysis of data with the bibliography; presentation of research to waste pickers. The debate on the results from the interviewees' statements was confronted through the technique of a descriptive and explanatory method with the reference bibliography. For the construction of the qualitative questionnaire applied in the interview, it consists of eight questions that are applied to five people without identification of personal data, three women and two men chosen at random. For the research to be qualitative, data collection is carried out through semi-structured interviews accompanied by an open questionnaire and observation. The questions presented in the open questionnaire are: current public policies in favor of waste pickers in the municipality; the quality of life and work; prejudices and limitations observed during the activity; and his environmental perception related to his socio-environmental appreciation of his profession It was observed that the problems presented in the research resulted in reflections on the results, building debates that can be the subject of new and in-depth research on the topic. It is possible to develop new practices to help diagnose and create new practical projects aimed at Environmental Education.