O lugar do caminhar: análise das atividades práticas educacionais ambientais na Trilha ecológica Saimiri e sua Influência na percepção ambiental dos visitantes

Abstract

The extreme weather events experienced in Brazil, especially in the states of Amazonas and Rio Grande do Sul in 2023, highlight the urgent need to develop emerging strategies aimed at raising awareness among current and future generations about the impacts caused to nature by human action. Various strategies can be used and applied in different contexts such as schools, homes, workplaces and public spaces. Although this cause does not depend exclusively on schools, because they concentrate a greater number of individuals in the learning process, these places are ideal for implementing activities, actions and projects aimed at Environmental Education in a transdisciplinary way. However, it is essential to think about activities that provide practical experience, allowing people to experience the environment and understand the environmental impacts caused by human actions on nature. One of the most effective strategies is to develop practical educational activities on ecological trails, due to their rich local biodiversity. In view of this, this research aims to understand the structure, organization, knowledge offered and practical educational activities developed during the walk on the Saimiri Ecological Trail, located at the Federal Institute of Education (IFAM) - Campus Manaus Distrito Industrial (CMDI), in the municipality of Manaus - Amazonas, analyzing the trail as a non-formal space for promoting Environmental Education and its influence on the environmental perception of visitors to raise awareness of changes in attitudes and the adoption of sustainable behaviors. The methodology adopted in this research was descriptive in nature with a qualitative and quantitative approach, involving data collection through bibliographical research, documentary analysis and on-site observation carried out by the researcher during the visitors' walk on the trail. Data was also collected through textual reports and drawings produced by visitors after the trail, interviews with the organizers of the activities and questionnaires applied to visitors before and after the activities, both conducted online using the Google Forms tool. Participating in this research were 183 visitors, high school students from various schools in Manaus, who visited and were immersed in the activities carried out on the Saimiri Trail between September and November 2023, and 4 organizers of the activities on the trail. Bardin's (2016) Content Analysis technique was used to analyze the data, resulting in main categories described in detail in the three chapters of this dissertation. The results showed that the Saimiri Ecological Trail and its activities are a strategic and effective tool for promoting Environmental Education, influencing, through the knowledge acquired about local biodiversity and the environmental impacts present on the trail, a more sensitive environmental perception of visitors, leading them to adopt sustainable environmental attitudes and practices, promoting an appreciation and respect for nature, especially in urban areas.