Sustainable development in the Brazilian Amazon: Meanings and concepts

Abstract

Social, political and economic relationships in the Amazon are mediated by nature and government policies, programs, and regulations, including environmental education policies, which have disseminated the concept of sustainable development in over recent years. Based on these elements, this study explores the social representations that give meaning to the concept of sustainable development among elementary teachers in the Amazon region. Adopting an ethnographic approach and drawing on the theory of social representations, we conducted a qualitative descriptive study with 121 teachers with a degree in pedagogy using questionnaires, group discussions and participant observation. The findings show that nature, environmental problems and Amazon culture exert a strong influence on representations of the concept of sustainable development.