Education for Sustainability as a Tool to Promote Sustainable Development: An Experience in the South of Brazil

Governance can be understood as the decentralization of management, allowing to the population to act in the direction of financial resources, the project proposal and oversight of public services. Citizens become the focus of the planning of public policies, helping to identify local problems and potentialities. However, despite the increase of the participation channels, few social actors feel motivated to participate due to lack of individual empowerment. The aim of this research was to train citizens in education for sustainability, intending to make them more involved in their communities. The research was conducted in three cities of Rio Grande do Sul (Passo Fundo, Porto Alegre and Santa Maria), using the method of focus groups applied in the monthly meetings. As a result of the research identified that few citizens know important participatory channels, such as “State Popular Consultation”. Moreover, even the acting individuals in Associations of Residents and non-governmental organizations are not empowered enough to participate in municipal councils Deliberative, Public Hearings, courses and training projects. The inclusion of education for sustainability in the communities should be promoted so that the social actors know the importance of their actions and recognize their potential for change. After the research, some individuals felt empowered and promoted actions in their neighborhoods, thus becoming local stakeholders. It’s clear that greater efforts and capacitation projects in sustainability education will be needed to promote citizen empowerment and potentiate local governance.