Agroecology activities in secondary rural schools

Abstract

The project entitled “Agroecological Activities in Secondary Rural Schools” is a part of an
university extension group that works mainly focused on family agriculture at the municipality
of São Pedro, São Paulo state, Brazil. This group is also a part of theAgroecology Center’s
Nheengatu- ESALQ / USP. The activities approachedthe environmental education theme
through the implementation and maintenance of agroecological gardens in two schools in the
municipality.The project proposes the execution of activities using a collective build up, asserting
the important role of each actor involved. The participateof the students in the garden area
approached technical agricultural concepts, elucidating in practice the agroecological aspects
of planting, fertilization, soil use, man-environment relationship, etc. The dialogue, the collectivity
and the construction of the teaching based on the reality and the previous experiences
of the classes were the centralgoals. Somechallengers werefound, mainly bythe substitution
of the somemonitors and by the lack of opportunities for exchange experiences between then
and the university group.