Course in Agroecology and sustainability in the Cerrado offered by Centro UnB Cerrado/NASPA

Abstract

The experience reported here refers to the “Course of Agroecology and Sustainability in the
Cerrado” offered by Centro UnB Cerrado/NASPA. The proposal of the course is structured
in integrated actions of teaching, research, technical assistance and rural extension, aiming
to attend to the youth of the rural settlements of the three municipalities of the Chapada dos
Veadeiros: Alto Paraíso de Goiás, Colinas do Sul and São João D ‘ Aliança. With the support
of the existing group organizations in these settlements and the effective participation of the
families of the participants, we were able to address the principles and techniques of Agroecology,
to elaborate and to implement agroecological based projects on the lots of approximately
40 young settlers. We follow a pedagogic approach where gradual independence and innovative
experimentation in order to promote reconnection with the land as means of survival and
motivate the rural youth to resist on the land.