Environmental Citizenship: transformative actions of the environmental movement in Sobradinho (DF, Brazil)

Abstract

This article presents the environmental education work carried out by five socio-environmental movements in the region of Sobradinho (DF, Brazil). These groups interact with the community on socio-environmental issues in the urban area of Sobradinho and in the Ribeirão Sobradinho watershed. The purpose of the movement is to promote actions capable of changing reality and improving the quality of the stream's waters. The methodological conception of this article is based on action research, which aims at the participation of all members in planning, reflections, communications, discussions, actions and decisions taken collectively. The socio-environmental movements SOS Ribeirão, Nelsão Ambiental, Jamaica Ambiental, RRPMoura and Guardians of the Environment promoted complaints, articulated reports on radios, TV stations and social networks, in order to encourage sustainable practices regarding waste and mobilize public investments for the environmental recovery of the basin of the riverside. Thus, it was possible to initiate dialogues with the public authorities, the creation of COMDEMA of Sobradinho 2, the construction of the rubbish collector and the end of the landfill on Morro do Sansão. The community was present in this socio-environmental mobilization, represented by socio-environmental collectives that fight for environmental citizenship. These historical subjects were connected by the greater sense of the human right to water, healthy urban environments and the strength of critical environmental education that promoted transformative actions in the river basin.