Educação e desenvolvimento sustentável: contribuições a partir de uma análise espacializada

Abstract

Sustainable development has been a topic of debate since the 1970s; however, this issue still raises many unanswered questions. In this regard, education is one of the public policies most widely recognized for its contributions to sustainable development. Basic education, the focus of this study, covers strategic periods of human development and forms the foundation of learning. However, education is also embedded in society and is influenced by determinants and conditions that interact continuously. Within the scope of these interactions, the locus where they occur is not a controlled or ideal environment, but rather the territories, products of the daily intervention and work of those who live there. In a context where it is increasingly evident that the issues addressed by policies are complex, composed of the interaction of factors and variables, mapping these interactions enables progresses toward more effective and efficient solutions. This study aims to analyze the interactions between factors that may impact basic education and the sustainable development of municipalities in Paraná. To this end, this quantitative research conducts an exploratory analysis of spatialized data and their interactions, using georeferencing software and statistical data processing of the selected indicators. The research resulted in the identification of 16 clusters of municipalities that share similarities. The analysis of these similarities and other economic and demographic characteristics revealed that similarities in educational indicators are also related to contextual factors, making it possible to identify new elements that may influence education and sustainable development, as well as to envision paths beyond those that are apparent at first glance, such as the importance of internet access, suggesting that expanding internet access can have positive effects on indicators related to education and income. In general, the democratization of knowledge and technology—through access and sharing of large datasets and information, or through accessible data analysis softwares, whether free or not—opens up countless possibilities for advancing the use of an ever-increasing number of data processing techniques, for increasingly complex studies, such as the reality we aim to address.