A educação ambiental crítica: o cinema como instrumento pedagógico e interdisciplinar de transformação socioambiental

Abstract

The intensification of socio-environmental challenges in recent decades has ompelled education to reinvent its formative practices, adopting ransformative approaches that transcend institutional boundaries and foster the integral development of human beings in their relationship with the world. Cultural transformations, however, demand time to consolidate, unfolding as continuous and long-term processes. Within this context, Critical Environmental Education (CEE) emerges as a crucial strategy, oriented toward the emancipation of individuals and the construction of social, cultural, and ecological awareness committed to reshaping the relationship between society and nature. This dissertation investigates the viability of cinema as a pedagogical resource for promoting CEE, analyzing the reflections of undergraduate students from three programs at a federal university in western Paraná, Brazil. Anchored in an applied, qualitative action-research methodology, the study engaged students in formative encounters featuring three films addressing distinct socioenvironmental issues: Waste Land (2010), Brave Blue World: Racing to Solve Our Water Crisis (2019), and Under the Waters of the Seine (2024). Following each screening, participants responded to guiding questions, and their contributions were examined through Content Analysis. The findings revealed three central categories: (1) Films and documentaries as pedagogical strategies for fostering Critical environmental Education and socio-environmental transformation; (2) Between images and narratives: the interplay of art, environmental awareness, and social change; and (3) Between potential and formative gaps: interdisciplinary possibilities of CEE through cinema at UTFPR/SH. As an educational product, the research proposes a didacticpedagogical guide offering orientations and strategies for interventions using films with environmental themes to advance CEE. By reaffirming cinema as a mediator of learning, this work contributes to strengthening interdisciplinary practice, enhancing academic training, and fostering critical environmental literacy in educational activities. It underscores the transformative potential of audiovisual narratives in cultivating socio-environmental consciousness and advancing the pedagogical horizons of higher education.