Raising Children’s Awareness about the Role of People on Supporting Sustainable Rural Land Use – Insights From Brazilian “Farm-School” Education Project

Abstract

We proposed and evaluated a new approach (“Farm-school project”) to develop children's awareness about the role of people in agricultural production and environmental quality. The materialization of the “Farm-school” project was performed by a theoretical-practical 4-hour visit at an experimental farm. 240 Elementary school students were evaluated through concept maps and drawings, before and after the visit. There was a conceptual evolution in concept maps of 41 and 82%, and an increased number of categories per drawing of 23% and 37%. In concept maps, students did not relate people to the different spheres of agricultural production before the farm visit, but after, people became the main element. After the visit, students began to portray not only productive aspects in their drawings but also processes involving production, such as soil conservation practices and maintenance of mulch for soil cover. With the population concentrated in urban areas, there is a lack of contact with the rural landscape, generating a distorted view of food systems and rural land use, which affects social drivers and pro-environmental behavior. This imposes an educational task on governments to bring about information on agricultural production to elementary school students. We have proven the effectiveness of the “Farm-School” project as a low-cost educational policy alternative and a tool to increase children’s awareness about the role of people in agricultural production and environmental quality since students come to a better understanding of where food comes from and how it is produced.