Mariana (Mari) Casellato, a recent graduate of TC’s International and Comparative Education Masters’ program was recently featured on FreshEd’s third episode of Flux, where graduate students turn their research interests into narrative-based podcasts. Mari created, wrote, produced, and edited a marvelous episode titled “A Political Act: Youth Voices and Environmental Education in Brazil”. Johannah Fahey was the executive producer and Brett Lashua and Will Brehm were the producers.

Mari takes us on a journey through time, revealing the potential of youth participation in environmental education in Brazil (and beyond). You might be thinking of Brazil – where the Amazon was on fire just last year and the current Bolsonaro government has been routinely criticized for doing too little to prepare for the climate crisis. But back in the 1990s and early 2000s, Brazil spearheaded this idea of environmental education, which brought together a diversity of voices through national conferences and was seen as a political act. Mari was personally involved in this history. Teachers of environmental education will find Mari’s episode very powerful and useful for students. 

FreshEd is hosted by Will Brehm, lecturer at the University College London Institute of Education, and made possible by the support of the Open Society Foundation, NORRAG, Sachdev Family Fund, and listener contributions.