The environmental issue and teachers' training for basic education: a look at undergraduate courses

In the last decades it was possible to follow the expansion of environmental issues in different fields of training and research. The number of undergraduate and graduate courses, specific subjects, research and extension projects that are dedicated to question and to seek solutions to the environmental problems faced by contemporary society is increasing. This scenario establishes challenges for the management, research and training of students in Higher Education. It requires solid argumentation and the development of research on environmental knowledge as part of the training of future professionals in Higher Education, among them, the basic education teacher. The development of public policies for environmental education in Brazil has introduced environmental education in schools since the 1990s. These include laws, policies, programs and projects about issues ranging from curriculum guidelines to building "sustainable schools". How are the undergraduate programs preparing future teachers for this institutionalization of environmental education? This article presents the results of an exploratory research on training activities that consider the environmental issue in undergraduate courses at the Federal University of Parana (UFPR). This analysis considered the theoretical and epistemological characteristics of this knowledge and the institutional conditions of its development at the university, which ultimately affect the possibilities of development of the environmental dimension in the training of undergraduates.