ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION: BAIRRO DA BALSA AND THE SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICTS IN THE CREATION OF CAMPUS PORTO DA UFPel/RS

This article is about the ways of life and perceptions that the residents of Balsa district in Pelotas/RS had developed in the context of enviromental and social conflicts that were brought to light when the new campus of Universidade Federal de Pelotas was installed in their territory. Those conflicts, such as problems with social and urban infrastructure, show the absence of the local public power during this process and point out the periferic situation of their territoriality. This article aims to reflect on how the residents see their place in this conflicts as well as their understanding about environmental education. These issues are directly connected to Environmental Education, which is focused on the relationship between the human being and the environment through cultural, economic and politics processes. Etnography was used as the main method to colect data during the research that produced this article.