Local context mapping and promotion strategies for actions aimed at sustainable development goals in schools in the Paranhana Valley‐Brazil

Abstract

AbstractEconomic, social, and environmental aspects improvement on a global scale underline institutional based programs importance aimed at the long‐term activities proposed by the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This perspective offers an approach based upon planning, executing, controlling and improving social actors' performance in this dynamic relationship. As schools play an important role in this scenario, actively participating in the structuring of sustainable development’ conscious citizens, this study sought to identify the existence of Programs, Projects and Actions (PPA's) focused on the 17 SDGs of the United Nations (UN) in public and private schools in the Paranhana Valley, a region located in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, which is of uttermost importance to local performance for more than 200 thousand inhabitants, clustering six cities whose economy is mainly based on the footwear production chain. The study also addresses the existing limitations for PPA's implementation, aiming to understand how schools articulate them with different stakeholders. The research was based on the survey of 156 educational institutions located in the region, through structured interviews with open and dependent questions. The study identified that Paranhana Valley schools' existing initiatives must be diversified into long‐term programs, expanding their scope to each sustainability pillar. They must better articulate with local context, increasingly involving students' families, the students themselves, teachers, and the community. With such results, a report proposing initiatives encompassing each of the 17 SDGs in schools' scope was built. Such an approach can be implemented by other educational institutions in different contexts.