The discursive disfigurement of environmental education in Venezuela

Abstract

Environmental education (EE) in Venezuela is undergoing a devaluation that corresponds to ideological impositions of the current government that restrict free thought and its critical-transformative nature. Currently going through a highly complex political, environmental and humanitarian crisis. This essay seeks a historical and critical look at some thoughts such as sustainable development and ecosocialism that have affected the trajectory of EE in the country. The arguments are based on various authors and 27 years of experience in the field as a teacher, extension worker and researcher. I assume a context from the discourse in public policies, as well as the role of social movements and universities. I present some reflections on the diversity of thought, the ideological hijacking of EA in an institutional crisis. Perhaps one of the most important objectives in which we must advance is in the culture of peace, in the idea that differences complement us and allow us to advance in the necessary dynamics of the existence of multiple realities. Therefore, it is necessary to revalue EE as an interdisciplinary field, in inclusive dialogic spaces, through a critical and transformative process, towards new possible models in environmental justice.