Education for sustainability - The reabilita E-learning course and the 2030 agenda in Brazil: perspectives and influences on the professional life of graduates

Abstract

The Graduate Course in Sustainable Rehabilitation of Architectural and Urban Environment (Reabilita) is an e-learning course whose mission is to prepare professionals in the fields of architecture, urbanism, engineering, building technician, geography, environment, among others, to deal with socio-environmental complexities. The course aims to provoke critical thinking on Sustainability Education as a cross-cutting theme at all levels of Education. From this perspective, this paper investigates how the Rehabilita Course influenced professional performance related to social and environmental sustainability issues. Based on a qualitative and quantitative methodology, in addition to documental analysis and literature review, it uses data acquired through questionnaires directed to graduates to build a matrix of adherence/materiality towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our hypothesis is that; through the analysis of results, it is possible to measure the influence of the Course on the professional education of graduates, and, at the same time, evaluate the legacy of graduates to the society, regarding the implementation of projects oriented to the SDGs. Results show that the course encouraged a greater number of projects and that most of course´s final paper addressed research on how to advance with the SDG11 Sustainable Cities and Communities with almost 19% of the work done. In sum, the course’s role in promoting ways to a fairer, inclusive, and sustainable socio-environmental future in cities is discussed.