Planetary healing and care through popular education:Transformative pathways shaped by waste picker-led action

Authors

  • Jutta Gutberlet University of Victoria
  • Lenín Alfonso Morales Federal University of Rio Grande
  • Leandro Luiz Giatti University of São Paulo
  • Lucas Assumpção da Silva UNICATA
  • Alexandre Mendes Domingos UNICATA
  • Samantha S. Alves Dias UNICATA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32992/a66jgg45

Keywords:

healing, waste pickers, popular education, grassroots knowledge, knowledge co-creation, sanación, educación popular, conocimiento popular, cocreación del conocimiento

Abstract

Increasing global waste generation is both a visible manifestation and a systemic indicator of the contemporary ecological crisis and climate change. In this context, waste pickers are critical, yet often overlooked, in environmental governance. By recovering recyclable materials and reducing reliance on landfills, they advance circular economy practices, conserve natural resources, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Despite these contributions, waste pickers continue to face precarious working conditions, social stigma, and exclusion from formal recognition and decision-making. Established in 2023, UNICATA, the University for and with Waste Pickers, emerged as a transformative response. Grounded in Buen Vivir and Paulo Freire’s popular education, UNICATA strengthens waste pickers’ protagonism and enhances waste management. With two classrooms in Brazil, it equips participants to influence policy and expand regenerative practices. This paper presents initial outcomes, showing how popular education advances environmental justice, planetary healing, and relational care through grassroots knowledge and collective action. 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

  • Jutta Gutberlet, University of Victoria

    Jutta Gutberlet is a Professor in the Geography Department and an affiliated faculty member of the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria, Canada. She is the director of the Community-Based Research Laboratory. Her research targets waste governance, community-based development, and social innovations involving informal waste pickers.

  • Lenín Alfonso Morales, Federal University of Rio Grande

    Lenín Alfonso Morales holds an MSc in Environmental Education from the Federal University of Rio Grande. He is currently a PhD student in Environmental Health at the University of São Paulo and has been a Graduate Visiting Research Student in Geography at the University of Virginia. His research centres on climate change and environmental health.

  • Leandro Luiz Giatti, University of São Paulo

    Leandro Luiz Giatti is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health at the School of Public Health, University of São Paulo. He is involved in interdisciplinary studies regarding urban sustainability, sanitation, and the water-energy-food nexus.

     

  • Lucas Assumpção da Silva, UNICATA

    Lucas Assumpção da Silva is a socio-environmental organiser associated with the COOPCASA cooperative in São Paulo. He serves as a project coordinator and instructor for UNICATA. 

     

  • Alexandre Mendes Domingos, UNICATA

    Alexandre Mendes Domingos is an environmental educator and coordinator at UNICATA. He operates through UMAPAZ (the Open University of Culture, Peace, and Environment), bringing community-led artistic and educational insights into urban recycling networks.

  • Samantha S. Alves Dias, UNICATA

    Samantha S. Alves Dias is an environmental justice advocate in São Paulo. She is part of UNICATA’s leadership collective and works directly with the Movimento de Coletivos Solidários Ciclo Infinito Consciente to drive inclusive recycling economies.

Downloads

Published

08-07-2026

Issue

No. 121 (2026): January-June

Section

Special Issues

Categories

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Jutta Gutberlet, Lenín Alfonso Morales, Leandro Luiz Giatti, Lucas Assumpção da Silva, Alexandre Mendes Domingos, Samantha S. Alves Dias

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Gutberlet, J., Morales, L. A., Giatti, L. L., da Silva, L. A., Mendes Domingos, A., & S. Alves Dias, S. (2026). Planetary healing and care through popular education:Transformative pathways shaped by waste picker-led action. European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 121, 139-156. https://doi.org/10.32992/a66jgg45