ABSTRACT
Education is a key political process that may be developed grounded on multiple epistemologies and respect for difference, aimed at learning to be a being-with-the-other in local contexts. This chapter summarizes several efforts to promote action-research, holistic/agroecological and non-formal educational practices that were part of school vegetable garden programs, in marginalized areas of Brazil (henceforth identified by the acronym PEHE). The initiative originated in academic experiences that were carried out in the Amazon region (1977–1984), and further structured in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1997–2020). Those experiences were conceived and developed under the title of ‘the Cacaio Project’ (1997–2020). It may reinforce dynamic critical thinking, the decolonization of research methods, and encourage social participation, and a few values conducive to education for social justice, environmental ethics, and local sustainability.
