Researches and Studies made by the Department of Oceanography of the Institute of Geoscience of the State University of Rio de Janeiro UERJ, evidenced the need for educational support where environment-related questions were concerned.
A wide range of environment problems tend to concentrate in coastal areas, owing to disordinate urban growth combined with the lack of substructure to cope with it A large number of these problems can be minimized through the participation of the local community. Thus the goals of environmental education are to supply information, to promote a change in the population's attitude toward environmental problems, besides stimulating its participation by fostering its sense of responsibility.
Preliminary results have demonstrated that the community has shown great interest in the work that has been proposed, and it has contributed with participation, promising response.
Environmental education is fundamental when we consider possible solutions for environmental problems in coastal urban centers. Only by educating the main cause of environmental problems, man himself, will it be possible to consider the question starting from its very origin. This abstract presents two pioneer experiments in the Municipio of Rio de Janeiro, which are “Muito Prazer Marapendi” (“Glad to know you, Marapendi”) and “Troca de Areias da Praia de Copacabana” (“Exchange of Sands in Copacabana Beach”).