CHALLENGES POSED BY THE PANDEMIC TO GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Resumo

The following article is the result of a critical reflection supported by research, with a focus on the pandemic and the challenges it poses to the 2030 Agenda, carried out in the scope of the UMinho Option: Education for Creative Global Citizenship. The 2030 Agenda, created by the UN, is an integrated roadmap with a series of goals aimed at sustainable development. The arrival of the covid-19 pandemic has, to some extent, conditioned the achievement of some defined goals, however, it has also highlighted the importance of this agenda. In order to assess the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on the achievement of two of the goals for the 2030 Agenda - sustainability and responsible consumption - the results of related studies were analyzed, debates and moments of reflection were held based on own experience and direct observation of citizens' behavior. These discussions took place both in a working group environment and classroom contexts. As expected, we found that the pandemic caused significant changes in various sectors of society and in the priorities of each human being. What initially started as a health crisis turned into a serious socio-economic crisis. The concerns of citizens, in a first phase, faced with the uncertainty of the future, caused an increase in the affluence to supermarkets and other services, and there was an excessive consumption of some products, unusual until then. On the other hand, in a second phase, the implementation of the mandatory use of masks in enclosed public spaces and the lack of education and an effective collection policy causes the daily increase in the amount of this type of waste, improperly discarded, calling into question the overall sustainability. After finishing the research, we can say that the effects of the pandemic in relation to the goals of the 2030 Agenda are not all negative, however, it is necessary to quickly solve some problems that it triggered.