Energy Transition and Geoethics at Teachers College (TC)

• Grant number: 24/19268-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: February 01, 2025
• End date: December 20, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education - Fundamentals of Education
• Principal Investigator: Samuel Mendonça
• Grantee: Samuel Mendonça
• Host Investigator: David T Hansen
• Host Institution: Escola de Ciências Humanas, Jurídicas e Sociais (EHJS). Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas (PUC-CAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Teachers College Columbia University, United States
• Associated research grant: 21/11380-5 - CPTEn - São Paulo Center for the Study of Energy Transition, AP.CCD

Abstract

The energy transition is an issue close to the heart of the environment, given the scarcity of oil and the challenges of building alternative energy sources. Geoethics is a field specific to the geosciences and knowledge of the discourses produced on ethics in the natural sciences is essential, given the importance of these sciences in the development of educational policies. This project is part of a larger research project that will take place in 2025 at Teachers College (TC) at Columbia University in New York. The question guiding the research is: what are the trends in the ethical debate on the energy transition in productions accessed at Teachers College? This question unfolds into other questions such as: can debates around Geoethics produce knowledge about the appropriate use of energy? Is there any conception of ethics that does not refer to Eurocentrism or even Americanism?; Is it possible to develop a conception of ethics that is really effective for protecting the environment? The aim of the research is to analyze the discourses and trends in the debate on ethics found in documents from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and in international literature on the energy transition. The method adopted is critical qualitative, bibliographical and documentary research, and the research sources are the Gottsman Library collection at Teachers College, Columbia University and all the institution's databases. The hypothesis is that the discourses produced on Ethics - and Geoethics - at Teachers College do not satisfactorily contemplate an in-depth philosophical foundation, and the construction of compelling arguments on the possible tendencies of ethical debate in productions accessed at Teachers College is envisioned.