Bakgrund: Psykisk ohälsa är vanligt förekommande hos Sveriges befolkning och räknas till en av folksjukdomarna. Personer med psykisk ohälsa kan drabbas av psykiska eller fysiska besvär och söker sig då till vården där patienterna kommer att möta sjuksköterskor. Syfte: Belysa sjuksköterskornas upplevelser av att bemöta patienter med psykisk ohälsa i vården. Metod: Litteraturöversikt som bygger på åtta kvalitativa artiklar. Resultat: Tre huvudkategorier och två subkategorier skapades. Första huvudkategorin var kunskapens betydelse i vårdandet av patienter med psykisk ohälsa med subkategorierna positiva upplevelser av kunskapens betydelse och negativa upplevelser av kunskapens betydelse. Andra huvudkategorin var upplevda yrkesroll i mötet av patienter med psykisk ohälsa. Tredje huvudkategorin var upplevda känslor i mötet av patienter med psykisk ohälsa med subkategorierna positiva upplevelser och negativa upplevelser. Diskussion: Fynd i huvudkategorierna som diskuterades var sjuksköterskornas bristande kunskap och kompetens leder till att patienter med psykisk ohälsa inte erbjuds den vård de har rätt till. Okunskapen kan leda till rädsla för det okända och en känsla av att psykiatrin inte är en del av allmänsjuksköterskornas ansvar. / Background: Mental health illness is common within the Swedish population and is considered an endemic disease. People with mental health illness can suffer from psychological or physical issues and will turn to the health care system, where they will meet nurses. Aim: Shed light on nurses’ experiences of encountering patients with mental health illness in health care facilities. Method: A literature review based on eight qualitative studies. Result: Three main categories and two subcategories were created. The first main category was the importance of education in the encounter with patients with mental health illness with positive experiences in regards to the importance of education and negative experiences in regards to the importance of education as subcategories. The second main category was perceived professional role in the encounter with patients with mental health illness. The third main category was perceived feelings in the encounter with patients with mental illness. The subcategories were positive experiences and negative experiences. Discussion: Findings in the main categories were discussed, where the nurses' lack of knowledge and skills are evident. This means that patients with mental health illness are not cared for in a way they should. The lack of knowledge can lead to fear of the unknown as well as feeling like psychiatry isn't a part of the general nurses’ responsibility.

Etant donné que la phénoménologie husserlienne se propose de résoudre les problèmes philosophiques en adoptant pour méthode la réflexion et la description de l'expérience vécue, il est très tentant de voir en Husserl un héritier de cette tradition philosophique qui se trouve ruinée par les arguments de Wittgenstein. En partant du présupposé que la déconstruction du « mythe de l'intériorité » enclenchée par Wittgenstein est juste en son principe, il s'agira de montrer que l'on ne peut trouver chez Wittgenstein une réfutation implicite de la conception phénoménologique de l'intériorité qu'en faisant une lecture superficielle des Recherches logiques et des Idées directrices. En effet, si l'on sait porter attention aux détails des textes pertinents, on peut déceler chez Husserl une réflexion très fine sur la nature du langage qui débouche éventuellement sur une critique de la conception moderne et empiriste de l'intériorité du sujet très similaire à celle mise en chantier par les Recherches philosophiques, critique qui, de surcroît, a l'avantage de désamorcer certaines difficultés rencontrées par Wittgenstein. Une telle étude comparative et polémique permettra de tirer deux grandes conclusions à l'égard de la méthode devant être employée en philosophie. Premièrement, il sera démontré que la réflexivité exigée par le discours philosophique se reflète dans l'usage que Husserl et Wittgenstein font des guillemets. Cette observation en apparence triviale permettra d'établir que le discours philosophique repose sur l'usage d'un dispositif typographique banal appartenant à la grammaire de notre langage ordinaire. Ensuite, la supériorité de la méthode « généalogique » de la phénoménologie génétique de Husserl sera mise en relief. Cette dernière a le mérite d'éviter les apories du conventionnalisme de Wittgenstein tout en désamorçant les difficultés soulevées par l'essentialisme de la phénoménologie statique des Idées directrices. / Since Husserl's phenomenology purports to solve philosophical problems through description and reflection upon lived experience, it is extremely tempting to see him as an inheritor of the philosophical tradition that Wittegenstein's arguments demolished. Taking as its starting point the assumption that the deconstruction of the « myth of interiority » instigated by Wittgenstein is well founded, this project will attempt to show that Wittegenstein's arguments can only appear to refute Husserl's conception of interiority on the basis of a superficial reading of the Logical Investigations and of the Ideas I. Indeed, upon a close examination of the relevant texts, Hussserl's reflexions on the nature of language can be shown to lead him to a critique of the modern and empiricist conception of interiority very similar to Wittgenstein's, a critique that turns out to have the ressources to avoid some of the major difficulties that the latter faces. This comparative and polemical study will defend two more general theses about the method that philosophical inquiry ought to rely upon. First, it will be argued that the reflexiveness required for philosophical discourse is illustrated in both Husserl and Wittgenstein's use of quotation marks. This seemingly trivial observation will support the claim that philosophical discourse relies on the use of a banal typographical devise belonging to the grammar of ordinary language. Second, a case will be made for the superiority of the « genealogical » method of Husserl's genetic phenomenology, for it manages to avoid the pitfalls of Wittgenstein's conventionalism while also steering clear of the problems incurred by the essentialism of the Ideas I static phenomenology.

This study is a qualitative, phenomenological inquiry into teachers’ and children’s ‘lived experiences’ of the child-teacher relationship in an Irish upper primary school context. It highlights the current need to re-focus our attention on the child-teacher relationship which Biesta (2004) argues is the 'location' of education. An overview of the literature on relational pedagogy is provided which connects the child-teacher relationship to broader theoretical debates including Heidegger's (1962) concept of Mitsein and Buber's I- Thou relation (1937). Hermeneutic phenomenology describes the overarching methodology following van Manen’s (1990) ‘lived experience’ approach. The study was conducted in a large, suburban, primary school with designated disadvantaged status. Before data generation commenced, a Children’s Research Advisory Group was established in the school following Lundy, McEvoy, and Byrne (2011). The function of this group was to advise about conducting research with children. Research participants included three teachers and five children from each of those teachers’ classes. Data generation featured the use of protocol writing and conversational interviews following van Manen (1990, 2014) and the use of embodied, drama methods which were unique to this study but inspired by the work of Norris (2000) and guided by O’Sullivan (2011). Data was also generated using visual methods drawing on the work of Mitchell (2011), Tinkler (2015) and Chappell and Craft (2011). In line with the phenomenological approach adopted, data was interpreted in what Gadamer (1989) describes as a circular manner. This involves attending to ‘parts’ whilst keeping in mind the ‘whole’ picture. This study identified three overarching thematic findings which find resonance with the fields of relational pedagogy and embodied teaching and learning as well as new insights at the point where these two areas overlap. These include how teachers and children relate to one another as ‘whole, embodied feeling beings’; the idea that there is a tension between ‘closeness’ and ‘distance’ in the child teacher relationship and that there is a need for both ‘structure’ and ‘freedom’ to feature in that relationship. Further, this study found that the child-teacher relationship is experienced as ‘knotted’ with social and contextual relationships. These findings are discussed in light of the concepts of ‘connectedness’ and ‘emergence’, features of complexity theory. This study provides new insights into how teachers and children experience their relationships with one another, thereby extending the body of knowledge on the child-teacher relationship.

BACKGROUND: Rapid advances in the treatment of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been witnessed in clinical practice over the last five years. Pharmacological developments have ended the reliance on the drug interferon-α as a component of successful therapy, heralding the dawn of a new era in the fight against the disease. How this new era is being understood and experienced by those individuals living with the virus is currently unknown. METHODS: A purposive sample of 20 individuals participated in face-to-face semi-structured interviews exploring their experience of living with HCV. Eight of these participants were interviewed again following a period of interferon-free treatment. All interviews were conducted between June 2015 and March 2016. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and explored using thematic analysis, underpinned by social phenomenological theory. RESULTS: Analysis of the corpus of data resulted in three overarching themes entitled ‘positioning HCV', ‘beyond a physical burden' and ‘reconstructing uncertainty'. These themes offer original insight into how this new era of therapy is being realised by those living with the virus. The experience of interferon-free treatment was also explored through the narratives of those individuals who participated in a further post-treatment interview. Three further themes entitled ‘expectations and realisations', ‘an honour and a pleasure' and ‘treatment needs' encapsulate their experience. DISCUSSION: The findings from this study recontextualise the lived experience of HCV within a new era of treatment. In doing so, they expose social and emotional spheres of illness, and a perception of illness chronicity, which remain untouched by the treatment revolution. Further, this work emphasises how treatment inequalities fundamentally underpin multiple aspects of the daily lived experience, and are integral to how those living with HCV articulate the disease. The implications of this work challenge current HCV policy and clinical practice.

This PhD thesis investigates the transport and distribution of short-lived halogenated organic substances in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) in the Pacific Ocean. Short-lived halocarbons are one of the major groups of the ozone depleting substances as they provide a source for the active halogens which decrease ozone in the atmosphere. The TTL serves as the primary gateway of tropospheric air to enter the stratosphere. The air which enters the stratosphere is distributed all over the globe. Thus, the research on which tropospheric air masses go into the TTL, its structure and composition and the transport within is crucial. This thesis uses the UK Meteorological Office Lagrangian particle dispersion model NAME to (i) support the flight planning activities and achieve the multi aircraft coordination in CAST, CONTRAST, ATTREX 2014 campaigns, and (ii) quantify the amount and distribution of short-lived halocarbons in the TTL, and explain differences in these vertical distributions and transport characteristics. The halocarbons of interest are methyl iodide (CH3I), bromoform (CHBr3) and dibromomethane (CH2Br2). A new NAME procedure was developed and operated successfully to provide routine simulations and near real-time products suitable for guiding the CAST, CONTRAST and ATTREX aircraft in order to achieve their mission scientific objectives, and to make coordinated measurements. NAME was used post-campaign to analyse distribution of short-lived halocarbons in the TTL, identify their source regions and transport timescales. A new approach is proposed to investigate the TTL composition in terms of the boundary layer air influence, and subsequently quantify CH3I, CHBr3 and CH2Br2 by estimating their boundary layer and background contribution. The sums of these modelled estimates are in good agreement with the ATTREX 2014 and 2013 CH3I, CHBr3 and CH2Br2 observations. The quantification of the contribution of short-lived bromocarbons to the active bromine in the TTL was achieved, and the results lie within the range of the recent literature studies. The final focus of this thesis is on how well NAME represents the particle displacement via convection. Convection is the major transport pathway for the short-lived halocarbons to reach the TTL. The role of convection in transporting CH3I, CHBr3 and CH2Br2 to the TTL is assessed using the new convection scheme in NAME. A validation of the performance of this scheme is provided, showing that it yields improved and more realistic representation of the particle displacement via convection.

Background: In recent decades, improvements in medical treatment, public health, technology and education have resulted in people living much longer. This includes people with learning disabilities, the fastest growing sector being the over-70s, and those who are women. There have been a limited number of studies exploring ageing in the population of people with learning disabilities, and very few of these have studied ageing from the perspectives of women. Aim: To develop a contemporary perspective of the lived experiences of older women with learning disabilities. Objectives - To identify how women with learning disabilities construct the experience of ageing, through the lens of an asset theoretical framework - To examine how older women with learning disabilities experience the wider cultural and socio-political influences, and how these impact on their lives - To utilise a narrative approach that integrates stories and photo elicitation to facilitate a more in-depth understanding of their experiences - To indicate how a refined model could be developed to improve policy and practice in the provision of services for older women with learning disabilities An inclusive methodology is central to this thesis, with an expert reference group of four women with learning disabilities working in partnership with the researcher. The expert reference group ensure that this work is grounded in everyday experience, providing both support and challenge. Ten women over 55 with mild or moderate learning disabilities were purposively invited to take part. Narrative methods integrated with photograph elicitation captured their lived experiences, facilitating a more in-depth 3 understanding of their experiences of ageing. In methodological terms this offered a number of strengths in helping the women to engage with the research process and provided a visual reference that promoted a more inclusive and flexible approach to capturing the lived experiences of older women with learning disabilities. Findings The findings identify how a group of older women construct their experiences of ageing. The equanimity and positive outlook on life is interpreted and understood through developing and understanding their protective health assets. A central theme is the importance of friendships and relationships, providing a buffer during adverse times and helping the women to feel supported and valued by their local community. Conclusion In its contribution to service development and knowledge, this thesis provides a contemporary perspective of the lived experience of women with learning disabilities as they age. Furthermore, mapping the narrated assets of these women introduces a new and alternative model for representing individual experiences that challenge the mainstream perspective that has been central to UK policy and practice during the 21st century. This thesis has begun to address a gap between policy and the reality of the lived experience, and presents an alternative asset-based relationship framework (Fig 30 p. 248) that has the potential to guide and shape future learning disability practices. Finally, this appears to be the first study to apply an asset theoretical framework to underpin research with women who have learning disabilities, offering an alternative perspective that challenges social care policy and professionally-defined integration and social inclusion indicators.

No município de Caraá, localiza-se a Área de Proteção Ambiental do Caraá (APA), representando 30% da área total do município. Nessa área, localiza-se a cascata e a nascente do Rio dos Sinos. Apesar de ser uma APA, existem conflitos em sua gestão, principalmente com o uso e manejo do solo. A legislação foi implementada sem um adequado processo de Educação Ambiental. O conhecimento da percepção ambiental da população desse município em relação à APA de Caraá é essencial para o desenvolvimento de programas de gestão e Educação Ambiental para a garantia da conservação desta. Assim, a presente tese tem como objetivo central compreender a percepção ambiental dos moradores locais, em relação à APA de Caraá, a fim de analisar os conflitos de uso da APA, confrontando com os critérios de uso estabelecidos pelos gestores da área e assim verificar se os conflitos, quanto ao uso da APA, decorrem de esta ter sido criada sem a participação da comunidade e desvinculada da Educação Ambiental. Considerando a abordagem da pesquisa qualitativa e quantitativa, com caráter exploratório-descritivo, o presente estudo foi dividido em duas grandes etapas. Primeira: caracterização ambiental da área de estudo; Segunda: caracterização da percepção ambiental dos moradores próximos à APA de Caraá, com ênfase na topofilia e topofobia, através dos seguintes instrumentos: entrevistas semiestruturadas e mapas mentais. Foram realizadas entrevistas com: cem moradores; o cacique da tribo Mbya Guaranis, bem como os professores (dezessete professores) e alunos das séries finais, da quinta à oitava série do ensino fundamental, das escolas participantes desse estudo (total de cem alunos). Para investigar a percepção, a topofilia e a topofobia e considerar qual o significado da APA do Caraá para seus moradores, foi realizado o mapa mental com três moradores entrevistados, de cada uma das comunidades citadas, tendo um total de trinta mapas; com os alunos e professores participantes desse estudo, bem como com cinco índios da tribo Mbya Guaranis. A metodologia de interpretação dos mapas mentais foi feita a partir das orientações de Kozel, de forma adaptada. Foram produzidos 144 mapas mentais, distribuídos nas cinco subcategorias criadas: Landmarks (com ou sem expressões linguísticas); Landmarks e Cascata (com ou sem expressões linguísticas); Landmarks, cascata e Antropismo (com ou sem expressões linguísticas); Landmarks e Antropismo (com ou sem expressões linguísticas) e Landmarks e Antropismo Negativo (com ou sem expressões linguísticas). A partir dos mapas mentais complementados através das entrevistas, foi construída a percepção ambiental dos moradores locais, em relação à APA de Caraá, revelando, em sua maioria, aspectos topofílicos para com a área da cascata do Rio dos Sinos (parte da APA) e aspectos topofílicos e topofóbicos para com o “lugar-vivido” (dentro ou próximo da APA). Os moradores não conhecem os critérios de uso e restrições da APA, o que demonstra a falta de envolvimento da comunidade na elaboração destes. Os conflitos quanto ao uso da APA decorrem principalmente do fato desta ter sido implantada sem um processo de Educação Ambiental adequado, sem a participação da comunidade local. / In the Caraa municipality there is the Environmental Protection Area (EPA), representing 30% of the total area in the municipality. In this area there is the waterfall and the source of Sinos River. Despite being the EPA, there are conflicts in its management, mainly due to the use and soil management. The legislation has been implemented without a suitable environmental educational process. The environmental perception knowledge in the population of such municipality in relation to the Caraa EPA is essential to the development of management programs in the Environmental Education to the guarantee of its conservation. Thus, this very thesis has as its main goal to understand the environmental perception of local residents in relation to Caraa’s EPA, in order to analyze the EPA conflicts of usage, confronting the established criteria usage by the managers in the area and hence verifying if the conflicts with the EPA usage are due to it had been created without the community participation and untied from the Environmental Education. Considering the qualitative and quantitative research approach, with exploitative descriptive character such study has been divided and two large phases: 1st Environmental characterization in the study area and 2nd Characterization of the environmental perception of the near residents of the Caraa’s EPA, with emphasis in the topofilia* and Topophobia through these instruments: Semi-structured interviews and mental maps. 100 interviews with residents have been made, the Mbya Guaranis chieftain tribe, as well as the teachers (17 of them) and junior-high school students- from 5th to 8th grades of junior-high schools form the participant schools in this study (total of 100 students). To investigate the perception, the topofilia and Topophobia and consider what the meaning of the Caraa’s EPA is for the its residents, central maps have been made with three residents from the mentioned communities, having a total of 30 maps; with participant students and teachers in such study, as well as 5 Indians from the Mbya Guaranis tribe. The central maps interpretation methodology has been done through Kozel’s orientations in an adapted way. 144 mental maps have been produced and distributed under 5 subcategories made: Landmarks (with or without linguistic expressions); Landmarks and Waterfall (with or without linguistic expressions), Landmarks, Waterfall and Settlement (with or without linguistic expressions) and Landmarks and negative Settlement (with or without linguistic expressions). Throughout the mental maps complemented through interviews residents environmental perception in relation of the Caraa’s EPA has been built, revealing in its majority, topofilia aspects in relation to the waterfall area in the Rio dos Sinos (part of the EPA) and the topofilia ones and Topophobic ones to the “lived place” (inside or near the EPA). The residents are not aware of the criteria of the use and restrictions of the EPA which shows the lack of community involvement in the elaboration of it. The conflicts due to the usage of the EPA are mainly related to the fact of it had been implanted without an adequate environmental education process, with the local community participation.

Background: Breastfeeding is globally recognised as a gold standard of nutrition, recommended for the first six months of an infant’s life. Despite its benefits, most women in Ghana do not breastfeed, as recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF). Aim: To gain in-depth understanding of first-time Ghanaian mother lived experience of breastfeeding. Design/Method: A longitudinal qualitative design was adopted, underpinned by the hermeneutic phenomenological approach, as described by van Manen (1990). The study explored the lived experiences of thirty first-time women recruited from antenatal clinic. A series of three semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted; the first in late pregnancy, the second in the first week following childbirth and the final one between four and six months postpartum. Findings: Inductive thematic analysis informed by van Manen (1990) and principles of hermeneutic interpretation allowed the emergence of four main themes: the ‘Breastfeeding Assumption,' Breastfeeding as Women’s Business,’ the Postnatal Experience of Breastfeeding and ‘Family as Enabler or Disabler’. Within the context of this study, breastfeeding is expressed as an activity within the family and social environment. The overall phenomenon that emerged was ‘Social Conformity’. This demonstrates an understanding of the breastfeeding experience suffused with emotions as women project an image of themselves as successful breast feeders in order to conform to family and social expectations. Conclusion: Findings from the study demonstrated the multifactorial dimensions of breastfeeding. Most importantly, it was identified that first-time breastfeeding women use emotion work to cope with their experience of breastfeeding, within the social context. It was suggested that midwives play a pivotal role in helping women develop realistic expectations prior to breastfeeding. Furthermore encouraging family centered education that promotes holistic support for women. The findings therefore suggested the need for better antenatal education based on evidence-based practice. Breastfeeding women require individualised support that assesses their emotional needs and offers encouragement. Developing policies that ensure training of midwives and breastfeeding advocates was recommended. Future research could explore the impact of these interventions on breastfeeding practices, helping first time women to breastfeed effectively.

No município de Caraá, localiza-se a Área de Proteção Ambiental do Caraá (APA), representando 30% da área total do município. Nessa área, localiza-se a cascata e a nascente do Rio dos Sinos. Apesar de ser uma APA, existem conflitos em sua gestão, principalmente com o uso e manejo do solo. A legislação foi implementada sem um adequado processo de Educação Ambiental. O conhecimento da percepção ambiental da população desse município em relação à APA de Caraá é essencial para o desenvolvimento de programas de gestão e Educação Ambiental para a garantia da conservação desta. Assim, a presente tese tem como objetivo central compreender a percepção ambiental dos moradores locais, em relação à APA de Caraá, a fim de analisar os conflitos de uso da APA, confrontando com os critérios de uso estabelecidos pelos gestores da área e assim verificar se os conflitos, quanto ao uso da APA, decorrem de esta ter sido criada sem a participação da comunidade e desvinculada da Educação Ambiental. Considerando a abordagem da pesquisa qualitativa e quantitativa, com caráter exploratório-descritivo, o presente estudo foi dividido em duas grandes etapas. Primeira: caracterização ambiental da área de estudo; Segunda: caracterização da percepção ambiental dos moradores próximos à APA de Caraá, com ênfase na topofilia e topofobia, através dos seguintes instrumentos: entrevistas semiestruturadas e mapas mentais. Foram realizadas entrevistas com: cem moradores; o cacique da tribo Mbya Guaranis, bem como os professores (dezessete professores) e alunos das séries finais, da quinta à oitava série do ensino fundamental, das escolas participantes desse estudo (total de cem alunos). Para investigar a percepção, a topofilia e a topofobia e considerar qual o significado da APA do Caraá para seus moradores, foi realizado o mapa mental com três moradores entrevistados, de cada uma das comunidades citadas, tendo um total de trinta mapas; com os alunos e professores participantes desse estudo, bem como com cinco índios da tribo Mbya Guaranis. A metodologia de interpretação dos mapas mentais foi feita a partir das orientações de Kozel, de forma adaptada. Foram produzidos 144 mapas mentais, distribuídos nas cinco subcategorias criadas: Landmarks (com ou sem expressões linguísticas); Landmarks e Cascata (com ou sem expressões linguísticas); Landmarks, cascata e Antropismo (com ou sem expressões linguísticas); Landmarks e Antropismo (com ou sem expressões linguísticas) e Landmarks e Antropismo Negativo (com ou sem expressões linguísticas). A partir dos mapas mentais complementados através das entrevistas, foi construída a percepção ambiental dos moradores locais, em relação à APA de Caraá, revelando, em sua maioria, aspectos topofílicos para com a área da cascata do Rio dos Sinos (parte da APA) e aspectos topofílicos e topofóbicos para com o “lugar-vivido” (dentro ou próximo da APA). Os moradores não conhecem os critérios de uso e restrições da APA, o que demonstra a falta de envolvimento da comunidade na elaboração destes. Os conflitos quanto ao uso da APA decorrem principalmente do fato desta ter sido implantada sem um processo de Educação Ambiental adequado, sem a participação da comunidade local. / In the Caraa municipality there is the Environmental Protection Area (EPA), representing 30% of the total area in the municipality. In this area there is the waterfall and the source of Sinos River. Despite being the EPA, there are conflicts in its management, mainly due to the use and soil management. The legislation has been implemented without a suitable environmental educational process. The environmental perception knowledge in the population of such municipality in relation to the Caraa EPA is essential to the development of management programs in the Environmental Education to the guarantee of its conservation. Thus, this very thesis has as its main goal to understand the environmental perception of local residents in relation to Caraa’s EPA, in order to analyze the EPA conflicts of usage, confronting the established criteria usage by the managers in the area and hence verifying if the conflicts with the EPA usage are due to it had been created without the community participation and untied from the Environmental Education. Considering the qualitative and quantitative research approach, with exploitative descriptive character such study has been divided and two large phases: 1st Environmental characterization in the study area and 2nd Characterization of the environmental perception of the near residents of the Caraa’s EPA, with emphasis in the topofilia* and Topophobia through these instruments: Semi-structured interviews and mental maps. 100 interviews with residents have been made, the Mbya Guaranis chieftain tribe, as well as the teachers (17 of them) and junior-high school students- from 5th to 8th grades of junior-high schools form the participant schools in this study (total of 100 students). To investigate the perception, the topofilia and Topophobia and consider what the meaning of the Caraa’s EPA is for the its residents, central maps have been made with three residents from the mentioned communities, having a total of 30 maps; with participant students and teachers in such study, as well as 5 Indians from the Mbya Guaranis tribe. The central maps interpretation methodology has been done through Kozel’s orientations in an adapted way. 144 mental maps have been produced and distributed under 5 subcategories made: Landmarks (with or without linguistic expressions); Landmarks and Waterfall (with or without linguistic expressions), Landmarks, Waterfall and Settlement (with or without linguistic expressions) and Landmarks and negative Settlement (with or without linguistic expressions). Throughout the mental maps complemented through interviews residents environmental perception in relation of the Caraa’s EPA has been built, revealing in its majority, topofilia aspects in relation to the waterfall area in the Rio dos Sinos (part of the EPA) and the topofilia ones and Topophobic ones to the “lived place” (inside or near the EPA). The residents are not aware of the criteria of the use and restrictions of the EPA which shows the lack of community involvement in the elaboration of it. The conflicts due to the usage of the EPA are mainly related to the fact of it had been implanted without an adequate environmental education process, with the local community participation.

No município de Caraá, localiza-se a Área de Proteção Ambiental do Caraá (APA), representando 30% da área total do município. Nessa área, localiza-se a cascata e a nascente do Rio dos Sinos. Apesar de ser uma APA, existem conflitos em sua gestão, principalmente com o uso e manejo do solo. A legislação foi implementada sem um adequado processo de Educação Ambiental. O conhecimento da percepção ambiental da população desse município em relação à APA de Caraá é essencial para o desenvolvimento de programas de gestão e Educação Ambiental para a garantia da conservação desta. Assim, a presente tese tem como objetivo central compreender a percepção ambiental dos moradores locais, em relação à APA de Caraá, a fim de analisar os conflitos de uso da APA, confrontando com os critérios de uso estabelecidos pelos gestores da área e assim verificar se os conflitos, quanto ao uso da APA, decorrem de esta ter sido criada sem a participação da comunidade e desvinculada da Educação Ambiental. Considerando a abordagem da pesquisa qualitativa e quantitativa, com caráter exploratório-descritivo, o presente estudo foi dividido em duas grandes etapas. Primeira: caracterização ambiental da área de estudo; Segunda: caracterização da percepção ambiental dos moradores próximos à APA de Caraá, com ênfase na topofilia e topofobia, através dos seguintes instrumentos: entrevistas semiestruturadas e mapas mentais. Foram realizadas entrevistas com: cem moradores; o cacique da tribo Mbya Guaranis, bem como os professores (dezessete professores) e alunos das séries finais, da quinta à oitava série do ensino fundamental, das escolas participantes desse estudo (total de cem alunos). Para investigar a percepção, a topofilia e a topofobia e considerar qual o significado da APA do Caraá para seus moradores, foi realizado o mapa mental com três moradores entrevistados, de cada uma das comunidades citadas, tendo um total de trinta mapas; com os alunos e professores participantes desse estudo, bem como com cinco índios da tribo Mbya Guaranis. A metodologia de interpretação dos mapas mentais foi feita a partir das orientações de Kozel, de forma adaptada. Foram produzidos 144 mapas mentais, distribuídos nas cinco subcategorias criadas: Landmarks (com ou sem expressões linguísticas); Landmarks e Cascata (com ou sem expressões linguísticas); Landmarks, cascata e Antropismo (com ou sem expressões linguísticas); Landmarks e Antropismo (com ou sem expressões linguísticas) e Landmarks e Antropismo Negativo (com ou sem expressões linguísticas). A partir dos mapas mentais complementados através das entrevistas, foi construída a percepção ambiental dos moradores locais, em relação à APA de Caraá, revelando, em sua maioria, aspectos topofílicos para com a área da cascata do Rio dos Sinos (parte da APA) e aspectos topofílicos e topofóbicos para com o “lugar-vivido” (dentro ou próximo da APA). Os moradores não conhecem os critérios de uso e restrições da APA, o que demonstra a falta de envolvimento da comunidade na elaboração destes. Os conflitos quanto ao uso da APA decorrem principalmente do fato desta ter sido implantada sem um processo de Educação Ambiental adequado, sem a participação da comunidade local. / In the Caraa municipality there is the Environmental Protection Area (EPA), representing 30% of the total area in the municipality. In this area there is the waterfall and the source of Sinos River. Despite being the EPA, there are conflicts in its management, mainly due to the use and soil management. The legislation has been implemented without a suitable environmental educational process. The environmental perception knowledge in the population of such municipality in relation to the Caraa EPA is essential to the development of management programs in the Environmental Education to the guarantee of its conservation. Thus, this very thesis has as its main goal to understand the environmental perception of local residents in relation to Caraa’s EPA, in order to analyze the EPA conflicts of usage, confronting the established criteria usage by the managers in the area and hence verifying if the conflicts with the EPA usage are due to it had been created without the community participation and untied from the Environmental Education. Considering the qualitative and quantitative research approach, with exploitative descriptive character such study has been divided and two large phases: 1st Environmental characterization in the study area and 2nd Characterization of the environmental perception of the near residents of the Caraa’s EPA, with emphasis in the topofilia* and Topophobia through these instruments: Semi-structured interviews and mental maps. 100 interviews with residents have been made, the Mbya Guaranis chieftain tribe, as well as the teachers (17 of them) and junior-high school students- from 5th to 8th grades of junior-high schools form the participant schools in this study (total of 100 students). To investigate the perception, the topofilia and Topophobia and consider what the meaning of the Caraa’s EPA is for the its residents, central maps have been made with three residents from the mentioned communities, having a total of 30 maps; with participant students and teachers in such study, as well as 5 Indians from the Mbya Guaranis tribe. The central maps interpretation methodology has been done through Kozel’s orientations in an adapted way. 144 mental maps have been produced and distributed under 5 subcategories made: Landmarks (with or without linguistic expressions); Landmarks and Waterfall (with or without linguistic expressions), Landmarks, Waterfall and Settlement (with or without linguistic expressions) and Landmarks and negative Settlement (with or without linguistic expressions). Throughout the mental maps complemented through interviews residents environmental perception in relation of the Caraa’s EPA has been built, revealing in its majority, topofilia aspects in relation to the waterfall area in the Rio dos Sinos (part of the EPA) and the topofilia ones and Topophobic ones to the “lived place” (inside or near the EPA). The residents are not aware of the criteria of the use and restrictions of the EPA which shows the lack of community involvement in the elaboration of it. The conflicts due to the usage of the EPA are mainly related to the fact of it had been implanted without an adequate environmental education process, with the local community participation.