Epistemic Trajectories of Interdisciplinarity and Environmental Sciences.
Abstract
There is a consensus that the field of Environmental Sciences is inherently interdisciplinary, as socio-environmental issues have intensified and become increasingly complex, presenting challenging perspectives for the 21st century that can only be addressed by integrating multiple domains of knowledge. However, what are the conceptions and characteristics of interdisciplinarity in graduate programs within the Environmental Sciences evaluation area in Brazil? This study aimed to identify the epistemic trajectories of interdisciplinarity in graduate education within this field in the Brazilian context. To this end, interviews were conducted throughout 2024 and in early 2025 with 33 coordinators of graduate programs from different regions of Brazil. The results reveal distinct modes of interdisciplinary praxis, corresponding to varying levels of conceptual depth and application: Uncritical, Pragmatic-Problem-Solving, Systemic-Critical, and Libertarian-Emancipatory. These findings underscore that the evaluated graduate programs exhibit a diversity of interdisciplinary approaches and strategies, reflecting specific regional needs, institutional contexts, and epistemic trajectories. While interdisciplinarity was a common characteristic, its implementation and conceptual understanding varied significantly across programs.