Ananda Casanova
M.A in Transcultural European Outdoor Studies, University of Cumbria, 2017
M.A. in Education, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, 2014
B.A. in Pedagogy, Lutheran University of Brazil, 2011
Ananda grew up in the rural hinterlands of Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil. Coming from a family of smallholder farmers, she spent most of her childhood and adolescence learning about food production and agroecological practices. As a child, she cultivated the habit of wandering in the fields and getting acquainted with strange little creatures, which eventually turned into a deep appreciation for biodiversity and ethical gestures toward all forms of life. Her experience with environmental education encouraged her to pursue a degree in Pedagogy and experiment with alternative methodologies for the past 13 years. As an educator, she is committed to designing and facilitating learning opportunities that invite students to engage in inquiry within themselves, their communities, and the world, understanding education as a practice of freedom.
After finishing her Master’s degree in Education, she received a scholarship to study abroad and joined a multicultural community of fifteen nationalities. For eighteen months, they shared a communal life and traveled together in England, Norway, and Germany, studying the main outdoor traditions in Europe. This transformative experience made her develop a growing interest in international learning communities, interculturality, and global issues. Since then, she has collaborated with institutions like the University of Santiago de Compostela and the Erasmus Mundus Alumni Association. As an international educator, she worked in study abroad programs in Costa Rica and Argentina, with Rustic Pathways and Verto Education. Last time she counted, she had lived in six countries and visited fourteen others.
For the past years, Ananda has become passionate about place-based initiatives and land-based learning, especially about how culture, community, and places are interconnected. She recently started a business to promote outdoor learning and pedagogies for climate justice education in Brazil. Rock climbing and photography are her particular way of connecting to the world through a sense of wonder, creativity, and ethical care.