CONVERGENCES AND DIVERGENCES IN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECO‑SUSTAINABLE COMPETENCIES IN STUDENTS OF SALESIAN INSTITUTIONS ACROSS THE GREATER ANTILLES

Abstract

This article analyzes the convergences and divergences of environmental education aimed at developing eco‑sustainable competencies in Salesian institutions in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, starting from the problem of the limited transversal implementation of environmental education in Caribbean educational systems. The study is grounded in key authors such as Sauvé, Tilbury, González‑Gaudiano, and Blumstein Saylan, whose contributions help elucidate the conceptual evolution of environmental education and its connection to sustainability. A qualitative methodology with a hermeneutic design was employed, based on documentary analysis of legal frameworks, educational policies, curricular guidelines, and institutional documents. The findings show that, although there is widespread recognition of the importance of environmental education, significant gaps persist: curricular fragmentation and political discontinuity in Puerto Rico; centralized rigidity and material limitations in Cuba; and uneven implementation of curricular mainstreaming in the Dominican Republic. The study concludes that the three islands share structural challenges and opportunities for regional articulation, and that curricular mainstreaming, teacher training, and the institutionalization of environmental policies are essential elements for consolidating the development of eco‑sustainable competencies in Salesian institutions across the Caribbean.