Mônica Arruda

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Mônica Arruda worked as a kindergarten and literacy teacher from 1970 to 1977. In 1977, she earned a degree in Education. In 1978, she was invited to work at the Rio de Janeiro State Environmental Agency, where she remained until 2001. She then had the opportunity to link her political ideals with her work through environmental projects, focused on reforestation and urban development, developed in low income areas and slums of Rio de Janeiro. In 1991, Mônica completed a graduate course on Environmental Education at the Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland, sponsored by the British Council. In 1998, she began her Masters Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies on Communities and Social Ecology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). She has also been a teacher of many graduate courses at different universities and has helped to create the Environmental Education Network of Rio de Janeiro (both governmental and non-governmental). At the moment Mônica is retired, recovering from health problems.