This Brazilian case study examines a large-scale program to train public servants at a university as sustainability leaders through a "capillarity architecture" involving hierarchical training groups. While somewhat successful in fostering environmental education and impacting university experiences, the program encountered challenges with workload allocation, bureaucratic resistance, and resource limitations. Specifically, difficulty in reaching the intended scope, precarious employment, and funding instability threatened long-term viability.

None identified. The authors acknowledge funding from Brazilian research agencies, but no specific conflicts of interest related to the research topic are apparent.

This study provides valuable insights into a practical application of a participatory methodology for training sustainability leaders within a university setting. The study's qualitative approach allows for a deeper understanding of the experienced challenges and successes. However, the limitations related to workload distribution, precarious employment, and the reliance on contextual factors, combined with the study's context-specific nature, restrict broader generalizability and impact, leading to a rating of 3. While the study offers valuable context-specific insights and contributes to the literature on sustainability education, its methodological limitations prevent it from being considered groundbreaking or exceptionally strong research. Further research is needed to explore these issues in more diverse settings and examine the long-term impact of such training programs.