Proceedings of The 21st World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (WMSCI 2017)

INTEGRATING TEACHING, RESEARCH AND PROBLEM SOLVING: AN EXPERIENCE IN PROGRESS AT MUCURI VALLEY REGION () Leônidas BARROSO Graduate Program in Information Systems and Knowledge Management Universidade FUMEC - , Brazil

Abstract – This short article describes an degradation of its waterways. "Thus it was interdisciplinary project that seeks to not only nature that lost, they also lost their integrate teaching, research and real life inhabitants [...] they must identify and problem solving. It concerns to the question: recognize the problem, not to curse it but to how to achieve development respecting the gather the energies around its solution"[2]. natural resources of the Mucuri Valley region in the states of and Some guiding questions arise such as: Bahia, Brazil. Using geographic information 1) How to build a growth that respects the as a guiding axis, the technological support natural resources? 2) How to recover the for interdisciplinary dialogues is provided by historical and cultural identity of the people? Geographic Information Systems, integrating 3) How to create conditions of permanence data, information, techniques, methods and for a population that needs to recognize itself people from different fields of knowledge as a member and constructor of the Mucuri Key words: Geographic Information. GIS. Valley? [3] Interdisciplinarity. Problem solving. Mucuri To seek answers to the questions above, a Valley. Research and Practice. project is in progress. Mucuri Project. Its goal is to contribute to the sustainable development of the municipalities of Mucuri 1.INTRODUCTION River Basin in Minas Gerais and Brazil is a country with a large territory Bahia,Brazil. This is a joint work of the Pro (more than 8.5 million square kilometers of Rivers Todos os Santos and Mucuri surface) and it faces spatial and social Movement (Movimento Pro Rios Todos os inequalities that give rise to problems in both Santos e Mucuri-MPRTSM), based in the city public and private sectors. of Teófilo Otoni, State of Minas Gerais in Just over a century and a half ago the Mucuri partnership with FUMEC , Federal River Valley was a dense forest, inhabited University of the Valleys of Jequitinhonha only by Indian tribes. A development and Mucuri (UFVJM) and University Center company, the "Companhia de Comércio e of Belo Horizonte (UniBH), all located in the State of Minas Gerais The team is Navegação do Rio Mucuri(1851-1861)", multidisciplinary with members of during the second reign of the Brazilian MPRTSM and researchers from the Empire, built roads, settled settlers and involved. The project includes developed trade in the region. It brought teaching and research activities in the pursuit progress, however, nowadays, the Mucuri of solving real-life problems. Basin reflects the carelessness with which its natural resources were treated. What is perceived is the destruction of biodiversity and the fertility of its soils, and the

1 Proceedings of The 21st World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (WMSCI 2017)

2.PURPOSES The technological support for interdisciplinary dialogues is provided by Its purposes are: Geographic Information Systems, integrating i) To articulate sectors of society, data, information, techniques, methods and mobilizing and motivating people from different fields of leaderships and communities for knowledge.Geographic data is treated the environmental problems, statistically and cartographically making the visiting all the municipalities; visualization and interpretation of spatial ii) To collect data and disseminate information easier.According to Longley et information on the environmental al.[4]. “Almost everything that happens, and socioeconomic conditions of happens somewhere. Knowing where the Region. something happens can be critically important”. Item i) is in charge of MPRTSM (non- academic) and item ii) is coordinated by a 3.THE ROLE OF MPRTSM faculty member from FUMEC University with the collaboration of UFVJM and UniBH MPRTSM intends to organize an Expedition scholars. to mobilize and motivate the society with the objective of promoting the participation of Its expected results are: all municipalities in the Basin involving, i) For the university: a) the schools and local leaderships. It should offer systematization of environmental, both lectures and motivational workshops socioeconomic, cultural, with the participation of the local infrastructural and geo-historical communities as well as listening to the knowledge of the municipalities and, as a natural consequence, the residents through interviews to apprehend preparation of articles for their perception of the environment. submission to scientific journals 4. THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITY CENTER and papers to be presented in OF BELO HORIZONTE- UniBH Conferences. b) To graduate new masters and PhD students with in- The University Center of Belo Horizonte depth knowledge of the Basin (www.unibh.br), through the researcher and (scientific education), and for writer Magali Maria de Araújo Barroso, high school teachers of the together with ACDATO (Cultural community, the preparation and Association of the German Descent of application of courses (continuing Teófilo Otoni), represented by the writer education). Dalva Neumann Keim are responsible for elaboration of a book, to be edited in the ii) For society at a large, availability Portuguese and German languages, on the memories of the descendants of the German on the Web of relevant immigrants, who arrived in the region in the information and maps to the middle of the nineteenth century and in the municipalities with dissemination twenties of the twentieth century.It is an of cultural, social, environmental action that privileges the search of the and economic information. historical and cultural identity of the region, as well as providing the German community with information about the families of those

2 Proceedings of The 21st World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (WMSCI 2017) who have left Germany in search of new A full article is being prepared in which opportunities. some partial results will be highlighted.

6.REFERENCES 5.CONCLUSIONS [1] L. C. BARROSO; M. M. A. BARROSO. The Mucuri project involves teaching, Teófilo Otoni e demais municípios do Vale research and real-life problem solving with do Mucuri-Brasil: Uma abordagem multiple actors: Different sectors of society: Interdisciplinar. Revista Iberoamericana de both public and private; Academic and non- Sistemas, Cibernética e Informática, v. 11, p. academic organizations: University FUMEC, 1-7, 2014. UFVJM, UniBH, ACDATO and MPRTSM; [2] J.C. CARVALHO, p. 7, in EXPEDIÇÃO University Extension: Academy and Society; MUCURI, A.L.F. Godinho (Org.), Research (Theory) and Practice. MPRTSM, Belo Horizonte, 2010. [3] A.L.F. GODINHO, p.10, in The complexity of the problem requires EXPEDIÇÃO MUCURI, A. L. F. Godinho intensive interdisciplinary work[1] involving (Org.), MPRTSM, Belo Horizonte, 2010. knowledge of various disciplines such as Geography, History, Climatology, [4] P. LONGLEY et al. Sistemas e Ciência Cartography, Geographic Information da Informação Geográfica [tradução de Systems, Biology, Economics, Architecture, André Schneider et al.] Engineering, Cultural Studies, Political Porto Alegre, Bookman Editora, 2013. Science, Sociology, Mathematics, Statistics, ISBN: 978-85-65837-69-9 Demography.

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