ENVIRONMENT SENSITIZATION THROUGH ARTS: an EXPERIENCE with COMMUNITIES ALONG AMAZON RIVERS Wanderleia Isabel P

IBP1308_09

ENVIRONMENT SENSITIZATION THROUGH ARTS: AN EXPERIENCE WITH COMMUNITIES ALONG AMAZON RIVERS Wanderleia Isabel P. de Freitas1 Dulce Milena Almeida Gusmão 2

Copyright 2009, Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute - IBP This Technical Paper was prepared for presentation at the Rio Pipeline Conference and Exposition 2009, held between September, 22-24, 2009, in Rio de Janeiro. This Technical Paper was selected for presentation by the Technical Committee of the event according to the information contained in the abstract submitted by the author(s). The contents of the Technical Paper, as presented, were not reviewed by IBP. The organizers are not supposed to translate or correct the submitted papers. The material as it is presented, does not necessarily represent Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute’ opinion, or that of its Members or Representatives. Authors consent to the publication of this Technical Paper in the Rio Pipeline Conference Proceedings.

Abstract

In Brazil, the deforestation, pollution, losses in historic and cultural patrimony are each time more common in communities which, due to the great distances from urban centers, lack of any level of information. Normally, in these communities, theaters do not exist, nor local cinemas or places where people can have access to any type of art and culture. In this context, the Amazon suffers from the same problems than other regions in Brazil, however allied to logistic difficulties and other local specificities. That way, this work is about an experience lived in the Urucu-Coari-Manaus gas pipeline construction and assembly process, in which 18 communities were involved in a work of Environmental Education through arts: music, theater, movies, and others. In those communities there is great disinformation or distortion regarding programs and environmental plans from Urucu-Coari-Manaus gas pipeline, mainly due to the distance from urban centers and lack of communication vehicles. But this initiative did not come from an obligation or legal recommendations, but from a necessity to reach this public using an assertive communication. This work's specific goals were: To use the interpenetration between art and education and the playful, creative and humorous language of specific artistic interventions, adjusted to that public and its peculiarities, in order to lead the dialogue between different knowledge, that is, between traditional culture and environmental concepts paved in studies and scientific data, and to spread Urucu-Manaus gas pipeline environmental programs; To arise, in the artistic interventions, that specific public’s participation and integration, always focusing the environmental message and the respect for the Amazonian culture; To value, in all artistic interventions, people's traditional knowledge, the Amazonian environment and, mainly, the importance of each local inhabitant for that environment’s conservation, important for us all. But the biggest challenge was to carry through the whole schedule, and make all the ideas happen, surpassing logistic challenges, the rivers regimen, and using the main mean of transportation of the region: a boat.

1. Introduction

The Urucu-Manaus gas pipeline connects the so called Base de Operações Geólogo Pedro de Moura, at Urucu, located in the city of Coari, to two thermoelectric power generators in the city of Manaus, state of Amazon, in a route of 660 kilometers, in the heart of the Amazonian forest. Besides seven small cities (Coari, Codajás, Anamã, Anori, Caapiranga, Manacapuru and Iranduba), the influence area of this gas pipeline also has innumerable Amazonian communities, the biggest with a maximum of 400 families and the smallest with, on average, five families. The population of these communities, in its majority, lives from agriculture, fishing and collecting natural products from the forest. They live in the so called "palafitas", wooden houses covered by zinc, asbestos or straw, having electric power originated by a diesel generator. There's not basic sanitation and their main mean of transportation is the canoe with a type of boat engine named “rabeta” (mono cylindrical engine). In this context, we can affirm that, despite of the isolation, the lack of adequate and accessible information and education, the majority of the population of these communities is integrated to the Amazonian environment and depends on it for their subsistence. ______1 Environmental Management Specialist – PETROBRAS/CONCREMAT 2 Communication Professional – Journalist – PETROBRAS/CONCREMAT Rio Pipeline Conference and Exposition 2009 This work, which happened in September 2008, in 18 communities of the Urucu-Manaus gas pipeline's influence area, had, as main challenge, finding an efficient way, not arrogant and integrative, to communicate environmental complex concepts, such as sustainability and Amazon conservation, to a population which has a peculiar culture and traditional knowledge acquired throughout time and generations. This project happened around the Amazon Celebration Day - September, the 5th - and Petrobras, to succeed in that environmental message's emission and to be lined up with its strategy of spreading information favoring citizenship and sustainable development, needed to invest in an action of communication that added values to those Amazon inhabitants’ culture and valued their knowledge of the Amazon region as an essential factor for the conservation of this rich ecosystem.

2. Format

This project was idealized and elaborated by the Environment and Communication team from Petrobras' Engineering area, in this specific case, professional team from the Northward Implementation of Enterprises (Ienor), responsible for Urucu-Manaus gas pipeline construction and assembly. Its conception came from the assumption that environmental concepts would have to be transmitted in some way to that specific public, the inhabitants of the communities located at the gas pipeline influence area, and that they were practically unaware of those concepts, even though in some ways they lived them deeply in their day-by-day. Then the projects' challenge appeared: Who that public was, accurately? What we would do to communicate properly with them? How and when the project would happen? From those questionings, first we defined the best period to perform it. Strategically, we choose September, because September 5th is the Amazon Day. After that, having that period defined, we verified which communities were accessible by boat, a big one, in that time of the year (the ebb tide season, where September is the peak of the dry season). We also had to use smaller fast boats as a support, because in some points it was not possible to arrive with the big boat, due to the water's blade. The first product defined was an environmental video (it took us several months to produce it from the conception until the final editing). Since the video, a 5 minutes one, could not be shown by itself and since we could not place more information in it, we added an educational comic book to the “package”, in which we could explain a more detailed environmental information. But, “an additional touch” would still be necessary to drawn complete attention for our message and, that way, the theatrical play was added. Finally, the musical group joined the “package”. It approached environmental themes through music and poetry, bringing, thus, the message closer to those people's reality.

3. Planning Phase

It happened up to two months before the project took place. In this phase, we listed our necessities, analyzed our public and choose communication strategies, tools and medias more adequate to it, that is, planned all the actions and products that would be presented to those communities. In this phase, we also had several alignment meetings, which allowed us to discuss concepts, strategies and performances with all the involved professionals, as well as set details of each communication product or material to be designed. In this phase, we also planned, with Ienor's logistic area, our route through Urucu and Solimões rivers, in a way that our necessities were properly dimensioned, according to that route and number of involved professionals. We used a boat with the capacity to lodge 20 people and two fast boats for support, one to carry equipments and the other one to take passengers, since, as we already stated, September is an ebb tide month and we could find difficulties to arrive, using a big engine boat, at some communities.

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Figure 01. Boat

4. Communication Tools

4.1. Music We chose to work with a musical group named Imbaúba, a group very identified with the Amazon and its environment and culture, which brings in its compositions didactic and educative songs on ecological and Amazonian subjects, besides having a wonderful music. Imbaúba also uses organic instruments (made of trees' rinds, seeds, etc.) to reproduce sounds of the forest in its shows and, during the project, created mechanisms to stimulate people's participation.

Figure 02. Imbaúba

4.2. Theater The theater group named Artcena brought a proposal, set through our guidances, of a didactic teathrical play, using elements of the Amazon's imaginary and the story tellers systematics, culture of strong presence in the region, besides using comedy. During the play, several environmental messages were released, without conflict with the 3 Rio Pipeline Conference and Exposition 2009 traditional knowledge of the communities.

Figure 03. Theater group Artcena during performance

4.3. Video The video on Petrobras' environmental projects in the Urucu-Manaus gas pipeline, also containing simple tips on environment for communities, needed to be spread to these stakeholders. This was the first action to spread the message on this video.

Figure 04. Video cover

4.4. Environmental education comic book We used Petrobras' institutional characters named “Prudêncio's group”, already well known by our communities' people. The educational book focused on the following subjects: 1. The importance of the Amazon for the planet; 2. The importance of respecting Amazon's inhabitants’ traditional knowledge; 3. Archaeology (what to do when finding archaeological devices) and its importance; 4. How to make organic compost; 5. How to reuse trash; 6. Caring about the water, fauna and flora;

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Figure 05. Cover

4.5. T-shirts with the project’s slogan The slogan, Amazônia – bem precioso! Sou parte dela!, - Amazon – precious asset! I am part of it! had the goal to sensitize about the importance of Amazon's conservation focusing on Amazonian people, on their actions in that environment, including, the importance of Amazon's communities traditional knowledge conservation. Once again, we used the Prudêncio's group in the layout.

Figure 06. T-shirts

5. Communities

The project happened in the following communities, which belong to five small cities from the Amazon: Coari: São José do Inajá, Vila Lira, Tauana, São José do Saúba, São Raimundo do Solimões, São Francisco do Santa Rosa, Esperança I, Santo Antônio do Curutari; Codajás: Nova Jerusalém, Ubim, Nossa Senhora de Fátima e Iracema, Tamandaré; Anamã: Vila Arixi; Caapiranga: Vila Sião, Vila do Vasco; Manacapuru: Nossa Senhora do Perpetuo Socorro, Nossa Senhora Aparecida e Nossa Senhora do Rosário.

5. Project’s schedule

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Figure 07. Project’s schedule

6. Activities

The boat route was:  Leaving Manaus – quick stop in Manacapuru to load equipments – Arrival in Coari  From Urucu river (Coari) to Manacapuru, stopping in 18 communities, getting into lakes and other little rivers

Performances, most communities, happened as follows:  Arrival at the community;  Equipment’s and structure’s assembly;  Video’s presentation;  Theater performance;  Musical performance;  Educational books and T-shirt’s distribution;  Taking equipment’s away;  Leaving the community.

The Project happened during two weeks of September (September 17th to 28th) in two communities each day and the event lasted, in average, two hours in each community. In week days, during the morning, this event happened exclusively at community’s schools, without the musical group’s performance. During this tour, after the event took place, a poll measuring communities’ satisfaction was distributed to their leaders. The results were measured right after the tour.

7. Results and final considerations

7.1. Quantity’s evaluation: An evaluation questionnaire was applied in 16 communities, and we pursued excellent results, with 100% of the event’s approval. Among critiques and suggestions, all interviewed people suggested Petrobras performed this event again.

7.2. Quality’s evaluation: 1) Even before the questionnaires were answered, we could perceive during the performances, through smiles,

6 Rio Pipeline Conference and Exposition 2009 satisfaction expressions, how this Project really touched those people. 2) At the end of the Project, we also interwied artists who participated and they showed great satisfaction, saying that they had never been in such a Project, although they were experienced artists..