Codesign como compostagem com uma comunidade agroeco-lógica na Serra da Misericórdia, Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

This doctoral thesis aims to analyze the role of the designer in the development of a farmer's network at Serra da Misericórdia, Rio de Janeiro. It is intended to understand the role of the designer and how they articulate their specialized design knowledge and how their experience contributes to the creation of this network. The research follows the formation of a network of farmers in Serra da Misericórdia, called “Arranjo Local Penha”, and how it projects itself in alternative agroecological, "bem viver", relational and participatory worlds. This thesis is mainly elaborated from field experiences in Serra da Misericórdia during the years 2017 to 2021 and is theoretically based on the work of the anthropologist, Arturo Escobar, especially his research on autonomy and design as a way to reach pluriverses. In chapter 1, I present my trajectory, I develop the idea of urban agriculture in addition to planting, about what sustainability is, why this notion remains linked to developmentalism and I discuss some possibilities of sustainability with involvement from the notions of "bem viver", design for autonomy and transition, participatory design and research already carried out in favelas in Rio de Janeiro, and how the lines of making can link the struggles of commoning. In chapter 2, I begin to describe my approach and the first experiments in Serra da Misericórdia. I present what Serra da Misericórdia is and what meanings and representations it acquires for the environmental groups that protect it and how they form environmentalists, highlighting the struggle of the non-governmental organization, the NGO CEM. CEM was one of the organizers of Arranjo Local Penha, a network of partners that mobilizes urban agriculture to promote food sovereignty in Penha. Based on Escobar, I analyze both in the construction of Serra da Misericórdia and the Arranjo Local Penha, how communities design themselves, a work in a network, never isolated. More than a community, a common unit, a compound in unstable networks is made and remade and become together another very fertile thing. In chapter 3, I discuss my participation in the third phase of the Arranjo Local Penha, in which a network of farmers producing seedlings in Serra da Misericórdia will be formed. I present the project proposal that was submitted to a financing notice from Faperj and that made the realization of the network possible. From the design of the project to its realization, the network was crossed by local issues, the territory and its inhabitants, and global issues, such as the Covid-19 pandemic. During this process, my colleagues and I learned to see the problems as part of the work and not as obstacles. But for that to happen, our action required a great deal of involvement, to be part of this community/compost. Finally, I propose that the co-design we carried out resembled the composting process.