Since mid-August, Unicamp's Institute of Geosciences (IG) has received Civil Defense agents who are undergoing training. They participate in the 11th Training Course for Civil Protection and Defense Agents. This is the first time that the unit is a partner in the course, which should take place again at the University in 2019. The partnership arose through a link established between Civil Defense and professors from the IG and the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urbanism (FEC) , and with the Center for Applied Meteorological and Climate Research in Agriculture (Cepagri) at Unicamp.
In addition to training municipal public servants who act or will act as agents in internal or field work, the course sought to ensure qualification in civil protection and defense actions and in the construction of resilient cities, which, broadly speaking, is the ability to recover or adapt from the effects of a hazard. It also sought to consolidate the concepts of a resilient city and community, emphasizing people's relationship with the territory, their perception of local risks and preparation for coping with them. According to Sueli Yoshinaga, the course is part of the academic and extension activities of the Study Group on Territorial Planning, Resilience and Sustainability (Geotres), which brings together professors and researchers from Unicamp and Civil Defense professionals.
The agents took classes with professionals from public bodies such as Civil Defense, Emdec, Samu and the Fire Department. From Unicamp, IG teachers Sueli Yoshinaga and Ana Elisa Abreu participated in the course; the FEC professor, André Argollo; and Cepagri researcher, Ana Ávila. “We come in with understanding the physical environment – how erosion, flooding, slope failure happen, making people more aware of the risks they are subject to, based on resilience”, pointed out Ana Elisa. In addition to theoretical activities, they went to the field to interact with the community. They received training in urban and wild fauna management, defensive driving, monitoring and disaster warning tools, among others.
According to the coordinator of the Campinas School of Government and Server Development, Marisa Córdoba Amarantes, the course is a reference in the State and serves agents from several municipalities, not just the Metropolitan Region of Campinas. “We are concerned not only with offering technical learning, but also behavioral aspects and aspects related to loss and mourning, so common in disaster situations, and the fundamental thing: humanitarian civil defense”, she highlighted.
Voçoroca in Casa Branca
During the course, Ana Elisa Abreu, on behalf of the head of the Geology and Natural Resources Department of the IG, received a document from the Casa Branca city hall. The city has gullies around it, which are still active. Therefore, the city hall expressed interest in signing an agreement with the Geosciences Institute, requesting technical support for actions necessary to contain these erosions, which despite their beauty, cause concern for residents living nearby. “The city hall does not have the technical staff to contain this advance without ruining the gully. The idea is to preserve its beauty, but contain its progress”, said Edson Florêncio, director of the Public Works Division of Casa Branca and who participated in the course. Ana Elisa Abreu informed that it is necessary to check within Unicamp which legal path is available for the agreement to be made viable. “The IG is interested in supporting, as these are our areas of research and work”, she pointed out.
