Representatives of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDRR) were present at Unicamp this Wednesday (11). They learned about the risk mitigation work carried out by the Civil Defense of the Campinas region and the research carried out in the area by the Center for Meteorological Research Applied to Agriculture (Cepagri). The visit included participation in the opening of an event, organized by Cepagri, in which 33 cities in the State received susceptibility letters from Civil Defense and risk sector maps prepared by the Institute of Technological Research (IPT) and by the Geological Survey of Brazil (MRCP).
Five representatives from Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Honduras were present at the university. Johanna Granados, urban risk advisor at the office, explains that the city of Campinas and Unicamp were included in the visit to Brazil due to their history of research and successful experiences in disaster prevention. For her, partnerships with institutions can benefit both the municipality and the university, as well as the UN itself. "Campinas has been working on strengthening resilience for a long time, it recently received the Sasakawa Prize, presented in Geneva, and also as part of the campaign activities this peer-to-peer learning is promoted, so we support this exchange between different cities, we have representatives from Tegucigalpa, City from Guatemala, Guayaquil and a national representative from Colombia, so we are learning among peers which actions carried out by Campinas are most advanced, which studies are carried out by the university and how strengthening these partnerships allows us to move forward in strengthening this resilience", shares Johanna .
After participating in the opening of the event, the group held an official office meeting, where each person could present the disaster prevention actions carried out in their cities and countries and also the research carried out in the same direction by Cepagri. At the end of the morning, they were received by the dean of Unicamp, Marcelo Knobel. At the meeting, the project aimed at creating the International Hub for Sustainable Development (HIDS), a program that articulates the expansion projects of Unicamp and other universities in the Barão Geraldo district region with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. "It is always important to work, discuss and be in contact with civil society and, mainly, with the institutions that deal with these very important issues in Brazil, mitigation to avoid environmental disasters. We have an important concern and Unicamp is engaged in this process and wants to participate more and more", points out Marcelo Knobel.
Installation of Ceped-SP at Unicamp
Another highlight of the discussions was the project to create a new Center for Studies and Research on Disasters in São Paulo (Ceped-SP) at Unicamp. The creation of Cepeds complies with the provisions of Law No. 12.608/2012, which established the National Civil Defense Policy. From there, the States began partnerships with universities and research institutes to organize the centers. In São Paulo, the first Ceped was created at the University of São Paulo.
Now, the intention of the Casa Militar, which houses the Civil Defense, is to create new Cepeds alongside public universities in São Paulo. At Unicamp, the center will take advantage of Cepagri's research expertise and structure. "At Unicamp there are already centers that work on reducing the risk of disasters. Ceped can integrate actions and research that are carried out in different centers, which are isolated there, could be integrated into a single center. Cepagri will continue to develop research that it carries out, but Ceped can come in with a view to looking more at the concept of resilience to reduce the risk of disasters, so it is not about waiting for the disaster to happen to take actions to respond to the disaster, but rather prevention, planning, of preparing the communities' territory for extreme events that may occur", explains André Argollo, professor at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urbanism (FEC) and researcher at Cepagri.
Importance of partnerships
The susceptibility letters and sectorization maps that were delivered to the municipalities are documents that analyze the geological and environmental characteristics of the cities, list the possibilities that exist in the locations of phenomena and disasters and point out the areas in which they can occur. With them, city halls and municipal bodies can take precautions and organize their work more prudently. "The letter provides subsidies so that it can grow safely, so that it can plan growth in an orderly manner, so that it can mitigate the risks of irregular occupations, in flood areas, on slopes. Today we cover 439 municipalities throughout Brazil and We participate in annual events to deliver these letters to the authorities, so they know how they can use them to reduce these risks", explains Tiago Antonelli, from CPRM.
In addition to delivering the letters and maps to municipal representatives, lectures and workshops were held to teach how the documents can be used by local Civil Defense teams. To this end, partnerships with research institutions assist in this task. "The work of centers like Cepagri, at Unicamp, is extremely important for the state's civil defense work to establish strengthening strategies, new content, new concepts, new knowledge, so that we can give more tools to the local manager, to allow for better planning, better management of existing risks, a better way of designing preventive measures. Partnership is essential for the state's civil defense", comments Cintia Oliveira, from the State's Civil Defense Prevention Division from Sao Paulo.
Campinas is a national reference in the prevention of environmental disasters. In May this year, the municipality's work was recognized with the United Nations Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction, the most important in the sector. The delivery took place in Geneva, Switzerland. For Sidnei Furtado, director of Campinas Civil Defense, the city's merit is the result of a union of efforts that involve the work of institutions such as Cepagri at Unicamp. "The risk reduction activity has no end, because sometimes a change in behavior can have significant consequences in a disaster. So, for at least 10 years, Campinas has been developing actions to reduce disaster risks. And when I'm talking about Campinas, it's exactly this context here, with the universities, the research bodies, the private sector, the city hall, all these sectors are part of the context", analyzes Sidnei.
