A virtual assembly held on Wednesday night (22/9) marked the launch of the Interdisciplinary Student Meeting 2022 (ENESIN 22), an initiative aimed at mobilizing Unicamp students in the search for solutions to problems that afflict society, whether in local, national or global. At the two-hour meeting, students presented their ideas on a wide range of topics, in line with the spirit of the project.
Interdisciplinarity is the great difference of ENESIN 22, a partnership between the Institute of Advanced Studies (IdEA) and the Executive Secretariat for Communication (SEC) at Unicamp. The project focuses on young people's ability to come together without the constraints of compartmentalized disciplines to discuss issues and join forces in complementary areas.
The virtual space provided a democratic meeting between teachers and students, who were able to present and discuss project sketches, listen to suggestions, forward doubts and propose questions for the next assemblies. The informality of the debate allowed for a frank dialogue, within the proposal of horizontality in the participation process.
Assuming that less bureaucracy makes it easier to conduct the project, the organization, which had not set a deadline for group and proposal registrations, decided on the 22nd, in agreement with those present, to create a forum of free expression for the participants of the ENESIN 22. The objective is to encourage the exchange of ideas and the formation of groups. The assembly also decided to extend the call to students from other universities, according to a format to be defined.
Gustavo Vasques, a student on the Control and Automation Engineering course, was one of those who spoke at the inaugural assembly. He describes as inspiring the speeches by the rector of Unicamp, Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, about the need to expand dialogue and look at problems from different perspectives, and by professor José Mario Martinez, president of the Scientific and Cultural Council of IdEA, about the importance of the multidisciplinary approach.
“Before the meeting, I didn't know how I would find people interested in my project, now my group already has four people with very interesting views on the problem, views that didn't even cross my mind”, celebrated Vasques.
In the opening session, the rector stated that, historically, Unicamp has had innovation and the integration of different areas of knowledge as some of its foundations. ENESIN's difference, Meirelles pointed out, would be to stimulate this momentum right from graduation. “Promoting this culture of interdisciplinarity and cooperation in undergraduate courses is an innovative initiative, which complements Unicamp’s vocation for looking at problems in a more systemic and holistic way. I am happy to occupy, at this moment, the role of rector of Unicamp to witness the energy and potential that we can awaken with this initiative”, declared the rector.
One of the project's creators, José Mario Martinez, from the Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Scientific Computing (IMECC), defined ENESIN as “an invitation to think”, using science, reflection, reason and freedom in generation as tools. of ideas. In his speech, Martinez proposed an example - the problems surrounding an abandoned square - to show the enormous diversity of disciplines that can be involved in the most common problems. “The assembly was an excellent start. Several students spoke, described projects with different degrees of detail and asked questions and suggestions that gave the meeting the flavor of a true assembly”, said the mathematician, who is professor emeritus at Unicamp.
For the coordinator of IdEA, Christiano Lyra Filho, professor at the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering (FEEC), multidisciplinary work needs to start early, addressing topics relevant to the formation of critical sense, through discussion between undergraduate and postgraduate students. -graduation with different perspectives. “A recent initiative that arrived at IdEA, for example, is the Research and Action Group on Conflicts, Risks and Impacts Associated with Dams, a topic we will talk about throughout the year. The group is made up of geologists, sociologists, mathematicians, psychologists and linguists and was born after the Brumadinho accident, an event that affected life, the economy and family relationships. ”
The construction of this interdisciplinary culture is the University's main challenge in the opinion of the executive secretary of Communication, Marcos Aparecido Lopes, professor at the Institute of Language Studies (IEL). According to Lopes, “ENESIN comes at a more than opportune moment, and we at SEC are sure that it will be the first in a set of partnerships to reaffirm the prominent role of our University. But this will only be possible with the creation of innovative projects, which articulate the different areas of knowledge of our institution and which communicate with the various environments, internal and external, of our community. ”
Master's student Louise Trivizol, from the Multiunit Postgraduate Program in Science and Mathematics Teaching, intends to incorporate colleagues from other institutions into her project at ENESIN. Her proposal will house people from areas such as environmental education, architecture, dramatic arts and biology. The vocation for disciplinary multiplicity is already part of the program to which it belongs, which integrates four academic units: Faculty of Education, Institute of Physics, Institute of Geosciences and Institute of Chemistry.
Professor Juliana Freitag Borin, from the Computing Institute, suggested the use of a computer system that is being developed by her students, a kind of project showcase, to facilitate the composition of groups. She also alluded to the Plasma Space of coworking as a collaborative environment available to the Unicamp community. Plasma has 730 m² covered and 180 m² of uncovered patio and can accommodate more than 200 people, with a meeting room, space maker, mini auditorium and recording space.
The interdisciplinary vocation, which emerged at the birth of Unicamp, is included in its urban design, which facilitates circulation between institutes, in extracurricular subjects and in the integrated use of its libraries, highlighted professor Isabella Tardin Cardoso, deputy coordinator of IdEA. A professor at the Institute of Language Studies (IEL), Cardoso recalled his training as a student at the philosopher Fausto Castilho (1929-2015), founder of the human sciences area at Unicamp. “Professor Castilho explained to us the architectural plan of Unicamp and reminded us that both the design by architect João Carlos Bross and the logo made from it were already an invitation to intercommunication.”
Registration for the first edition of ENESIN opened on 15/9 at Idea website. There, interested parties can find more details about the initiative. Among the themes already proposed by the students there are, for example, public governance projects, urban interventions, public health, assistance to the homeless population, basic sanitation, education, economy and empowerment of minorities. Students will have one year to conceive, discuss and develop projects, in teams of three to six members, preferably from different disciplines.
The groups may bring together undergraduate, postgraduate or extension students, and rely on the collaboration of professors, researchers or Unicamp employees, or even professionals external to the University. Every 22nd, there will be assemblies that will allow participants to meet those interested in collaborating, propose innovative actions and listen to professionals from the most diverse areas.
In this first stage, candidates who have not yet managed to get together in groups have the alternative of registering individually, with a simplified project proposal, but the future team must have at least three people. In the second half of 2022, the work cycle will conclude with the presentation of posters, delivery of certificates and awards, in an event whose structure is still being developed.
The next monthly assembly of ENESIN 22, still in the virtual model, will be on October 22nd. Questions can be sent to the ENESIN coordination via the email address enesin@unicamp.br.
See what the inaugural assembly of the Interdisciplinary Student Meeting 2022 (ENESIN 22) was like: