A co-construção de ações para a inclusão: contributos da Sociologia e do Design ao serviço das comunidades

Abstract

This chapter aims to publicize a service-learning experience, entitled "Oficina das Comunidades" (Communities Workshop), which took place in the northern interior of Portugal, as part of a partnership between a local organization, the Associação Transmontana Pelo Desenvolvimento (ATPD), and teachers/researchers in Service Design from the University of Minho (UM), University of Aveiro (UA), University of São Paulo (USP) and Sociology from the University of Porto (UP). A group of university students developed close work with immigrant and Romani communities in the territory of Carrazeda de Ansiães, using an interdisciplinary approach that articulated participatory diagnostic techniques for prototyping actions/ solutions capable of responding to identified needs/ problems. This non-formal training initiative involved, in addition to an academic and scientific component, a cultural and recreational program to learn about the territory, its landscapes, its people, culture and gastronomy. The main objective was to put university knowledge at the service of the community, with students experiencing a real work context where they implemented the knowledge acquired in their training, encouraged, and guided by a team of teachers. Communities, public entities, and municipal technicians participated in the entire co-construction process, from diagnosis to validation of solutions, through spaces for collective reflection marked by informality, proximity and sharing. This university extension initiative guaranteed students' learning in and through practice, the co-construction of interventions with and for local communities, as well as the transferability of knowledge to municipal entities and technicians. From this interdisciplinary experience, proposals for action/solutions for concrete social problems emerged, as well as diverse reflections on ways of doing and teaching science to and with the community.