The space of dialogue about agrobiodiversity in North Coast of Rio Grande do Sul State: places of collective learning and knowledge construction

Abstract

Diverse organizations are attending the North Coast of Rio Grande do Sul to find alternative income compatible with the standards of conservation of the Atlantic Forest and viability of the practices of family farmers. These organizations have established a space of dialogue about agrobiodiversity, characterized as places of collective learning and knowledge building. The complex relationships established highlight the divergence between those involved, enhancing their cultural aspects or those related to legislation. The ways to collectively construct knowledge are based on the successive contacts that could provide an interface between knowledge, technical and local. However, though it appears that this process occurs in the long term, it does not impede the farmers to continue their practices. Moreover, the fact of conforming to the rules does present some contradictions, on the one hand it may legitimize the activities of the farmers, on the other, it could inhibit some creative possibilities, restricting them to the established norm.