Social action to address the climate catastrophe of May 2024 in the Porto Alegre Metropolitan Region: developing a contingency plan to build socio-environmental resilience at the Filhos de Sepé settlement

Authors

  • Camila Traesel Schreiner PhD in Rural Development, Postdoctoral Researcher, Postgraduate Program in Rural Development, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (PGDR/UFRGS); Researcher, Centre for Studies in Sustainable Rural Development and the Atlantic Forest (Desma), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6514-983X
  • Alice Audibert Degree in Geography, Master’s Student, Postgraduate Program in Rural Development, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (PGDR/UFRGS), PROFORExt/UFRGS scholarship recipient, Integração Gaúcha Settlement, Eldorado do Sul, RS, Brazil
  • Elisangela Telockenn Certification in Cooperativism, PROFORExt/UFRGS Scholarship Recipient - Local Education Agent, Filhos de Sepé Settlement, Women of the Land Group, Viamão, RS, Brazil
  • Jaime Roque Monteiro Carvalho Veterinary Medicine, UFRGS/PROFORExt Scholarship Recipient - 19 de Setembro Settlement, Guaíba, RS, Brazil
  • Isabel Cristina Monjelo Ribeiro Dalenogare Certification in Accounting, Women of the Land Group, Filhos de Sepé Settlement, Viamão, RS, Brazil
  • Janine de Almeida Engelmann Certification in Human Resources, PROFORExt/UFRGS Scholarship Recipient - Local Education Agent, Integração Gaúcha Settlement, Eldorado do Sul, RS, Brazil
  • Letícia Rodrigues Nunes Undergraduate Student, International Relations, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
  • Carolina Silveira Costa Master’s Degree in Rural Development, Doctoral Candidate, Postgraduate Program in Rural Development, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (PGDR/UFRGS), Osório, RS, Brazil
  • Gabriela Coelho-de-Souza PhD in Botany, Professor, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Coordinator, AsSsAN Circle - Reference Circle in Agroecology, Sociobiodiversity, Sovereignty and Food and Nutritional Security, Regional Coordinator of PROFORExt, São Francisco de Paula, RS, Brazil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18472/SustDeb.v16n2.2025.58048

Keywords:

Floods, Curricularisation of Extension Activities, Participatory Methodologies, Climate Change, Collective Territories

Abstract

Extreme weather events are a consequence of climate change, whose effects have become more frequent and severe, as has been observed in the Porto Alegre Metropolitan Region (PAMR). In this socio-biodiverse area, communal areas, such as settlements resulting from agrarian reform, have been severely affected. Against this backdrop, the aim is to analyse the social action involved in creating a contingency plan for the Filhos de Sepé settlement, taking into account the associated impacts and strategies adopted. The methodology involved fieldwork and the systematic analysis of the participatory contingency planning stages. The settlement demonstrated responsiveness and solidarity with other settlements and territories by implementing strategies such as community kitchens, collective sewing, support brigades, animal rescue, and native seedling production. This historical social organisation, based on popular organisation, enabled the creation of a participatory contingency plan in response to organised civil society, thereby contributing to the socio-environmental resilience of PAMR territories.

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Author Biographies

Camila Traesel Schreiner, PhD in Rural Development, Postdoctoral Researcher, Postgraduate Program in Rural Development, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (PGDR/UFRGS); Researcher, Centre for Studies in Sustainable Rural Development and the Atlantic Forest (Desma), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

Graduated in Forest Engineering (UFSM), with a Specialisation in Environmental Management and Sustainability (UERGS), a Master’s degree in Agroecology and Sustainable Rural Development (UFFS), and a PhD in Rural Development (UFRGS). She has worked as a researcher, rural extension practitioner, and project adviser with rural communities in southern Brazil; as an adviser to the National School Feeding Programme (PNAE–FNDE–CECANE); and as an online tutor on the Bachelor’s Degree in Rural Development (PLAGEDER/UFRGS) and the Distance Learning Degree in Chemistry (UFT). She has taught on the Forest Engineering course at the Federal University of Tocantins (UFT), Gurupi Campus. She also has experience as an independent consultant in the fields of education, environment, and agriculture, as well as serving as an educational administration officer. Currently, as a postdoctoral researcher, she works as an associate lecturer on the Postgraduate Programme in Rural Development at UFRGS and collaborates with the Socioenvironmental Observatory on Food and Nutrition Security (OBSSAN) and with the National Training Programme in Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (ATER) for agrarian reform settlements and contributions to the 2030 Agenda – ProforExt/Prosemeia.

Alice Audibert, Degree in Geography, Master’s Student, Postgraduate Program in Rural Development, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (PGDR/UFRGS), PROFORExt/UFRGS scholarship recipient, Integração Gaúcha Settlement, Eldorado do Sul, RS, Brazil

Graduated in Geography from the Lutheran University of Brazil (ULBRA) and an organic farmer in the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre, with direct involvement in agroecology, popular extension work, and the organisation of agrarian reform territories. She is currently a Master’s student in the Postgraduate Programme in Rural Development (PGDR/UFRGS), cohort of 2024, conducting research on socio-environmental resilience in rural settlements, with an emphasis on rural youth and the role of women. She is a resident in the National Training Programme in Technical Assistance and Rural Extension for Agrarian Reform Settlements and Contributions to the 2030 Agenda (ProforExt/ProSemeia), having previously worked as a Local Training Agent with settled communities, strengthening the articulation between university, youth, and territory. She is part of the research and extension team of the project On the Cooperative City: Agriculture and Agroecological Networks in the Metropolises of Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre, linked to SOLTEC/NIDES/UFRJ. Within this project, she is a member of the group responsible for developing the Atlas of Healthy Foods of the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre (MST/COOTAP), a socio-organisational tool of the MST-RS aimed at defending territories and democratising access to healthy food.

Elisangela Telockenn, Certification in Cooperativism, PROFORExt/UFRGS Scholarship Recipient - Local Education Agent, Filhos de Sepé Settlement, Women of the Land Group, Viamão, RS, Brazil

Technician in Cooperativism. Scholarship holder and Local Training Agent of the National Training Programme in Technical Assistance and Rural Extension for Agrarian Reform Settlements and Contributions to the 2030 Agenda (ProforExt/UFRGS). Farmer at the Filhos de Sepé Settlement and member of the Mulheres da Terra (Women of the Land) group.

Jaime Roque Monteiro Carvalho, Veterinary Medicine, UFRGS/PROFORExt Scholarship Recipient - 19 de Setembro Settlement, Guaíba, RS, Brazil

Graduated in Veterinary Medicine from the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPEL) through the PRONERA Programme. He has experience in supporting organic and sustainable practices, having undertaken internships focused on organic agricultural production, sustainable livestock farming, and inspection and quality control activities. He collaborated with the Organic Production Support Centre (NUSORG-RS) of the Federal Agriculture Superintendency of Rio Grande do Sul, where he conducted studies on organic legislation, accompanied inspection activities, and provided technical support to CPOrg-RS working groups. He participated in the Voisin Rational Grazing (PRV) Project for sustainable pasture management and has experience in ecological sanitation and ecological infrastructure development. He is a resident scholarship holder in the National Training Programme in Technical Assistance and Rural Extension for Agrarian Reform Settlements and Contributions to the 2030 Agenda (ProforExt/ProSemeia).

Isabel Cristina Monjelo Ribeiro Dalenogare, Certification in Accounting, Women of the Land Group, Filhos de Sepé Settlement, Viamão, RS, Brazil

Accounting Technician. Farmer at the Filhos de Sepé Settlement and member of the Mulheres da Terra (Women of the Land) group.

Janine de Almeida Engelmann, Certification in Human Resources, PROFORExt/UFRGS Scholarship Recipient - Local Education Agent, Integração Gaúcha Settlement, Eldorado do Sul, RS, Brazil

Human Resources Technician. Undergraduate student in Agronomy at the Federal University of the Southern Frontier (UFFS/Pronera). Scholarship holder in the National Training Programme in Technical Assistance and Rural Extension for Agrarian Reform Settlements and Contributions to the 2030 Agenda (ProforExt/ProSemeia).

Letícia Rodrigues Nunes, Undergraduate Student, International Relations, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

Undergraduate student in International Relations at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS).

Carolina Silveira Costa, Master’s Degree in Rural Development, Doctoral Candidate, Postgraduate Program in Rural Development, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (PGDR/UFRGS), Osório, RS, Brazil

Bachelor in Social Sciences from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Technologist in Environmental Management from the University of Franca (UNIFRAN), Specialist in Public Management with an emphasis on Environment and Energy from UNIRRITER, and Master’s graduate and current Doctoral candidate in Rural Development in the Postgraduate Programme in Rural Development at UFRGS (PGDR/UFRGS). She has ten years of experience, through extension projects, in socio-environmental issues involving Traditional Peoples and Communities and Family Farmers in southern Brazil. In the third sector, she worked for four years on territorial and environmental management projects. She currently develops her research on the themes of Water Security, Environmental Conservation and Local Biocultural Memory.

Gabriela Coelho-de-Souza, PhD in Botany, Professor, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Coordinator, AsSsAN Circle - Reference Circle in Agroecology, Sociobiodiversity, Sovereignty and Food and Nutritional Security, Regional Coordinator of PROFORExt, São Francisco de Paula, RS, Brazil

She holds a degree in Biological Sciences (Teaching) from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (1993), a Master’s degree in Ethnobotany (1997), and a PhD in Sciences from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (2003). She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and International Relations and a permanent lecturer in the Postgraduate Programme in Rural Development. She coordinates the Reference Circle on Agroecology, Sociobiodiversity, and Food and Nutrition Sovereignty and Security at UFRGS. She coordinated the PGDR between 2016 and 2020. She is also the coordinator of NesSsAN – the Centre for Studies on Sociobiodiversity, Food and Nutrition Sovereignty and Security, and a researcher at DESMA – the Centre for Studies on Sustainable Rural Development and the Atlantic Forest. She is Director of CISADE – the Interdisciplinary Centre for Society, Environment and Development. She serves as President of the Brazilian Society of Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology and is a member of the Technical Advisory Group for the National Strategic Action Plan for Threatened Species – PAN Lagoas do Sul. She currently undertakes teaching, research, and extension activities in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment (MMA) and the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA), and has also contributed to the Ministry of Social Development (MDS) and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTIC). She is part of the governance networks Rota dos Butiazais, Solidarity Chain for Native Fruits, and PAT Planalto Sul. She has experience in Environmental Sciences, working mainly in the following interdisciplinary areas: food and nutrition security, ethnoecology, socio-ecological systems, sociobiodiversity, agroecology, food sovereignty, ethnobotany, ethnoconservation, territorial development, traditional peoples and communities, and the inseparability of teaching, research, and extension.

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Published

2025-12-28

How to Cite

Schreiner, C. T., Audibert, A., Telockenn, E., Carvalho, J. R. M., Dalenogare, I. C. M. R., Engelmann, J. de A., … Coelho-de-Souza, G. (2025). Social action to address the climate catastrophe of May 2024 in the Porto Alegre Metropolitan Region: developing a contingency plan to build socio-environmental resilience at the Filhos de Sepé settlement. Sustainability in Debate, 16(3), 54–91. https://doi.org/10.18472/SustDeb.v16n2.2025.58048

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Vol. 16 No. 3 (2025): Sustainability in Debate

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