Territorial Solutions, Governance and Climate Change: Ecological Sanitation at Praia do Sono, Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

The area comprised of the so-called Mosaico Bocaina is highly environmentally vulnerable due to real estate speculation, large construction projects and conventional tourism, which put forth an unequal, predatory form of development. The current context of climate change and water crisis in Brazil (particularly in the Southeast) amplifies the vulnerability of traditional and coastal communities. Therefore, the development of participatory alternatives to promote equity is fundamental to address territorial needs, thus generating solutions that consider the local context and traditional knowledge and increasing the resilience of affected communities. Based on the fact that sanitation was considered a priority for Praia do Sono—and through an approach that not only combines permaculture, education and sanitary engineering, but also establishes a dialogue between academia, local community and public managers—the Observatory of Sustainable and Healthy Territories, a partnership between the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), the National Health Foundation (FUNASA) and the Forum of Traditional Communities (FCT) has developed comprehensive social technologies. Raisin awareness in the community aims at the fully incorporating of the proposed solution in a future step. This chapter systemizes the process (from the prioritization to the establishment/implementation of the technological solutions adopted) and analyzes its potential for producing autonomy, equity and sustainability, providing social technologies with the potential to empower communities to provide solutions to mitigate environmental impacts and increase the resilience to climate change.