The role of society in public leisure spaces: An experience report

Abstract

Public leisure spaces are favorable places for health promotion, enabling people to acquire healthy habits. Squares, parks, cultural centers, streets, are examples of public spaces that provide opportunities for the practice of physical activities, leisure, sports, cultural development, conviviality and exchanges between the most diverse groups that make up the community. Objective: To describe how educational actions developed with the community contributed to the revitalization of a public leisure space. Methods: This report was based on the experiences of a group of community members from the Coroado III neighborhood, East Zone, in the city of Manaus-AM, who used a public space for the practice of physical activities, sports and leisure. Conversation circles, environmental education, cleaning actions with the active participation of the visitors of the place, photographic record and bibliographic survey of the literature related to the theme were carried out. Results: The actions resulted in the revitalization of the place, with improvements in the structure, elimination of garbage sources and awareness of environmental conservation, and contributed to promote the increase of individuals who started to frequent the neighborhood's leisure space. Conclusion: The collaboration and engagement of the community were essential to ensure the revitalization of the neighborhood's public leisure space, a place so significant to its regulars, the buracão field.