Ecological Sanitation: A Territorialized Agenda for Strengthening Traditional Communities Facing Climate Change

Abstract

In the current situation of social inequality, ecological imbalance and climate change, there’s a need to create alternative, counter-hegemonic forms of care for human beings and nature. Facing these challenges, today, traditional communities are recognized as important players in the preservation of natural resources and the fight against climate change. However, these communities usually do not have their rights ensured by the government. This paper presents an action research on ecological sanitation—carried out in the Caiçara Community of Praia do Sono in Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—as means to empower these communities through local actions to ensure health, quality of life and resistance in the territory. This work introduces a methodology that integrates structural and structuring ecological sanitation actions, based on the perspective that the territory is a living thing, through an effective ecology of knowledge and with the participation of the community and local stakeholders throughout the entire process. The project was developed by 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). The impact of the project in Bocaina—a region with high social and environmental vulnerability—demonstrates the importance of regionalized ecological sanitation schemes for promoting equity, sustainability and autonomy of traditional and rural communities, increasing local resilience to climate change.