AMAZONIA WITHIN THE CURRENT INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT
1. Goal
Throughout 12 months, Professor Aragón, holder of the Milton Santos Chair, intends to conduct activities of research, teaching, knowledge dissemination and strengthening of international cooperation, between the Federal University of Pará and the University of Coimbra. All activities are focused on discussing, deepening and disseminating the knowledge about the Amazonian reality within the current international context.
2. Why the Amazonia?
The globalization process, the internationalization of markets, the extraordinary advance of telecommunications, the modernization of transport and the strengthening of both knowledge society and market, among others factors, have deeply altered the world's geography. Within this context, the Amazonia gains a major role, not only due to its huge natural resources but also the need to explore that capital in a sustainable way given this region's importance to the global climate changes. In this sense, Amazonia has become a both national and global issue, raising debates at the highest political and scientific levels; but there still is, as before, and despite the multiple developments, much to know.
The mythical visions of Amazonia, as a demographic void, green inferno or world's lung, have been overcome, giving way to a process of construction of a new perspective on the region. Today, it is acknowledge that the region's largest richness is its biodiversity, its forest, well its natural resources, and also that attention must be turned to its sustainable development in order to meet its populations' needs.
3. Research
The research activity will focus on two key elements:
1) Producing a book analysing the "Amazonian issue" within the current international context. The book's provisional title is “Reinventando a Amazónia: Cinco temas para um debate” (Reinventing the Amazonia: Five themes, one debate). The book, with approximately 150 pages, will deal with the main issues regarding Amazonia today, both in the Amazon countries and in international debates.
2) Producing a scientific paper on the Brazilian migration to Portugal, highlighting the participation of migrants from the Brazilian Amazonia, and the potential impact of the present Portuguese economic crisis on that migration flow, including a possible return to the country of origin. This study would use CES database on Brazilian migrants in Portugal.
4. Teaching
Research activities will be complemented by teaching activities, including: (1) present seminars in the postgraduate programmes developed at CES; and (2) assist the supervision of CES Master's and PhD students and other institutions in Portugal.
5. Knowledge dissemination
Knowledge dissemination will take place with the publication of the above mentioned studies, the presentation of seminars in postgraduate programmes and the participation in scientific events, both in Portugal and abroad.
6. Strengthening of international cooperation
This stay at CES will allow analysing ways to strengthen and expand the internationalization of the programmes developed by the Centre of Advanced Amazonian Studies (NAEA) and the Federal University of Pará as a whole. This internationalization may be achieved through the participation of researchers both from NAEA and CES in joint projects, publications, and teachers and students' exchange. Students from NAEA can also benefit from CNPq and CAPES short-term grants in order to conduct part of their postgraduate programme at the University of Coimbra. Equally, UC students and teachers will be able to participate as NAEA associate researchers. At the end of this stay, an agenda for cooperation is expected to be established between NAEA and CES, reaching different activities of research, teaching and academic exchange.
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