Representations of the Peripheral Urban Landscape from the Perspective of the Educating City

Abstract

Objective – The main objective is to deepen and discuss the theoretical bases of a university outreach activity carried out within the scope of a postgraduate program with a state public elementary and secondary school, which consisted of the representation of the peripheral urban landscape in large-scale murals in a housing complex in the east zone of São Paulo, relating the activity to the themes of peripheral identity and the environment, in light of the concept of Educating City and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN 2030 Agenda.
Methodology – The outreach activity was structured as site visits, lectures with researchers on representation and landscape, and workshops held in public schools and art museums, culminating in the creation of an artistic panel in partnership with a public school and local graffiti artists. To support those actions, a bibliographic review was carried out exploring the concepts of Landscape Representation, Identity and Difference, Educating City and the SDGs. In order to fulfill the objective of deepening the theoretical foundations of the outreach  action, a correlation between theory and practice was established by cross-referencing the theoretical framework with the mural painting actions carried out in a public school located in a peripheral area of the city of São Paulo.
Originality/Relevance – Outreach initiatives have become an important part of the university academic curriculum and represent opportunities for knowledge exchange between the university and society, from which everyone learns. The work with public elementary and high schools located in vulnerable areas amplifies the relevance and scope of these initiatives, as it engages younger generations in the exercise of characterizing and critically reflecting on the peripheral landscape, in addition to enabling actions for the effective transformation of urban space. Those who benefit include: Architecture and Urbanism students, through contact with concrete territorial problems; public school students, whose practices, knowledge and experiences are valued and incorporated into informal educational activities; and the surrounding community, through the transformation of public spaces.
Results – The transformation of public school open spaces with the participation of diverse stakeholders (school community, guest artists, and university) allows for engagement and strengthening of ties between the school and the territory, encouraging the problematization and meaning of themes covered by the school curriculum and contributing to civic development by involving young people in community issues in alignment with the SDGs.
Theoretical/Methodological Contributions – The bibliographic review brings together complementary concepts in the fields of landscape, representation, identity and education, constituting a transdisciplinarity that favors the strengthening of the school and the community to act in the transformation of the peripheral space. Transdisciplinarity aligns with the intersectoriality contained in the idea of the Educating City, which materializes in the territory through a living network of facilities and agents, encompassing different areas of action foreseen in the SDGs. The correlation between theory and practice proves to be important for consolidating the understanding of the actions by the outreach group and contributes to the reflection on the methodologies practiced, aiming at the improvement of practices.
Social and Environmental Contributions – Outreach initiatives linked to the Educating City concept, by proposing a relationship with the city through an educational approach, problematize the peripheral landscape and strengthen local identity, addressing social, urban, and environmental issues. These initiatives foster community engagement in landscape transformation, encouraging citizen participation. By strengthening the school's integration into its community, outreach initiatives assist in the implementation of comprehensive educational policies in a concrete reality of vulnerability.