Research areas

The Graduate Program in Conservation and Sustainability (PPGCS) comprises two research areas: Conservation Biology and Ruralities and Agroecology. Both fall under the broader area of concentration titled Socio-Ecological Systems in Multifunctional Landscapes. These research lines are interconnected and complementary, each with its own theoretical and methodological focus.

Conservation Biology

Conservation Biology is a multidisciplinary scientific field dedicated to biodiversity conservation at various levels of organization. Often described as a "crisis-oriented science," it focuses on developing knowledge and technologies to protect, maintain, and restore the ecological and evolutionary processes that sustain biological diversity and ecosystem services.

The field of Conservation Biology gained significant momentum when it became evident that a substantial portion of the planet was severely altered, putting its biodiversity at risk. The primary threats include habitat loss, degradation, fragmentation, hunting, the introduction of exotic species, and pollution of natural environments. Consequently, Conservation Biology seeks to integrate "basic" and "applied" science with a focus on natural resource management, grounded in the understanding that humans are responsible for managing multifunctional landscapes. These landscapes are spaces where food is produced, biodiversity is conserved, and ecosystem services are maintained, ultimately enabling a high quality of life while preserving biodiversity.

Within the context of this graduate program, the Conservation Biology research line aims to understand the processes that influence biodiversity conservation. It also seeks to generate knowledge and new technologies for environmental diagnostics, monitoring, management, restoration, and conservation of natural resources, with the goal of promoting their rational and sustainable use. Additionally, this research line focuses on developing environmental awareness and education strategies on issues relevant to biodiversity conservation, ranging from global themes to regional and local impacts. The ultimate objective is to enhance our understanding of the environment and its biodiversity, guiding territorial planning and the development of public policies with socio-environmental significance.

Ruralities and Agroecology

The "new ruralities" concept has sparked intense debate in contemporary studies. Particularly since the 1990s, this field of knowledge has expanded with new theoretical and methodological contributions to investigating the paths of social reproduction in rural areas. There is a strong emphasis on family farming and its contributions to modern societies, as well as the maintenance and recreation of multifunctional and cultural landscapes.

As concerns grow regarding the production of healthy food, clean energy, hunger, food security and sovereignty, as well as environmental protection and cultural diversity, studies on contemporary rural issues have evolved. Topics such as gastronomy, agrobiodiversity, tourism, and heritage have repositioned rural areas as cultural subjects. The emergence of new ruralities has highlighted rural spaces as places for improved quality of life, integrated into the information flows of post-modernity, characterized by dynamic social categories whose ways of life express new social identities, multi-activity, and multifunctionality.

The notion of territorial development has also given greater visibility to rural groups, emphasizing their territorial rights and relationships with other economic agents, thus imposing new dynamics on their interpretation. These dynamics necessitate the analysis of social processes of economic domination among rural agents, the state, and multinational corporations in the agri-food and energy sectors that compete for and shape territories for productive use.

Amidst these pressures, natural systems are constantly threatened by exploitation models based on land and resource expropriation, leading to landscape homogenization, genetic erosion, soil degradation, and numerous pollution processes in natural environments.

As a counterpoint to these dynamics of control and power, Agroecology has emerged as a scientific field that studies agri-food systems. It aims to support sustainable pathways for the production, processing, distribution, and consumption of food. Agroecology recognizes family and traditional agriculture as the ideal loci for sustainable food production while also proposing sustainable production strategies for medium and large properties.

The Ruralities and Agroecology research line contributes by understanding and reinterpreting contemporary ruralities, the lifestyles and social organization of family farming and traditional communities, territorial dynamics and disputes, public policies, and rural and technological development strategies based on Agroecology. This approach seeks to reconcile the conservation of natural resources and multifunctional landscapes with solutions to environmental impacts caused by agricultural activities while also fostering value addition and economic growth at the territorial level.