University and Territory: Approaches Through Participatory-Action-Research

Abstract

The dialogue of know-how, considering the decolonial perspective, has helped us in readings of territory that permeate social, cultural and environmental relations. This movement takes place based on space-time coexistence, as well as permeating epistemic and conceptual debates about the decolonization of knowledge, aimed at re-signifying the ways of learning-researching-doing-teaching, 'other' and popular sciences. This movement seeks to reinforce university-territory relations, more closely and contextually with the place. This requires the weaving of movements into networks of feeling and thinking about the world, considering differences, places, subjects, natures and territories. Therefore, in this text, we seek to reflect on Participatory-Action-Research (IAP), as a path of co-production of socio-environmental knowledge/doings, in the university-territory relationship, based on our territorial praxis at the Madre Maria Domênica Integration Center, in Francisco Beltrão, Paraná, Brazil. To this end, we divided our reflection into two moments, first we approached the IAP methodology, seeking to highlight the fundamental principles, phases, levels and rules guided by Orlando Fals Borda. And in the second moment, we seek to reflect on some impressions about the co-production of knowledge carried out in the place and with the subjects. Thus, among the main lessons learned are the importance of social insertion with political commitment, which strengthens the subject-subject relationship, contributing to the development of research with territorial roots, and the importance of participatory research for local social transformation.