Obras irregulares e o impacto ambiental: a educação ambiental como agente de conscientização em um município do RS

Abstract

The concerns with environmental issues faced by mankind nowadays are noticeable. The demographic growth is large and the problems caused by the lack of urban planning can be seen on irregular settlements most of them in permanent preservation areas. Environmental education in order to inform and encourage residents to preserve the environment so that in the new housing they can establish hygiene standards and therefore increase the quality of life in the community, besides identifying the problems caused by irregular occupation. The environmental impacts of construction are inevitable to the continuity of urban development. However, the sector can act as an agent of change as it follows policies to reduce harmful practices to the environment. The goal of this study is to analyze irregular occupations and the impact they cause. The area of study was defined through a conversation with public servants. Upon analysis of the site, a bibliographic study on the matter was conducted and thus a study on the site of the irregular area in a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil, aiming to verify the problems caused to the environment by irregular constructions. With regard to results, a topographic survey was conducted on the site as well as interviews with the surveillance body responsible for construction inspections in the city and serious issues were found both social and environmental related. To raise awareness of the population that build irregularly, mostly in invaded lands, this work thereby aimed to create a booklet to bring information to these people who are often vulnerable and uneducated, instructing them clearly and visually on the harms of these illegal buildings to the environment, to the occupants health and those around them, and how beneficial it is to have a regularized construction besides social and economical benefits.