SoCo Kick-off Workshops

Two workshops were held in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, to kick-start the project by introducing and discussing ideas with organisations and waste picker representatives. A total of 73 people and 16 organisations participated in the internal project validation workshop, and a total of 179 people and 33 organisations participated in the international workshop. Attendees included Centro Mineiro de Referências em Resíduos (CMRR); Fundação Estadual de Meio Ambiente (FEAM); Advocacia Geral da União (AGU); Instituto Estadual de Florestas (IEF); Secretaria de Estado de Desenvolvimento Social MG (SEDESE); Núcleo Alternativas de Produção (UFMG); UNICAMP Fluxus laboratory; Berkeley University (USA);  and representatives of 17 different municipalities (including Belo Horizonte).

The University of Leeds was represented at the workshops by Dr Costas Velis and David Lerpiniere. Dr Costas Velis gave a presentation highlighting ten challenging ideas in relation to global issues of waste recycling and the informal sector, which provoked considerable discussion and thought.

A video showing highlights of the event can be viewed here (in Portuguese), with interviews with Dr Costas Velis and David Lerpiniere (in English) featuring at 3:18 and 4:36, respectively.

An article by INSEA summarising the event (in Portuguese) can be found here.