PUBLIC NOTES

ABRAPA regrets what has happened and joins all those who are suffering the consequences of the dam burst. The following note aims to express our solidarity.

It is opportune to emphasize that disasters such as these can be avoided through planning and monitoring, as well as risk and disaster management, which encompasses stages of disaster prevention, mitigation and response. The impact of the mud is visible in the vegetation, in the houses, in the river. However, in a less visible manner, an entire ecosystem has been affected, damaging humans, fauna and flora. Environmental Psychology understands the person-environment relationship as interdependent. That is, human actions impact the environment, which, in turn, impact human life as well as other living things.

Right now, it is difficult to measure the final effects of this tragedy. This is because the places we attend and that are part of our daily lives not only accommodates our daily activities, but function to us as references in space and time, in a way that they become part of our identity, constitute the formation of our self and contribute to our well-being. Therefore, it is understood that dwellings, workplaces, co-existing and leisure spaces, whether natural or built, as well as community networks and individual´s livelihood and labor are crucial elements for the maintenance of their physical and mental health.

A cautious approach to that matter is suggested, attentive to the contribution of the media repercussion of the disaster, so it won't contribute to the increase of the suffering of those involved, by exposing their daily life and their city. Evincing this should not overlap the ethical discussion about the role of the media as social communicator and promoter of human development and its consequences, since the search for responsible people should not promote greater suffering for this population.

The disasters in the cities Mariana and Brumadinho shows how erroneous is  the conception that the physical environment, especially the natural one, must be managed according to the single interests of companies, ignoring the collective interests of communities and the sensibility of ecosystems, contradicting the Brazilian Federal Constitution. The two disasters bring up the discussion of how to integrate economic, social and environmental interests in a sustainable way. This agenda should be part of a process of reviewing environmental and social management so that other tragedies will not happen again.

ABRAPA declares its commitment to contribute to a Brazilian society with sustainable environmental and social practices which takes into account the production of scientific knowledge in the management process.

February 04, 2019 

ABRAPA Board