Consultation and Consent Protocols

intercultural dialogues with the vazanteiras and quilombolas traditional communities in the middle São Francisco River, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

This experience report aims to present the intercultural dialogue on Free, Prior and Informed Consultation and Consent Protocols (FPICC), through the holding of an academic event with fieldwork, with the traditional Vazanteiras and quilombolas communities of Lapinha, Praia, Pau Preto and Pau de Légua, Middle São Francisco River, municipalities of Manga and Matias Cardoso in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The event was held in two parts: Workshop and seminar at Unimontes – Montes Claros-MG and field work in traditional communities. The discussion aimed to present the protocols as another instrument used for territorial protection and maintenance of the ways of life of these communities, which experience long-term territorial environmental conflicts. Fieldwork was carried out using ethnographic techniques of in-depth interviews, conversation circles, construction of a timeline, audio and video recording of leaders about the group's collective memory and analysis of the groups' current social situation. The discussions were carried out through intercultural dialogue between researchers and community members. The analysis focused on the "social situations" (VAN VELSEN 2010) of this event, considering the historical process of the conflicts experienced by the groups and the discussions about the elaboration of PCCLPI. This research-teaching-extension experience culminated in the Montes Claros Letter: Consultation Protocols, operationalizing the beginning of the process of preparing the PCCLPI of these traditional communities.