Pathways and reflections on participant research in assessing the sustainability of rural settlements in the Southern Amazon, Brazil

Abstract

Sustainability is a topic that extends to different areas of knowledge. Measuring the sustainability of rural settlements from a participatory perspective becomes, at the same time, a new and complex task. The objective of this study is to present reflections on participatory research in the process of evaluating the sustainability of rural settlements in the southern Amazon. To evaluate sustainability, we use a multidisciplinary methodological perspective, which includes the combination of several tools and procedures, which is called the “Sustainability Circle” didactic-pedagogical method. During the development of the research our position was a horizontal relationship, in which we sought to replace the positivist position with a reflective one. We make the research site a meeting place. Valuing sustainability through collective action and participation contributed to defending the idea that we are all carriers of knowledge. The “Sustainability Circle” method used was satisfactory to achieve the objectives pursued by this study. It allowed us to make a proposal in accordance with the understanding of the literature and the narratives and perceptions of the subjects about what sustainability is.