Sustainable Actions Program for Cariri (PASCAR) and the contributions of the university extension to society

an experience report

Abstract

This report aims to describe the extension experience of the “Sustainable Actions Program for Cariri (PASCAR)”, whose activities were carried out in public schools and rural communities to broaden the dialogue on soil education, conservation practices and agroecological transition. This university extension action is located on the campus of the Federal University of Campina Grande, in the town of Sumé, micro-region of Cariri, in the state of Paraíba. PASCAR and its projects work in a dialogic way and with playful and participative activities, which involve interactive lectures, thematic exhibitions, fairs, radio programs, workshops and conversation circles. For ten years, PASCAR has been relevant in the actions of popular university extension, since it is a noticeable fact that the program has already created an identity strand of the campus and of the academics of the campus courses as well as a strong presence in communities beyond the walls of the Academy, by strengthening the university's ties with the local reality, breaking the still reigning dualist and Cartesian vision, standing out as a permanent link between the university and the community, with broad interdisciplinary, educational, cultural, social, scientific and political relevance for the degree courses in Agroecology, Biosystems Engineering and Contryside Education.