"Gosto mais de tá no rio, pegar banzeiro...": elementos para constituição da identidade de lugar em crianças de uma comunidade do Amazonas

Abstract

Place identity is a revealing aspect of the way a person interacts with the environment. It is built from the person-environment relationship and encompasses a complex network woven by cognitive and affective aspects, behavioral skills, experiences, cultural aspects, interpersonal relationships and the temporal dimension. The more significant place identity, the more people become in favor of adopting practices of environmental protection and care. Thus, the study of the place identity contributes to the proposition of interventions that optimize more sustainable person-environment relationships from childhood. As it is a new concept, there is a lot to be researched, in particular how all this is being built over the years. The general objective of this study was to understand the implications of the child-environment relationship in the constitution of place identity in the São Francisco Community, Careiro da Várzea-AM. Therefore, the specific objectives were: a) To characterize the daily life of the child from the relationship with the riverside environment of the floodplain; b) Identify the social use of spaces by children; c) Verify aspects of place identity in the conduct of environmental care in the place. This understanding was the basis for the elaboration of a place identity model based on the theoretical and empirical research present in this study. Therefore, exploratory research with a multimethod approach was carried out. The first stage of the research consisted of applying the technique of free association of words on the places frequented in the community. The second stage of the research consisted in the application of the technique of directed drawing and interview. The semi-structured interview protocol was designed with open and closed questions about aspects that characterize the way of living in the community and ecological practices. The data made it possible to get to know places of greater affinity (school, home and church), places of lesser affinity boring (none) and places of lesser affinity dangerous (river/lake, paths and bush); the categories of daily perception were classified into habitual, singular and diligence. The analysis of the collected data revealed the need to propose a new model of place identity, it consists of five dimensions intertwined with each other – environmental, interpersonal, cultural, personal and temporal. From this model, it appears that the children's place identity is strengthened in the interpersonal, personal, cultural dimensions, but the environmental dimension can be stimulated. The insertion of devices and services that are more present and typical of other places can give the community more strength for positive evaluation. Children are able to perceive the place where they live, establish objective and subjective bonds, recognize the peculiarities of the place and how they relate to it in the various dimensions that forge the place identity. However, this construction must be maintained for the care of oneself, others and the place itself.