Illustrated by the art of the young Amazonian Antônio II, who currently inspires the visual identity of the Concertação networks, the Meeting was opened by Renata Piazzon, director of the Climate Change Program at the Arapyaú Institute and executive secretary of the Concertação. She pointed out that, in 2022, the initiative is focused on discussing the inclusion of Amazon issues in the October elections, with the challenge of formulating a programmatic agenda that brings the Amazon as a solution and promotes its development from the point of view of interdependence between different thematic; in addition to a new governance for the region in synergy with democratic systems. The network must present a set of feasible proposals that can be implemented in the first 100 days of government by the federal, subnational and national congress.

Education and safety in numbers
Starting the analysis of the central themes of the meeting, Lívia Pagotto, manager of knowledge management and advocacy at the Arapyaú Institute, presented some figures on education and safety, taken from the platform Legal Amazon Data. The region’s lag in education for indicators such as adequate learning and age discrepancy were exposed, as well as the slower evolution of other indicators compared to the rest of the country. On the subject of security, Lívia emphasized the worsening of the indicators with the increase in homicide rates, homicides among young people, violence against women and domestic violence against children and young people.

Mediated by actress and cultural producer Karla Martins (Mídia Ninja/Casa Ninja Amazônia), the Meeting moved on to exposing the panelists. On the subject of education, Katia Smole (Instituto Reúna) and Binho Marques (former Governor of Acre) brought new points to the debate.

“There is a distance between what we are talking about here and what education managers are thinking”
Katia Smole exposed the preliminary results of the diagnosis of Secondary Education in the Amazon, by the Reúna Institute, and the challenges posed by the current curriculum change, showing updated statistics on enrollment, school dropout rate, lack of vacancies for students in rural areas and lack of job prospects for young people. She also highlighted the distance between formulators and managers on the one hand, and teachers and advisors on the other, emphasizing the need for dialogue to achieve the objectives of the new High School.

“Articulation between education, culture and communication among the highlights of actions in Acre”
The former governor of Acre, Binho Marques, focused his speech on the report of the educational reform implemented during his administration ( 1999-2010), which worked with 4 strategic objectives: modernizing management, valuing teachers, rectifying inequalities in the age/grade ratio and improving the evaluation and diagnosis system of schools; obtaining excellent results in the education indicators in the state.

“We have to rethink governance in the Amazon”
On the subject of security, Renato Sérgio de Lima, FGV professor and vice president of the Public Security Forum, presented data from the study “Cartographies of Violence in the Amazon Region”. The work shows that, unlike the rest of Brazil, crime rates in the Amazon are getting worse, especially in areas under pressure from deforestation. For the professor, the issue of security goes beyond the penal and criminal scale, and should be seen as a constitutional right. And, from a political point of view, the issue of security not only deals with the dispute for power over a territory, but also with human lives and the environment. Therefore, the theme is part of a broader process of promoting citizenship.

“We have a current regulatory weakness in the Amazon”
The Deputy Attorney General of the Republic, Dr. Alexandre Camanho, addressed gold mining in the Amazon and its relationship with crime. this is a business and industrial achievement, in his view, the activity is essentially irregular. He highlighted the fragility of institutional controls and legislation; the impact of the practice on the environment and on the health of Amazonians; its transnational reach; the damage caused to indigenous and traditional communities and their territories, and their low contribution to the local economy and quality of life.

“We have been facing an anti-indigenous agenda in the national congress since 2018”
Samela Sateré Mawé, indigenous leader, Senior Fellow of the Arapyaú Institute and member of the GT Juventudes da Concertação, highlighted the existence of a anti-indigenous agenda in the National Congress, currently concentrated in PL 490 (time frame) and 191 (mining in indigenous lands and conservation units). Samela gave her testimony about the impact of mining activity on the health of the population in the communities, characterized this movement as a “genocidal agenda” and asked: “Is money worth people’s lives?”. His appeal is for traditional peoples to be included in the debate on the Amazon.

“PL 191 is a setback with the commitments assumed”
Marina Grossi, from CEBDS, the last panelist to speak, pointed out that the companies represented by the entity are contrary to PL 191, and consider that this does not make sense from an economic or reputational point of view for them.

“Art, culture, academic studies, good science: all of this is fundamental for the Amazon” the complexity of building the 100-day agenda, the main challenge for the Concertation in 2022.