Project
Inspiring Traditions - Cultural References Repair Plan in the Rio Doce Basin
The cooperation
The Cultural References Repair Plan is a technical cooperation between UNESCO and the Renova Foundation (in liquidation). It is being implemented in some communities impacted by the collapse of the Fundão mining dam in the Mariana historical region, Minas Gerais state.
UNESCO in Brazil and the Renova Foundation (in liquidation) signed the cooperation agreement in June 2019. It marked the beginning of a collaboration aimed at building a culture of peace and dialogue through education, science, and culture in the process of repairing communities impacted by the collapse of the Fundão dam. This partnership seeks to expand the efforts and effectiveness of ongoing initiatives, aiming at the full recovery of affected areas and promoting the sustainable development of these locations.
The partnership involves three different areas of UNESCO's mandate — education, social and human sciences, natural sciences, and culture — and works to seek integrated solutions to specific problems experienced by affected populations.
The Historical, Cultural, and Artistic Memory Program and UNESCO present the following cultural actions that have enabled the development of the Plan for the Repair of Cultural References of Communities Affected by the Breakdown of the Fundão Dam.
The Plan
The Cultural References Repair Plan, a direct result of this partnership, is a comprehensive initiative that primarily aims to strengthen community ties and preserve these locations' cultural heritage.
Renova Foundation (in liquidation) made diagnoses in 2018 and 2019, identifying the most significant material and immaterial assets directly impacting communities. Based on these diagnoses, the plan covers 20 locations in four municipalities in Minas Gerais: Mariana, Barra Longa, Rio Doce and Santa Cruz do Escalvado.
The actions to preserve these locations' cultural heritage and traditions are diverse and include socio-educational, cultural and leisure activities, all carried out in close collaboration with local communities and public authorities.
From guiding the restoration processes of chapels and historic properties to promoting traditional festivals and cultural workshops, the plan's central objective is to ensure physical repair and revitalize the traditions and cultural expressions that define these communities.
Affected Locations
Mariana: Bento Rodrigues, Ponte do Gama, Paracatu de Baixo, Paracatu de Cima, Camargos, Pedra, Borba and Campinas.
Barra Longa: Sede, Barreto and Gesteira.
Rio Doce: Sede, Matadouro and Santana do Deserto.
Santa Cruz do Escalvado: Jerônimo, Viana, Limoeiro, Nova Soberbo, Pedra do Escalvado and Merengo.
Within the scope of this cooperation, the challenge proposed was to develop a participatory methodology that reconciles the preservation and dissemination of cultural expressions recognized by the affected communities. Thus, this project developed articulation strategies, stimulating dialogue and cooperation between the various actors and local bodies.
To guarantee, in partnership with the community and the Public Authorities, the repair, restoration, preservation, strengthening, and restitution of the historical and artistic cultural heritage of the territories impacted, ensuring their conditions of existence, realization and autonomous reproduction, and creating spaces for sociability, coexistence and strengthening community bonds.
To achieve the general objective of the Historical, Cultural and Artistic Memory Program, the structure of the Cultural References Repair Plan has seven thematic axes and five action categories:
Themes
- Cultural heritage education
- Memory records
- Masters of oral tradition
- Sport and leisure
- Cultural promotion and artistic dissemination
- Land use and river use
- Tangigle heritage
Actions
- Educational activities
- Promotional activities
- Mitigation activities
- Refunding activities
- Registration and dissemination
Tangible Heritage
Managing the tangible heritage to be repaired is also part of the Cultural References Repair Plan. This process includes the restoration works of three chapels in Paracatu de Baixo, Gesteira and the original territory of Bento Rodrigues and interventions in the Capela de São Bento ruins and the original territory of Bento Rodrigues.
Other actions in the plan include treating and disposing of the collection stored in the Technical Reserve, located in Mariana (Minas Gerais), and preserving 12 properties in the municipality of Barra Longa (Minas Gerais).
Restoring Chapels
- Chapel of Santo Antônio, in Paracatu de Baixo
- Chapel of Our Lady of Conceição, Gesteira
- Chapel of Our Lady of Mercês, Bento Rodrigues
Preserving Barra Longa properties
- São José Church
- Hotel Xavier
- Ten houses and commercial establishments are included in the protection inventory list
Results and Advances in the Restoration of Cultural References
Over the past four years, 91鶹Ʒ carried out a series of educational and cultural activities engaging thousands of participants as part of the cooperation project with the Renova Foundation (under liquidation), established following the collapse of the Fundão dam. The primary objective of these actions, developed in collaboration with partners and local communities, is to ensure the restoration, preservation, and restitution of the affected territories' historical and artistic cultural heritage. Additionally, the project fosters social interaction, community engagement, and strengthening communal bonds.
A range of initiatives focused on memory documentation, heritage education, cultural promotion, sports, and leisure began in 2021. The project primarily directed efforts at supporting local festivities and celebrations, addressing urgent needs, and ensuring the continuity of community ties. Due to pandemic-related restrictions, the project implemented specific initiatives, such as audiovisual recordings of the Folias de Reis festivities in Paracatu de Baixo and Pedras, in Mariana, and the new and old Folias in Barreto, in Barra Longa. The project also included the validation of cultural reference diagnostics (conducted in 2018 and 2019) and engagement dialogues with communities to structure the following year's action plan.
In 2022, the project launched the Abrindo Espaços Programme pilot actions in the municipalities of Mariana, Barra Longa, Rio Doce, and Santa Cruz do Escalvado. Communities participated in sports, cultural, and leisure activities and heritage education and memory documentation initiatives. One notable example was the Percursos de Patrimônio project, which provides educational experiences that encourage a sensitive exploration of the landscape and foster a renewed perspective on local cultural heritage. Inspired by the Territory Museum concept, the initiative involves guided walks along pre-established routes, complemented by educational practices that stimulate a critical and perceptive understanding of cultural and environmental heritage. Between 2022 and 2023, 13 Percursos were conducted with students from local schools, engaging more than 350 participants.
The project reconnects young people with their roots and allows them to develop a deeper understanding of their communities from new perspectives. "I was born and raised in Barra Longa, yet I am only now discovering many things about my hometown. Learning that my city has such a rich history helps me better understand my origins and the place where I was born. I love my city," said Tamires Santos, a student who participated in the Percursos de Patrimônio Project in Barra Longa in 2022.
In 2023, the project organized the Encontros de Patrimônio (Heritage Meetings) - seminars aimed at providing the communities with updates on the progress of the plan's implementation. By 2024, the Abrindo Espaços Programme had significantly expanded its reach, particularly in the newly resettled districts of Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu in Mariana and the Gesteira district in Barra Longa. The programme organized 15 small- and medium-scale events, each attracting an average of 300 participants. The cultural programming revived traditions from the original territories, strengthened community bonds, and stimulated the local economy. In addition to these events, the programme facilitated regular workshops in crafts, music, and traditional dances such as Dança da Peneira, as well as activities including banner-making, travelling cinema, discussion circles, and other initiatives aimed at preserving and promoting local culture.
Key Results Achieved Over the Last Four Years
- Over 30 memory documentation materials, including booklets, guides, technical reports, pedagogical resources for cultural heritage education, and audiovisual productions (video documentaries), were produced.
- Logistical, operational, and curatorial support for over 50 festivals and celebrations.
- More than 80 cultural workshops were conducted, benefiting over 1,500 people.
- Organization of over 50 medium- and large-scale cultural events, reaching more than 10,000 participants.
- Over 30 mentored project proposals were developed, submitted and approved through the Edital Doce funding initiative.
- More than 80 heritage education activities were offered, including Percursos de Patrimônio, lectures, workshops, and short courses.
- Dozens of discussion circles fostering collective memory-building initiatives.
- Three technical visits were made to develop memory preservation strategies for the original territory of Bento Rodrigues, including the conceptual design for the reconstruction of the São Bento Chapel.
- Development of a Virtual Territory Museum (Phase 1 completed; Phase 2 in progress): .
To further strengthen community autonomy and enhance the management capacity of cultural heritage policies, in 2024, project initiatives have been structured within a heritage safeguarding framework. The focus is now on expanding the organizational capacities of the communities, ensuring that they play a leading role in preserving their cultural references.
Resettlements
The Transition Plan envisages facilitating the adaptation of communities to the collective resettlement of Novo Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu, districts of Mariana (MG), the two locations that had all, or part, of their properties destroyed by the dam collapse.
The implementation of the Cultural References Repair actions will contribute to this process, considering these communities' ways of life expressed in their celebrations, daily rituals and crafts. It aims to favour community ties through cultural and memory sociability activities that promote the resumption of cultural events.
The initiatives were designed and built collaboratively with residents to generate and strengthen bonds among them and their resettlements. They brought together activities from the seven thematic axes that structure the Cultural References Repair Plan.
Making Room (Abrindo Espaços)
Through the cooperation agreement with the Renova Foundation (in liquidation), the Abrindo Espaços project — a social tool implemented in Brazil by UNESCO in the 2000s — gained new contours and was adapted to meet the demands of the Cultural References Repair Plan of the communities affected by the disruption of the Fundão mining dam.
In the context of repair, Abrindo Espaços proposes to integrate the various thematic units of the Plan and promote, in a collaborative way with communities and public authorities, cultural, educational, sports and leisure activities that favour the repair process and contribute to ensure the conditions of existence and autonomous reproduction of cultural references in these locations.
It is an initiative encouraging local protagonism and favours cultural and intergenerational exchange. It also represents an opportunity to resume socio-cultural, sporting and leisure activities interrupted by the dam collapse.
Abrindo Espaços benefited more than 2,000 people in the municipalities of Rio Doce, Barra Longa, and Santa Cruz do Escalvado in Minas Gerais until 2023. The project started its calendar of activities in Bento Rodrigues in April 2024.
Percursos de Patrimônio series
Práticas Patrimoniais: Territórios & Referências Culturais series
