GAUPUC: UMA PROPOSTA EDUCACIONAL PARA O FORTALECIMENTO DO USO PÚBLICO EM UNIDADES DE CONSERVAÇÃO

Public use in Protected Areas (PA) can bring numerous direct and indirect benefits to society, in addition to representing a great potential to increase the economic resources of UCs, bring society closer to nature and promote their conservation and sustainable use. Thus, it has become one of the most important themes in terms of the management of protected areas in the country. One of the main contributions to this discussion has emerged in institutions of higher education, which have acted strongly to build a culture of valorization of these PA. The Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Sul (IFRS), through its Campus Porto Alegre, has developed numerous actions in this regard, and recently, through the initiative of students, established an extension program aimed at strengthening of ordered public use in PAs, GAUPUC. Initially using the methodology of a study group, currently the collective develops extension actions aimed at the main actors involved in the public use of PAs: managers of natural areas, service providers that are associated with visitation and visitors. This year, due to the pandemic caused by the SARS-COVID virus, the group developed only remote actions, including a cycle of web conferences on public use in PAs and a project for scientific dissemination on social networks. The reflections made in relation to the group's trajectory show that practical activities played a fundamental role in generating students' interest in the group, as well as their autonomy in carrying out tasks is a principle that encourages their continuity in the collective. The next steps of the program point to the need to establish institutional partnerships with PAs, aiming at actions articulated in volunteer programs.