Waste and Citizenship Festival

Belo Horizonte, Brazil, August 16-21, 2010

Abstract

The Waste & Citizenship Festival is a 4 day event organized in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, since 2002 by the Waste Picker’s Association of Belo Horizonte – ASMARE2 – with the support of the Minas Gerais State Waste & Citizenship Forum, the municipality, state and federal agencies, amongst other organizations. Its main objective is to attract » read the post

The festival has been a forum for information exchange and for capacity building of actors
involved in solid waste management through panel debates and thematic workshops on SWM.

It also has strong cultural aspects as many exhibits and musical performances with leading national artists are included in its program. Participation in the event is free. Conferences and
workshops require registration but no fees. Only musical shows require tickets but with affordable prices. Revenues are invested in ASMARE´s Cultural Centre “Reciclo” for its social capital. The Festival receives great attention from the media and has fulfilled an important role in bringing waste related issues into the spotlight. It has been at this annual event that many ideas and projects for the social inclusion of waste pickers have taken root and reached public attention not only at the local but also at the national level. Since its conception the event was designed to be forum for multiple purposes, that is, intended to assemble not only organized waste pickers and their supporting NGOs, but, also, representatives from municipalities, state and federal governments from all over the country, and the general public.

It is a place for dialogue and, also, for publicizing demands for the integration of
waste pickers with the intention of making this a reality. Multiple actors, multiple perspectives and one goal: to further the association of waste with citizenship!

The 2010 edition of the Waste & Citizenship Festival took place from 16-21 of August at the Serraria Souza Pinto in Belo Horizonte. More than 600 participants from coops/associations from many parts of Brazil attended the event, as well as technical staff from NGOs and government agencies. The 2010 edition focused on themes related to the recently approved National Policy on Solid Waste (the mechanisms for social inclusion included the Law and the policy on incineration); the proposal for payment of waste pickers for environmental services as proposed by a study carried out by the Institute for Applied Economic Studies –IPEA. In addition to the panel sessions the festival had a special programme with film exhibitions and musical performances from leading national musicians.

The opening session had the participation of many public authorities amongst them the Minister of Social Development – Márcia Lopes (representing President Lula), Belo Horizonte´s Mayor, the Governor of the state of Minas Gerais and State representatives of the MNCR. The Minister of Social Development announced at the event that the Federal Government has allocated 8 million Reais (5 million dollars) for investments in the recycling chain and 10 million (6 million dollars) for activities in support of waste pickers for the year 2011.
Related files:
Waste & Citizenship Festival 2010