This is our street: Social design in interdisciplinary research and extension initiatives

Abstract

This article aims to present a research and extension process involving the Federal University of Ceará and the community Lauro Vieira Chaves, from Fortaleza. Threatened by the removal of around four hundred families due to urban mobility works in Fortaleza, one of the headquarters of the World Cup, the community turned to the university for land regularization. From this meeting the project "If this street was ours" was born, with actions of art and urban resistance to give visibility to the place and to claim its permanence. During the process of realizing this project the university became involved with other demands of the community, such as strengthening the sense of resistance, identity and territoriality. As one of the results, there was a deviation from the Light Rail Vehicle route and only 66 families were removed to a nearby location. As a continuity, the project of a social interest publication entitled "Nossa Rua" is underway. Three parameters guide the project: content, language and distribution. The content addresses every process involving the community and the university. Language seeks to be a direct, sensitive and useful link between the experienced process and other communities facing similar situations. The distribution is intended to be freely accessible to cover its specific target audience and not limit its scope. In this way, social design, graphic design, urban art and urbanism are integrated into visual, individual and community repercussions, as it enables the understanding, in practice, of the responsibility and importance of participatory actions.