The school as a space for social participation and citizenship promotion: the experience of building participation in a school environment

Abstract

This paper focuses on the development of the intervention built within the scope of the People’s Health Movement research ‘Civil Society Engagement for Health for All’ in a public school in Porto Alegre, RS. Through the experience that is described, we aim to discuss the possibilities of the school in having an active role in social participation in health. The first phase of the research was based on interviews with key actors, which were analyzed following the framework of content analysis. The second phase, object of this article, was the development of an intervention directed to the young people in the school environment, joining several segments: school, Family Health Unit, health council, social movement and university. The intervention, guided by the framework of the systematization of experiences, is itself a result of the research. The description begins with a visit to the community garden and continues with workshops on permaculture, composting and planting, seasoned salt, Qigong and clay, theater, among other experiences. This set of actions made it possible to enhance the school as an inviting democratic space for young people, demonstrating its importance in the engagement with social participation, and contributed to strengthen the connections between health and education.