PUC MINAS and COMPDEC Contagem, defending a citizen city, more than a extension project, a valuable life experience

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present the activities developed in PUC Minas and COMPDEC Contagem’s extension project, defending a citizen city, pointing and defending the project’s repercussion as a valuable and important experience to those involved in it. Facing the riskful reality of Contagem county and based off of the safe city project, from Disaster Relief International Strategy (EIRD/ONU), to make cities more resistant to disaster, through the development of safer and more sustainable urban comunities, an agreement was made, shaped as an extension project, aiming to study possible contributions to implementing the partnership between PUC Minas and the Civil Protection and Defense Coordination Organ (COMPDEC). Corroborating with these guiding ideas, the proposition materialized through the participation of PUC Minas’ students, undergraduates from Civil Engineering, Geography and Social Services, who followed and helped executing activities provided/performed by the Civil Defense with the community, mainly in preventive and awareness aspects about the risks which the target population are subject to. From these, it was concluded that intense knowledge and experience exchange between public servers and students added unpaired value to the extension activities, allowing the participating extension students to live out realities and experiences hardly achieved within University walls. Hopefully, the project can become a model to inspire new activities surrounding risk analysis and preventive measures to the world of civil engineering, adding to de development and consolidation of a preventive culture.