The challenge of rethinking extension from new territories: green spaces as an opportunity to meet

Abstract

Green spaces have become an opportunity to meet and express community identity. In the peri-urban sectors of Azul city (Province of Buenos Aires) these spaces are scarce. In previous projects, the extension team focused on educational work with native plants and biodiverse gardens. In the current project “Criollas plants in my neighborhood”, a comprehensive work was proposed with Pedro Burgos neighborhood, with an emphasis on the rights to green space and recreation. In this work, previous experiences and development of the project are reported; in its initial stage once it was approved, and its first advances. Towards the end, reflections are presented regarding extension practices. In previous instances, work was conducted jointly with the PET on territorial work, evaluations and approaches of previous projects were discussed, and territorial needs and community ties were prioritized. Once the project was approved, through meetings and geographic mapping, work teams were formed with community members, teachers and students, organized by proximity and affinity with the demands. In them, work proposals and demands were recorded through logs. From the beginning, links and work with senior citizens in retirement centers and recreational spaces began to be established; as well as in educational institutions with a demand for science fairs and particularities of the territory; and talks/workshops with a cultural space and a bachillerato popular. The experiences and stories up to the first advances put already consolidated extension practices under tension and set the  challenge of rethinking them.