Interview: Aline Carvalho, Head of the Centre for Environmental Studies and Research (NEPAM) at UNICAMP, Brazil

Aline is the head of the Centre for Environmental Studies and Research (NEPAM) at UNICAMP, Brazil, and also leads the Paulo Duarte Public Archaeology Laboratory (LAP) at UNICAMP. She works in the fields of Material and Immaterial Heritage, Public Archaeology, and Environmental History.

Her current focus is on the impact of climate change on Brazilian archaeological heritage. Aline is also a professor in the post-graduate program at UNICAMP and is associated with the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the Brazilian Archaeology Society (SAB), and other institutions.

1. Tell us about your educational and professional background that led you to become the Head of the Centre for Environmental Studies and Research Department at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP).

Of course! I have a degree in History, which qualified me to work both in teaching in Basic Education in Brazil and in research. I completed my Master's in Cultural History and my PhD in Environment and Society. The PhD, in particular, was carried out within an interdisciplinary training program that drew on the humanities, biological sciences, and exact sciences.

Throughout this journey, I worked on issues related to identity and heritage, seeking to understand how heritage served as a powerful reference point for diverse communities and even entire nations. In my research, I understood that heritage served as a reference for communities to answer questions about: 'Who are we? What do we want for the present? What should not be forgotten to guide future trajectories?

At NEPAM, the research centre where I have been a researcher since 2010, I began to work on issues related to public archaeology. In other words, I added the theme of material culture to the 'heritage–identities' equation. In 2013, I started working on socio-environmental issues, always linked to heritage and identities.

My questions ranged from: How do we create narratives about places, linked to ideas of nature and environment? And the most current one: How is heritage affected by climate change, and how can it help us develop effective ways to confront this challenge? These research topics, conducted from interdisciplinary perspectives, enabled me to work at NEPAM alongside colleagues from biology, ecology, economics, and other fields.

2. Tell us about your work, emphasising Climate Change and Heritage with the Board of ICOMOS Brazil.

In 2019, following an invitation from Prof. Silvio Zanchetti, I participated in an ICOMOS Brazil working group to discuss and propose additions or changes to the document 'The Future of Our Past' (ICOMOS). From this working group, ICOMOS Brazil understood the importance and urgency of climate change and heritage. Subsequently, the Climate Change and Heritage Board of ICOMOS Brazil was created.

This board comprises a large number of researchers, public managers, and community leaders who work together to build an integrated Research Platform on these themes. Luana Campos, a researcher I deeply admire, and I have been working on the committee to build dialogues with different social actors. And, the most challenging part, is ensuring that these dialogues result in public policies aligned with social demands, academic knowledge, and ancestral practices and knowledge."

One of the results of this committee's action, in partnership with the Brazilian heritage management body (IPHAN), was the creation of the Brazilian Charter of Cultural Heritage and Climate Change. This charter, coordinated by Luana Campos, aims to develop a diagnosis of the country's heritage in the era of climate change across our biomes, outlining perspectives for future action.

The charter was built in a participatory manner over the last two years: based on listening and construction workshops, we heard from communities, public managers, civil society organisations, among others, to write every line of the Charter. In the end, we have a document that, with the support of ICOMOS and Fiocruz, was presented to Brazilian society as a whole.

The Board has also held events bringing together different knowledge on the topic, short courses, student supervision, and expansion of its own scope. There is still much to be discussed, both because of the uncertainties surrounding our present and because of the very construction of this field of knowledge and action.

3. Tell us about your reaction to the large fire that broke out today in the blue zone pavilion of COP30, where culture side events negotiations were taking place.

The fire was a great misfortune. It happened in a space quite close to the State University of Campinas, but it was quickly contained. COP30 had many positive aspects, and I can highlight the many discussion panels on crucial issues for our present. In the case of the Green Zone and the Free Zone, it was wonderful to see the participation of different social actors and the shared search for agreements, solutions, and paths for a more dignified future. I hope that COP30 is not reduced only to the fire.

4. COP30, held in Belém, Brazil, made significant progress in integrating cultural heritage and Indigenous knowledge into the global climate agenda, highlighting their importance for effective adaptation strategies. Tell us about your contributions to this.

We are very pleased with the actions of the Ministries of Culture, Environment, and Indigenous Peoples in building a more just, plural, and democratic society. And this construction undeniably involves themes such as cultural heritage. We cannot imagine a future based solely on mathematical equations. It is necessary to dream it, design it, experiment with it! And this is only done with the inclusion of multiple forms of knowledge, perspectives, and manifestations.

We have been cooperating with the Ministry of Culture and have seen an expressive openness to the topic of climate change and heritage. The Charter of Cultural Heritage and Climate Change, presented at COP30, is part of this construction.

5. Tell us about the events you planned for the last day of COP30 held at Museu das Amazônias, Belém, Pará, Brazil.

It is important to highlight that the event at the Museu das Amazônias was only possible with the support of ICOM, represented by Diego Bevilaqua and Lucimara Letelier, and of the Brazilian Institute of Museums (IBRAM) itself, which materialised in the very museum that welcomed us so beautifully. The idea was to bring together the conversations and debates we had throughout the year to compose a panorama of possible actions for the present and future.

Furthermore, the goal was to present the Brazilian Charter of Cultural Heritage and Climate Change to Belém. The experience was moving. The spirit of struggle and hope present in all the works mentioned was quite expressive.

6. Do you collaborate with the Climate Heritage Network (CHN) and the Entertainment + Culture Pavilion to bring culture-based climate action to the forefront of climate policy discussions at events leading to COP30?

Yes. These two bodies are fundamental for exchanging experiences between our countries and communities. From them, we can develop new research topics and methodologies, and even pursue joint actions that enable culture to act as a transformative force. Over the last 60 years of debate, culture—and its various manifestations—has been relegated to the basement when we think about actions for the present and future45.

In the last 60 years, we have seen many technological and scientific advancements. All fundamental. But we still haven't managed to reach people to debate and act together for the construction of alternative futures. In other words, it is past time for us to participate in this debate. And, in this context, both the CHN and the Entertainment + Culture Pavilion are crucial collectives for dialogue and negotiations.

7. Here is an article about the science and art initiatives at the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University... what are your thoughts?

Research like this is fundamental for finding answers to our questions about climate change and our futures. It is worth noting that, in addition to AI, we also have ancestral knowledge. They can bring us alternative perspectives and solutions to our technical, ethical, and moral dilemmas. The joining of this knowledge with academic research, public managers, and communities is a potent space for us to understand ourselves differently and act for the construction of a just society for the different forms of life on planet Earth.

8. Anything else you'd like to add?

In times of expansion of social media platforms, strengthening of algorithms that create information bubbles, and isolation, our great challenge is the reconstruction of the sense of the collective. And, for this, culture—these multiple forms of knowledge and different forms of expression—is the most democratic path! Art, for example, does not necessarily require mastery of a national language; it can transcend and move people, literate or not. Heritage, whether material or immaterial, also does this. They transcend and open new spaces! Therefore, they break pre-established logics.

9. How can people reach you?

If this interview reaches you, and if you want more information, please contact us: lapunicamp@gmail.com or alinecarvalho@unicamp.br