Abstract
This article describes the process and outcomes of a participatory video project with 22 catadore/as (‘recyclers’) from recycling cooperatives in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil. During a week-long workshop (April 2008), leaders from participating cooperatives were trained in video technology, storyboard development, and postproduction media as a strategy to improve community–networking opportunities and to stimulate awareness and education of inclusive and integrated recycling programs. Through a participatory action research initiative, four short documentaries were then co-produced between 2009 and 2011 and a collaborative research design was developed to use the videos as a communication tool for enhancing dialogue with policy makers in three municipalities. This article explores the methodological and theoretical contributions of using participatory video as a strategy for mobilizing community knowledge. This research demonstrates the use of participatory video as a creative avenue to capture and nurture valuable knowledge often on the periphery, which can have powerful impacts when brought into centre stage. It also reviews theories of Community-based Participatory Action Research and Knowledge Democracy as central to expanding processes for participatory development and citizenship. The results reveal enhanced mobilization of this community and document the strengthening of partnerships between recycling cooperatives and municipal governments in the metropolitan region of São Paulo.
Introduction
As we hurdle towards an unknown future, flagged by growing social inequalities and ecological uncertainty, it is an understatement to say that we urgently need new strategies for organizing ourselves built on democracy, equality, and compassion. There is growing evidence in the literature suggesting that numerous resources, strengths, and skills exist within communities that can be engaged in addressing some of these complex challenges and in promoting people’s well-being (Burby, 2003; Goodman et al., 1998; Israel et al., 2001). Among these resources is the intellectual transformation of knowledge creation, which over the last 40 years has, as Hall (2005) describes, ‘[come] in from the cold’. Such contemporary understanding of knowledge interwoven with participatory approaches to community development has the capacity, as stated in the UNESCO (2009) brief, ‘to co-create knowledge, mobilize it to inform practice and policy, and enhance the social, economic, and environmental conditions of people, communities, nations, and the world’ (p.1). In addition, Hall, Jackson, and Tandon (2013), from a community–university partnership perspective, stress that knowledge can transform society by building its capacity to identify, produce, process, disseminate, and use knowledge for human development. Others, such de Sousa Santos (2007), have expressed a broader, more inclusive understanding of knowledge in society, that of an ‘ecologies of knowledge’, based on the idea that the diversity of the world and its knowledge is inexhaustible. Gaventa and Cornwall (2008) have linked the use of knowledge to people’s mobilization, political strategies, and social movements. The work of many others, including Paulo Freire (1970) and Rajesh Tandon (2008), demonstrates the necessary expression of the lived experiences of those living in poverty and exclusion, as a necessary condition for organizing and transformation.
Alongside this changing knowledge paradigm, international development programs have also slowly moved from centralized top-down forms of planning to bottom-up and community-based strategies (Khasnabis & Motsch, 2008; Tendler, 1997) in order to make community development more inclusive and in many ways more locally adapted. It is through this shift from top-down to bottom-up approaches that local citizens have the opportunity to collectively take actions towards the improvement of their well-being, leading to significant development outcomes, such as enhancing quality of life, protection of resources, and the reduction in social exclusion and inequality (Chambers, 1997).
Simon (1998) highlights the growing number of people at the local level seeking ‘the attainment of their aspirations for better living standards’ outside the state, seeking alternative agendas with different aims and objectives. In this light, Community-based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) is increasingly being recognized, although still on the margins, as an innovative, effective, and timely approach to build strong partnerships with communities (Flicker & Savan, 2006) aiming to construct empowering outcomes including increased community capacities, broader stakeholder participation in decision-making (Lennie, 2005), and promoting social and environmental justice (Cahill, 2007; Gutberlet, 2008). CBPAR is a methodological collaborative approach for doing research with practitioners and community partners that can inform practice, programs, community development, and policy while contributing to the scientific knowledge base (Small & Uttal, 2005) and seeks to achieve positive social change (Strand, Marullo, Cutforth, Stoecker, & Donohue, 2003). CBPAR combines methods of inquiry with ‘community capacity-building strategies to bridge the gap between knowledge produced through research and what is practiced in communities’ (AHRQ, 2004). With a focus on community-driven issue selection, collaboration in the research process, and action for solutions, CBPAR is well suited to identify and address environmental, health, and social disparities through advocacy for public policies that diminish these inequalities. It is for these reasons that interest is growing rapidly for academic institutions, government agencies, and civil society to form these partnerships and create bottom-up solutions.
Driven through the approach of CBPAR, and the ideas of Knowledge Democracy, this article describes and articulates the process of participatory video (PV) as an important approach to mobilizing knowledge of the community waste sector in Brazil. The project was developed in the context of the Participatory Sustainable Waste Management (PSWM) program. The PSWM program was a six-year Community University Research Partnership between the University of Victoria, in Canada; the University of São Paulo, in Brazil; local governments; civil society organizations; and recycling cooperatives in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. The PV project aimed to mobilize, build agency, and political capacity with leaders of recycling cooperatives and government in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. The videos were presented to municipal government representatives during focus group meetings in the municipalities of Diadema, Mauá, and Riberão Pires in the fall of 2010. The focus groups were facilitated by the leaders of the cooperatives, who co-produced the videos, supported by the executive committee of the PSWM project. These focus groups were videotaped and analysed to evaluate the use of the videos as a tool for enhancing dialogue and communication with the government. Although the themes of the videos varied between the groups, the ultimate message was the same throughout; to be recognized as providing a valuable service and to be remunerated and supported for their work as environmental agents. Following the focus groups, the leaders were interviewed to reflect on the various elements of political agency, leadership, and knowledge mobilization – highlighted in the following ‘Research results’ section. Being recognized and valued as ‘environmental agents’ brings an important identity and sense of recognition to the catadore/as. The concept is used within this community to reflect the important service their profession makes to waste management, the urban environment, and social inclusion.
The project followed a participatory approach, engaging participants at every stage of the process. The methodology to use and evaluate the videos as action tools was developed during group workshops with the entire PSWM project committee. 1 Focus group and interview questions were developed based on the groups’ most pressing needs and challenges and then followed months of organizing meetings with government representatives and showcasing the videos at various events.
Informal recycling and PSWM 2 in Brazil
Catadores/as in Brazil, and throughout the world, represent one of the most disenfranchised and vulnerable parts of the population. Catadore/a is the local vernacular term used to describe the profession of collecting, separating, and selling recyclable materials. It is estimated there are approximately two million catadore/as in Brazil, out of which 60,000 are organized into associations and cooperatives (Gutberlet, 2012). This activity epitomizes the informal economy, characterized by small-scale, labour-intensive, largely unregulated and unregistered, low-paid work, often completed by individuals or family groups. This sector often faces severe social and economic exclusion, marginalization, disempowerment, and lack of citizenship/political voice in decision-making. This activity is widespread throughout urban areas of the developing world and increasingly in developed economies (Tremblay & Gutberlet, 2009), where the poor and marginalized depend on waste picking for their livelihood. Despite providing a valuable contribution to society and the environment, this sector is most often not recognized by government and the larger community. In general, the attitude of the formal waste management sector to informal recycling is negative, regarding it as backyard, unhygienic, and generally incompatible with modern waste management systems (Wilson et al., 2006). This activity is often associated with risk, unhygienic environments, criminal activities, homelessness, unemployment, and poverty, and backwardness. These views of recyclers as ‘backwards’ often perpetuate discrimination against the informal recycler leading to exclusionary policies regarding this sector in solid waste management (Sembiring & Nitivattananon, 2010). The organization of recyclers into groups, associations, and cooperatives is an important mobilizing strategy and has been instrumental in improving the livelihoods of recyclers and in validating their work (Tremblay & Gutberlet, 2009). These cooperatives provide an important organizing structure and have more capacity to form partnerships with government, and non-governmental sector, creating inclusive solutions to waste management. Cooperatives operate on principles of reciprocity and shared democratic decision-making and are in themselves vehicles of community empowerment and collective agency.
On 2 August 2010, President Lula da Silva of Brazil approved the National Solid Waste Act, a new policy recognizing the formal inclusion of independent recyclers and waste collectors. Other significant policy supports for the recycling sector include the National Sanitation Law in 2007 (11.445), where municipalities in Brazil were authorized, regardless of bidding, to contract recycling cooperatives to perform collection, processing, and marketing of recyclable solid waste (IPEA, 2010).
Slowly, municipal governments are recognizing the potential of including this sector in formal waste management programs, which has led to developing more supportive policies to stimulate and improve the working conditions of this sector (Wilson et al., 2006). Experiences such as in Londrina and Ribeirão Pires, Brazil, the local governments are working with recycling cooperatives in door-to-door pick up collection schemes where the recyclers are being remunerated for their work, have been supported with infrastructure, and are actively engaged in decision-making processes (Gutberlet, 2011). These experiences and models of inclusive waste management have been successful at improving waste management services to residents, promoting community awareness surrounding issues of waste and consumption and ultimately improving the livelihoods of recyclers.
Despite some of these model partnerships, these groups are still very vulnerable and face both periods of support and government retreat. With limited or in some cases no support from local government, many recyclers are not remunerated for their time collecting and processing materials, and in many cases, working in a cooperative does not equal more income compared to working informally.
Since 2005, recycling cooperatives, governments, NGOs, and universities from several districts in the metropolitan region of São Paulo have been collaborating with the PSWM project. The long-term aim is to increase responsible consumption and reduce the generation of waste, while at the same time recognizing the valuable service recycling cooperatives provide in inclusive and integrated waste management systems.
The PSWM project followed a participatory-based methodology and is governed by an organizing central committee composed of leaders from recycling cooperatives, academics, NGO leaders, and representatives from municipal governments. This bottom-up and participatory decision-making process has engendered mutual trust, respect, and solidarity among the PSWM members, providing for significant human capacity developments and strengthened cohesion between recycling groups and local governments.
Study sample and research design
In April 2008, a week-long train-the-trainers PV workshop was facilitated with 22 leaders (catadore/as) from recycling cooperatives, agents from the local governments, and local NGOs in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil. Over 100 h of footage was collected and between 2009 and 2010, four PVs between 12 and 15 min in length were co-produced following a rigorous participatory editing approach.
The PV workshop included teaching the basic skills on how to conceptualize a story, shoot footage, record audio, and edit material, and included developing major themes to be addressed/included in the videos. The major themes of the videos that came out of focus groups included: occupational health, validation and recognition of service, environmental sustainability and education, private sector development, and gender equality. Each participant had the opportunity to perform a different role in the pre-production and production of the videos. Before going in the field to shoot the clips, a detailed storyboard was collectively developed in each group to identify who would handle the camera, narrate, and give interviews. Each group filmed at their respective cooperative, interviewing colleagues and local business owners, demonstrating the process of collection and separation, and building local partnerships in the community. The clips reflect the perspectives of the participants, who collectively created the script and storyboard of the video.
The content of the videos varied among the groups. Two of the groups focused on highlighting the capacity of the recycling cooperatives to perform the service of door–door collection, interviewing both the catadore/as at the cooperative and residents and business owners in the community participating in the collection service. One of the groups also demonstrated in the video the production of the value-added product ‘Viral’ washing line, made out of recycled pop bottles that is sold on local markets. The third group decided to perform ‘the making of a catadore/a’ by recruiting an informal recycler from the community and inviting them to the cooperative, explaining the benefits of working collectively and asking them to join their group.
During the final day of the workshop, we held a post-production group editing session where a selection of footage was uploaded to a computer and as a group we went through the process of making a video. This included how to: log and capture selected clips, compressing video, adding titles, script, music and voice-over, and how to piece together the desired story. In order to collectively edit the videos, the groups used timesheets to highlight the video clips (with exact times) they wanted to include in the final video. The timesheet was an important tool to help the groups plan for the scene and encouraged a ‘shoot to edit’ procedure, which was an important element of PV in the training. This means that shots are recorded in a sequence that follows the storyboard. The entire co-editing process for the four videos took approximately 12 months to complete. There were various opportunities throughout editing process for participant feedback and collaboration. Once the final four videos were completed we held focus group sessions with each group to go over the videos and make changes. This was an important component since it was the first time the groups had seen the final product and could reflect as a group, and decide which clips would be included or not.
Three focus group sessions were then conducted with leaders of cooperatives and their municipal governments. Although four videos were created with the original four groups in the PV project representing four São Paulo regions, three municipalities were included in the research design: Mauá, Riberão Pires, and Diadema. The other participating municipality, São Bernardo do Campo, did not participate in a focus group discussion due to a lack of support from the local government to work with the community recycling sector.
The focus groups and subsequent interviews were then transcribed in Portuguese, translated into English, and theme coded to highlight extremes and commonalities within the data. In order to reserve the original verbatim of the data, all the material was translated following the transcriptions. Two research assistants, both native to São Paulo, Brazil, were hired over the period of a year to help transcribe and translate the material. The relation between variables and patterns in the data was constructed through content analysis (Cope, 2010). This form of analysis requires a determination of the underlying meanings of what was said, referred to as a form of open-coding (Charmaz, 2006). Coding is a process whereby data are broken down into component parts, examined, analysed, and categorized into concepts. For each interview and for the focus groups, significant passages were outlined and thematic elements extracted and categorized, corresponding to each major domain of interests. These included, for example, indicators of individual and community empowerment, knowledge mobilization, the impact of video as an education and awareness-building tool, waste management policy, challenges, and barriers for policy change.
Group interactions during the focus groups enabled the discussion and identification of issues that probably would not have come out in individual interviews or participant observation. The focus group process proved to be an observable context in which the power struggles and social structure of catadores/as were analysed. The leaders presented the videos and then engaged in participant-led discussions concerning their primary challenges and opportunities. The structure of focus groups was a unique opportunity for the recyclers to be the interviewers of the government, asking important questions that were presented in the videos and leading the discussions and solutions for action – primarily related to favourable policy change. In this way, the discussion flowed from the recyclers, rather than a more conventional meeting led by the researcher.
Situating the research: Mobilizing community knowledge
This research is informed and situated within two main areas of literature. First, the social theory discourse related to human agency, empowerment, and Knowledge Democracy, and second, the literature related to the use of digital media and communication technology for social change. For the purpose of this study, we look at how PV can be a mobilizing tool for community knowledge, political agency, and potentially as a vehicle for social movements.
Research results
Building critical self-reflection
The video showing our experience demonstrates ‘our ownership’ when speaking in the committee, speaking of our lives […] the recyclers are making their own experiences through video. Through comments, type documentary, it is the reality of each of the recyclers. (Eduardo, President of the National Recyclers Movement, São Paulo, November 2010)
Israel, Checkoway, Schulz, and Zimmerman (1994) describe empowerment ‘as the development of a critical understanding of the social and political contexts, and the cultivation of both individual and collective resources and skills for social action’ (p.152). Tengland (2008) goes beyond to include individual empowerment as the ability to control, deciding and acting, but also (importantly) having the opportunity, to (causally) influence, change, bring about, or end, processes and states of affairs, for example through physical manipulation (e.g., ploughing), communication (e.g., arguing for), or political influence (e.g., voting) […] for increased opportunity to constitute increased control, the individual also has to have some awareness of it. (p. 83)
It has been shown that through group frameworks, individuals can be accepted as equals, can express feelings and aspirations, and learn about themselves and their environment (Sadan, 2004). The results from the focus groups and in-depth interviews revealed a number of ‘empowering characteristics’ outlined below as a result of the process of the PV project.
Enhanced self-confidence
Self-confidence can be described as a belief about ones capacity to handle situations and tasks in life, and self-efficacy as the beliefs an individual holds regarding his or her power to affect situations – influencing both the power to face challenges and the choices that will be made (Zimmernan, 2000). Vilma, from the Vida Limpa
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program in Diadema, expressed that the PV project produced feelings of pride, for her accomplishments and for the groups. She expresses in the quote below during a focus group discussion, that the video project has increased her attitude about herself, her motivation and confidence as a recycler, and in recognizing her power and to ‘fight and defend a work that is beautiful and important’. I feel, flattered, very happy, sometimes I am at some place and they show this DVD, these images, I keep saying: ‘I filmed this part’. So Secretary, [directing her words to Ricardo] that video there, we, the recyclers, did it with the help of the Brazil–Canada project. And I learned a lot, and it's another motivation to be taking it to the population and saying that it was the recyclers who filmed it… I would like to say that today I am proud to be a recycler […] I learned to fight, to fight not only for the money, but to defend a work that is beautiful and the importance of our work to the world and to the future generations that will come. Not only for the moment we are living. (Vilma, catadora, Vida Limpa, Diadema, 1 December 2010)
Knowledge and leadership skills
This participatory video was very important for all leadership and those emerging, it was super important. If we could afford to do another workshop, another way for us to keep the practice of using the tool would be great, because this tool is very important to our growth here, at least for the ABC I saw growth increase considerably. (Monica, catadora from Diadema) It has motivated me. I found that it's really important that we record it, and when we went to sit with the mayor, the fact that we showed him a video that was made by recyclers, made all the difference in the level of discussion we had with him. I rediscovered myself particularly as a leader. On the issue of solid waste in Mauá it's not just the opinion of our worth, it is the question of commitment to the project because if they do not have commitment then who does? We are committed to the project with the cooperative, especially with the city […] it cannot fall into empty talk. So without any doubt it gave me new skills, I did not realize my potential, honestly, I did not realize it.
Penha, from Mauá, also expresses the benefits of using video to show their reality: I think a part of that video shows the day-to-day difficulties of a recycler, and without the aid of the video it would be almost impossible to understand. So I think the video helps in this function, to feel what is happening in the day-to-day of a recycler.
Critical self-reflection
While the action component may focus on achieving a direct benefit to the participant, Stringer (1999) highlights that it is also the learning generated from the action–reflection cycle that provides the critical data of action research. This process of self-reflection occurred at various times throughout the PV phases. The collaborative discussions during workshops enabled the groups to discuss common struggles, future objectives, and their realities while contributing to a collective knowledge that they could build on. This was reinforced during the filming stage, and during interviews. Armando reflects on his critical self-knowing during this process: I may know better as a human being, too, because you become a tougher person, but without a doubt this has made me more mature, more controlled, you know? I became less explosive, more understanding […] and without a doubt, this gave me great opportunities also to my self–knowing, and I did not know I would rise to live.
Building organizational capacity
Yes, I think it is very clear to see the empowerment, it is the ability of the small, the exploited, especially the scavengers, who are exploited by scrap dealers, and without any doubt in this issue of self-organization. We do not expect things to fall from the sky, it's obvious that we are still a little seed, right? It is gradually built. But I think there was a breakthrough, there was a major advance. (Armando, catador, Mauá) Because when we sat down with the Mayor to present our video, and we ended up leading the entire meeting to speak of everything we did, so I felt empowered by that video we showed him, to speak of our reality, to show in fact how we work, who we are, so I felt empowered […] I think this video has opened the door of the Mayor of Diadema for us, the day after we sat with him at this level to show him what we do, he started to look differently as us here in Diadema.
What is unique here in the deliberation process is that the recyclers are the ones asking the questions and leading the discussions, not the researchers. Ricardo, a government official in Diadema, also noted this important shift in power dynamics. ‘What’s cool here and in other places I visited (Bogota, Buenos Aires) is that the recyclers are the ones who speak, receive us, are prepared, and represent […] it is important to think about this consciousness’.
There are short- and long-term impacts of PV, particularly on its impact on public policy, a usual lengthy process. In the short term (during and straight after the project), one of the most significant outcomes was a strong sense of community among the recyclers, an experience of strength as a group to improve their livelihoods, and validation of their knowledge. Indeed, during the final evaluation of the six-year PSWM program in 2011, the recyclers noted the PV project as a significant highlight of the entire program.
Mobilizing community knowledge
Without a doubt in my opinion is to have an influence. That’s what I always say in my group, much of it is the objectives of the entire community, all members and cooperating partners, pickers and scavengers, now we come together, united by a focus on the idea, and maintain the principles of cooperative solidarity economy, popular participation, this whole thing, I believe we will, we will make very sure. (Armando, recycler, Mauá)
Hence, community is recognized both as the community of recyclers, as well as the communities in which the cooperatives are situated.
A shared sense of community can be explored through the creation of social capital – collective benefits derived from cooperation. Individuals and organizations within a strong community provide support for each other, address conflicts, and gain increased influence and control over the quality of life in their community (Israel et al., 1994). ‘Similar to an empowered organization, an empowered community has the ability to influence decisions in the larger social system […] hence empowerment at the community level’ (Israel et al., 1994, p. 152).
PV is well placed to mobilize community knowledge. Monica, a recycler from Diadema, explains that in Vila Popular 4 , we looked back at the DVD video, and the people [said]: ‘Gee, how cool, that we did this’, then the group was very happy to be there in that video and they felt stronger, because we saw all the groups, so we all felt stronger.
Here, Monica expresses that the process of seeing and showing the videos strengthened the identity and voice of the recycling community. Having a tangible product such as the video that represents the entire community can be a unique community empowerment tool. Likewise, for Eduardo, President of the Movimento Nacional dos Catadores de Materiais Recicláveis (MNCR) in São Paulo, this video was important for empowerment at the community and individual levels. There were many people who were happy, who wept with emotion through the video, through this dynamic […] It helps a lot to collaborate because sometimes people have some difficulty reading, and through video and image, they see the reality […] the person enters in the video […] and the dynamic that what we're doing is really cool, the dynamics involve everyone, no one stands outside.
Eduardo raises an important theme within the goal of inclusivity in Knowledge Democracy, whereby the recycling community can all be engaged, represented, and celebrated at all levels of capacity.
The PV videos proved to be influential in making positive change in the community from a grassroots level, in which a participatory structure of communication is central. These creative community-media outlets ‘permit local communities to question the ideologies which depreciate them, select the information which is truly important for them, and project more positive images of themselves’ (Servaes, 1999, p. 84). In this way, communities have the opportunity to influence policy in a broader and more collective way. Monica, for example, shared that a supportive political space was enabled through this project that had real community impact on policy, and furthermore that she was influential in that process.
Particularly, here in Diadema, I believe I have [influence]. I can speak for our community […] we recently had a meeting with the Mayor and I gave a status report that was the program of selective collection and it had a few things that were not legal and he [the Mayor] has totally changed. I gave arguments to him, I gave the documents to which was the focus of the problem and we solved it.
The videos were an impetus, a tool, or avenue to create space, opportunity, and enhanced leadership for Monica, and others, to make important change in their lives and the collective benefit of their community.
Summary and discussion
CBPAR strives to transform and inspire communities into agents of change through engagement and realizing their agency. This paper highlights how PV provides a creative and accessible tool for harnessing community knowledge and has the potential for empowering outcomes. Furthermore, drawing from theories of Knowledge Democracy as central to the praxis of PV in embracing diverse and often under-represented forms of knowledge. PV is well aligned within this arena to provide a practical tool to document, represent, and act in the co-creation of knowledge with communities who are not traditionally invited into political spaces of deliberation.
Some of the major outcomes of using PV as a tool for community knowledge mobilization and central to expanding processes for participatory development and Knowledge Democracy include:
Strengthened relationships between the cooperatives, as evidenced in collective action for social movements relating to waste incineration and models based on PSWM; Increased recyclers sense of civic engagement through active participation in waste management planning; Enhanced self-confidence, esteem and efficacy, new knowledge and skills, and developing a sense of critical reflection, all critical elements in realizing ones potential to make change; A tangible tool and ‘best practice’ model in both the pursuit of representing knowledge, often excluded or under-represented in decision-making, and in feeling a connection to that community, in a way that is led by the community; Capacity development for organizational capacity of the cooperatives, inevitably leading to greater mobilization and political efficacy; Positive change in the community from a grassroots level, in which a participatory structure of communication was central.
It is important to note here, that the outcomes of this project, and using PV in general, are just as important as the process. For it is within the process of self-inquiry and critical thinking that real change happens. Once this occurs, and is still occurring, barriers for action in making change at all levels are set in motion. Developing tools for leadership and avenues for collective mobilization has the potential to capture and nurture valuable knowledge often on the periphery, and which can have powerful impacts when brought into centre stage.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all the members of the PSWM project and participating partners and supporters of this research. A special thanks to our research supervisor and director of the PSWM project, Dr Jutta Gutberlet, Department of Geography, at the University of Victoria. The authors would also like to thank Davydd Greenwood for leading the review process of this article. Should there be any comments/reactions you wish to share, please bring them to the interactive portion (Reader Responses column) of the website: 
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Funding
This research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the International Development Research Council of Canada (IDRC), the generous support of John Lefebvre and the Centre for Cooperative and Community-based Economy (CCCBE) at the University of Victoria.