One of SUFICA’s key objectives is to make the projects’ findings widely available and to work in collaboration with non-academic partners. Fabiana Silva from the SUFICA project, has been working with local schools and university students in Brazil to increase pupils’ awareness of ecological issues and involvement in conservation.

In Brazil, the Ministry of Science and Technology coordinates a programme known as INCT (National Institutes for Science and Technology), which aims to bring research groups together to help secure sustainable development of the country. One theme within this programme concentrates on ecological matters, and is known as INC- IN-TREE (Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies of Ecology and Evolution), which aims to develop projects in ecology and evolution and communicate them to non-academic audiences. INC IN-TREE is also one of SUFICA’s partners.

Fabiana coordinates a research group which aims to broadly communicate science and to increase the engagement of the general public with conservation to help Caatinga’s pollinator biodiversity. As part of this work, the SUFICA project was presented along with “Guardiões dos Sertões” during the Bioeconomy Territorial Week of Semiarid Sergipe, at the National Science and Technology Week 2019 (CNPq). SUFICA’s work was discussed to demonstrate that the goals of sustainable production with high yields and biodiversity conservation can be both simultaneously achieved through ecological intensification in semi-arid agro-ecosystems. This work was supported by A.B.E.L.H.A. and INCT-IN-TREE.

Fabiana ensures to involve students at various stages of their career in her projects, and earlier this year she watched a Master student, Cleverton da Silva, from UFS, present his work during the XI Brazilian Congress of Agroecology held in Sergipe. Cleverton presented the results of his work on a project which works with small farmers in irrigated areas in semi-arid Sergipe, which is coordinated by Fabiana Silva with the support of FAPITEC-SE.