Interinstitutional Academic Partnerships

The default of internationalization undertaken by Geography, in particular by Universidade Federal do Ceará, denotes representative dynamics of actions and interactions with international institutions which requalifies time. From the establishment of the undergraduate program (1964) at its beginning, to the implementation of postgraduate program (2004), in the recent past, are glimpsed two standard genres, one marked by asymmetric dynamics and other by the quest and implementation of symmetry.

The Initial Asymmetrical Dynamics

The constitution of Geography in Brazil was strongly marked by the bond established with the French School of Geography, when we denote the pioneering role of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP), which ended up being replicated, keeping its proportions, Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC).

In Universidade Federal do Ceará, the contact with the French School took place in the learning undertaken in two areas. First in drafting the first political pedagogical project, resulting from the contribution made by Jean Tricart.According to the possibility offered to staff training in France (doctoral and post-doctoral degrees), a charecteristic continued in time and incorporating other schools, mainly the Spanish school, and then the American and German schools.

The latter domain unfolds in teaching staff composition at Universidade Federal do Ceará at the Geography course, marked by a significant number of Professors trained abroad and who composed the initial staff of our Graduate Professors. Of the eight Professors initially involved in the creation of the Master Degree in Geography, six of them conducted doctoral studies abroad (France and Spain respectively four two teachers) and three post-doctoral (two in France and one in the United States of America).
This fact has been reinforced, after Professors taking part of post-doctoral degrees in the United States (1) and in Spain (1). Even today this is a mark of our program in the composition of the staff of educators as the origin of the doctoral training is highlighted (approximately 1/3), compared to other programs on a national scale.

The process of training our staff abroad (PhD and especially post-doctoral) constitutes the foundation on which the exchanges established with foreign countries, and in another domain if present. From the initial contact, the student condition and / or supervised training, they present first links ohf establishment of opportunities to seek symmetry and even before the postgraduate degree was created.It refers to the first initiatives of establishment of larger projects and collating the research domain and consequently relationships establishments as researchers. In this area we highlight agreements established with Europe, specifically France and Germany.

France was our main partner, with implementation of agreements with the Université Paris VIII and Université Paris IV. With the first institution established itself, from 1995 to 1999 a CAPES / COFECUB agreement, consist of scientific and university cooperation in the urban domain and urban geography around the theme Transformations and Urban Mutations. In this agreement changes were implemented to carry out the exchange between the Department of Geography and the Institut Français d'Urbanisme, respectively represented by the Planning Laboratory of Urban and the Regional Laboratoire Théorie des Mutations Urbaines.

Several activities were carried out during this period: technical missions with receiving group of French researchers in Brazil and sending group of Brazilian researchers to France; conducting international seminar entitled Fronts d 'Urbanisation involving Professorrs / researchers from the Department and the Institut Français d'Urbanisme; PhD (1) and post-doctoral (2) colleagues in France, providing the existing infrastructure at the Institut Français d'Urbanisme.

In relation to the second institution, approved in 2002, at the request of the academic unit of Geography of Université Paris IV (Sorbonne), an international agreement with the Federal University of Ceará, which was implemented by the "Department of Geography".

With this exchanges were expanded in both directions (Brazil / France and France / Brazil) with conducting post-doctorate (1), scientific research and internships. Since then, we are receiving French professors missions issued pursuant the completion of the required field stage (Enseignementsv obligatoires et optionnels) of UFR of Geography course Géographie et Aménagement.
This cooperation involved professors, researchers and graduate and postgraduate students, which allowed the exchange of experience at all levels of academic production - teaching, researching and extension.From 1998 to 2002 it was signed with Germany the cooperation agreement with the Technical University Munich Weihenstephan (Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan – TUM), under the supervision of the Chair Landscape Ecology.

Titled WAVES (Water Availability, Vulnerability of Ecosystems and Society in the Northeast of Brazil). The result of the exchange was emphasized in workshops, in which the Technical University Munich Weihenstephan dealt with the simulation model and the database for the GIS and the UFC, from the description of the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems, developed the index desertification and degradation.It culminated in the production of a work of reference, conveyed by Springer in 2003: "GAISER, T .; Krol, M .; Frischkorn, H. (Eds.).Global Change and Regional Impacts.Berlin: Spring- Verlag, 2003. "Although characterized as first steps in the search for symmetry, this intention could only be leveraged with the creation of Graduate in Geography, the master's level (2004) and, as a result, the PhD degree (2008).

Toward the Symmetry

The Postgraduate degree allows involvement in bolder designs and characterize the propitious ambience to symmetrical exchanges between institutions. The amalgama aforementioned was the starting point to the strengthening of relations with institutions that were already partners, more specifically, with the French School.
The convention signed with the Université Paris IV (Sorbonne) is continued, which resulted in the realization of scientific expedition in 2011, involving a group of 40 people, professors and students graduating from UFR Geographie Course.
The aim was to geographically analyze the dynamics and problems of many of Ceará spaces (Coast, mountains and hinterland) from the social and environmental point of view. Under the overall coordination of Prof.Dr. Jean -Pierre Peulvast and local Prof.Dr. Eustógio Dantas (UFC) and Prof.Msc.Alexsandra Oliveira Magalhaes (Universidade Regional do Cariri), had the effective involvement of Jean-Robert teachers (Université Paris IV é Paris IV - Sorbonne), José Borzacchiello da Silva, Antonio Jeovah Andrade Meireles, Maria Clelia Lustosa Costa and Maria Elisa Zanella's our program.
From these expeditions, relationships have been consolidated between our Postgraduate with the Université Paris IV and enabling: i.Our action as Visiting professors at the Institut de Géographie - professors Vanda Claudino Sales and Eustógio Dantas, respectively in 2006 and 2008; ii.Prof. Participation Jean-Pierre Peulvast since 2004, taking part of the faculty of our program, with contributions in the participation and coordination of research, in offering courses and guidance of postgraduate e PhD students; iii.Conducting of doctoral studies of former students of the master (1 in 2013) and post-doctoral of professors (1 in 2010); iv.Scientific production internationally and disseminated in consolidated journals in the field (Géomorphologie, Geomorphology, Hérodote et Geographie et Culture) and in a book by Springer (PEULVAST, J.-P .; BÉTARD, F. landforms and Landscape Evolution of the Equatorial Margin of Northeast Brazil.Springer, 2015).
From the French matrix, in 2015, it should be noted directed invitation to one of our permanent professors, Prof. Borzacciello José da Silva, to give a lecture at the First International Conference Franco-Brazilian, sponsored by the International Geographical Union and Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, and the International Transition Seminar sociale et environnementale of agricoles systeme agro-alimentaires au Brésil sponsored by Université Rennes 2.is consolidated in these terms, our performance in events involving groups of French studies.
Also in 2015, we started a co-supervision with the Université du Maine, Professor in the person François Laurent, with a project that analyzes the border conflicts Brazil - France (Amapá-French Guiana) Brazilian fisherfolk. Of the initial amalgama, presented above, the profile of partnerships diversifies with the consolidation of the Graduate Diploma in Geography, Universidade Federal do Ceará. Several matrices internationalization are consolidated, it is possible to present them by continents: Europe, America and Africa.
At the end, It stands out the covenants and the dual nature projects, to involve countries from various continents and other institutions, and the university.