Area of Concentration

Territorial and Environmental Dynamics

The territorial and environmental dynamics of the Brazilian Northeast constitute the central axis of research and action of the Graduate Program in Geography at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC). Based on the specificities of Ceará’s territory, with its coastal landscapes in the north and inland formations in the southern arc of the state, the studies developed in the Program articulate multiple approaches to the Northeastern space. These approaches engage with different conceptions of landscape and territory, as well as with the transformation of the image and possibilities of the semi-arid Northeast, in its articulation along the coastal–inland (Litoral–Sertão) axis. In this way, foundational elements are constructed in the symbolic formation of the nation, beyond the dualities of Coastal/Inland, Urban/Rural, and others, influencing academic readings of the processes of modernization in the Brazilian territory.

During the colonial and republican periods up to the first half of the 20th century, the sertão was often characterized as a marginalized region, associated with drought, forced migration, and poverty. Its economic activities, based on extensive agro-pastoral cycles, contrasted with the sparsely occupied coast, focused on fishing and subsistence agriculture. Few coastal towns played a significant role in the circulation of goods, concentrating port activities aimed at export and the receipt of industrial products.

From the late 20th century onward, significant changes in the understanding and intervention in the Northeastern semi-arid region created opportunities to reconfigure the relations between coast and inland. Public and private initiatives spurred a new cycle of modernization, marked by investments in infrastructure, tourism, agroindustry, and urbanization. Programs such as PRODETUR-NE, the construction of dams, transposition channels, highways, railways, ports, and airports, as well as fiscal incentives to attract national and foreign companies, began reshaping the territory and the regional economy.

However, these transformations also caused intense socio-environmental impacts. The expansion of economic activities led to deforestation, soil degradation, desertification processes, and water resource pollution. Changes in land use and rural dynamics have contributed to population exodus, unplanned urban growth, the expansion of informal settlements, agrarian conflicts, unemployment, and violence.

The development promoted, although significant in economic terms, has still not been able to effectively reduce social and territorial inequalities, nor mitigate impacts on natural geosystems. It is within this context of profound transformations and territorial tensions that the Program’s studies expand their analytical scope beyond Ceará and the Northeast, establishing connections with other regional realities in Brazil and worldwide, such as the sertões of the Cerrado, the South American borderlands, the Amazon, and semi-arid regions of Africa and Latin America.

This comparative perspective strengthens the construction of a critical and innovative Geography, which, although grounded in local realities, projects itself on broader scales with the potential for interdisciplinary and international dialogue. The research, dissertations, theses, and technical reports produced by the Program have contributed to understanding and monitoring these transformations, justifying the consolidation of the concentration area Territorial and Environmental Dynamics and the updating of its research lines: Socio-environmental Studies of the Coastal Zone and Nature, Countryside, and City in the Semi-Arid Region. These lines aim to reflect the diversity of contemporary themes and challenges, reinforcing the Program’s commitment to the production of critical, applied, and socially relevant geographic knowledge.