What does the future hold for relations between the European Union and Latin America in an era of unprecedented geopolitical threats, which are leading both regions to advocate for strategic autonomy? Approved under the CAPES/COFECUB Programme call for proposals for the period 2026–2029, the AURELA project aims to examine the tension between autonomy and cooperation across three critical areas: Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Security and Emerging Technologies, and Fundamental Rights and Values. Involving 20 experts from French institutions (Université de Tours, Sciences Po Paris, Sciences Po Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Université Clermont Auvergne) and Brazilian institutions (Federal University of Pernambuco and State University of Rio de Janeiro), under the coordination of Professors Kevin Parthenay (UT) and Rafael Mesquita (UFPE), this initiative aims to deliver 37 outputs, including research, training and dissemination activities.

Developed in partnership with the Laboratory for Geopolitical Studies of the Legal Amazon (coordination) and the South American Political Observatory, this research project is dedicated to investigating the perceptions, interests and actions of the different political actors who have the power to influence sustainable development in the region. In one of its main contributions to the initiative, the Observatory has produced a series of articles published in issues of Cadernos do OIMC. The goal of this series is to analyse the agendas and interests that extra-regional powers, intergovernmental organisations and multilateral forums are currently expressing in relation to the Pan-Amazon region, with a view to establishing a base of public information that will make it possible to assess political convergences and divergences between the various actors who have the capacity to influence the course of these territories. For the first issue of the series, our team produced a report covering the main themes and results of COP 28, with an emphasis on issues related to the Amazon and Brazil’s role in the Convention.
The project is funded by the Rio de Janeiro State Research Foundation (FAPERJ), under the Amazon+10 Initiative, and also includes studies by OPSA on the South American Amazon countries and LEGAL on the Brazilian Amazon states.

Conducted in partnership with the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), this project coordinated by Prof Ana Paula Tostes focuses on climate obstruction and foreign policy from a comparative perspective, seeking to create international cooperation networks and producing research, publication and seminars in cooperation with German researchers. Actions and partnerships provided by this type of project are important for the integration of Brazilian scholars in the global epistemic community, fostering debate, mobility and interaction between researchers from the North and South, all this aiming at joint and innovative reflection on climate obstruction in in key emerging countries.

The research entitled “Complex Realities and Environmental Knowledge: methodological alternatives in environment and society” develops empirical studies and theoretical reflections seeking to understand the processes of social construction of the environment related to the following themes: political ecology; socio-environmental conflicts and vulnerabilities; local development; public policy; environmental education and ethics; tourism and procedural methodologies, aiming to affirm the transformative and critical potential of environmental knowledge that propels the social actor to unveil reality, collective political action and individual autonomy.

My interest in the topic of climate change unfolds from social theory and, in particular, this moment, from political sociology, in addition to being, in itself, an issue of paramount importance for the contemporary world. To the extent that modernity, at the heart of its imaginary and in its institutions, as well as practices, defined “nature” as external to “society”, the former only appears as a possible object of political intervention. How to deal with this problem theoretically and practically, in face of the enormous challenges related to the trajectory of global warming, among other problems generated by climate change, is, therefore, what especially concerns me.

Analysing the European green agenda is based on increasing relevance of the theme in Europe in two main aspects. The first one refers to the implementation of the European Commission\’s “Green Agreement”, launched in December 2019, and the second refers to the increase in electoral support for green parties, identified in elections in Europe that same year. The “Green European Agreement” aims to create, within the framework of the Union\’s regional policies, a series of initiatives and legislative packages that promote the transformation of Europe into the first continent with a neutral climate impact by 2050. At the same time, we have seen civil society support to this agenda by increasing votes for green parties, both in national elections and in the election to the European Parliament. Would the green agenda be a sustainable alternative to ideological extremism and a reflection of changes in focus on environmental impacts related to the economy and immigration? This project will develop research activities, course proposals and lectures.