Por serem praticamente “invisíveis”, grande parte da população brasileira desconhece noções elementares sobre o tema das águas subterrâneas. Coincidentemente, ainda é muito limitado o nível de conhecimento científico dos aquíferos, requerendo investimentos em pesquisa, sobretudo em épocas de escassez, quando cidades, empresas e outros agentes sociais buscam modos de garantir o abastecimento. A pesquisa que gerou este artigo investigou causas da notável defasagem na transferência de conhecimento científico para a população sobre o tema. Foram realizados três ciclos de entrevistas, para recuperar respostas sobre a importância das águas subterrâneas para o País e para levantar argumentos sobre formas de aproximar a sociedade ao conhecimento sobre ciclo da água, sua dinâmica, fluxos envolvidos e interações entre esferas terrestres. Os resultados indicam que o desconhecimento dos fenômenos naturais e dos possíveis efeitos de atividades antrópicas sobre a natureza pode ser crítico no caso da gestão consciente e sustentável do recurso, porque torna a sociedade bastante vulnerável à decisões desprovidas de suporte na Ciência.

<p>Groundwater is the most extracted natural resource from the Brazilian subsoil. Although being a water-rich country holding the largest freshwater reserve (13%) on the planet, still more than 35 million Brazilians lack access to drinking water due to its unequal spatial distribution and access. Over half of Brazilian municipalities depend on groundwater totally or partially for their public water supply, being especially important in towns with up to 50 thousand inhabitants. There is still great potential for groundwater development in almost all regions. In addition, it is known that water insecurity falls more strongly women and girls, since they are responsible for the social reproduction of life, unpaid work that relies heavily on water as household duties and care work, deepening gender gaps. This research seeks a better understanding of gender inequalities in groundwater access and uses in Southeastern Brazil since a safe water supply is crucial for inequalities reduction. Therefore, an online questionnaire consisting of 24 questions was elaborated and applied to 316 households in three cities in Southeastern Brazil: Diamantina and Ouro Preto (Minas Gerais State), and Macaé (Rio de Janeiro State). This questionnaire addressed issues such as the socioeconomic profile of the inhabitants, water availability and use, gender differences in the division of domestic labour, where the water used comes from, the percentage of groundwater use, and the end-users knowledge about groundwater. The survey results show that 71% of the occurrences of water shortage and 78% of the reports about its bad quality (colour and odour) come from women. Also, women are the main ones responsible for performing domestic chores (80%) and also for solving the problem when water is missing (58%). Furthermore, about 26% of the interviewees could not say the origin of the water used, while among those who could, about 13% were supplied by groundwater. The spatial analysis of the data points to other socioeconomic issues: the high levels of water insecurity are associated with areas with a higher concentration of black and low-income populations. These results have the potential to encourage groundwater research and development, focusing on the inclusion of marginalized groups - especially impoverished black women and girls. It also brings to the light the need for policies to reduce inequalities, focusing on water security, that foster more effective participation of women ensuring them better opportunities.</p>

Since 2000, the Geo-School project has implemented successive modules, which have produced, applied and evaluated experimental teaching material, after careful selection of geological topics about some regions of the state of São Paulo (SP) in Brazil. For more than 20 years, technology has changed, and so has our access to it. In this sense, school-university cooperation allows school teachers to explore the cognitive benefits of the Earth Sciences, either by exercising geological reasoning and conceptualization, or to contextualize and improve learning. Looking to promote insights on multidisciplinary activities, the project identified significant methodological issues and the fact that the state government did not achieve gains in terms of innovation, despite heavy investments in equipment and software. This paper analyses successes and failures, errors and benefits of the project. The ongoing modules yield new approaches, thus enhancing the main contribution from the initiative: to explore Geosciences based on local reality to spark students’ and their community’s interest in it.