Culturization of fire in building, dwelling, and caring: reflections to address the intercultural management of fire

Abstract

In the context of climate change and forest fires, the lack of an intercultural approach in fire management policies, which incorporates the cultural knowledge of communities, has had negative consequences, posing a threat to the preservation of these practices within the communities. The objective of this article is to understand the relationship between culture and fire as a possibility for the integrated management of this element, addressing the challenges of community work in the key of Heideggerian dwelling, building, and caring. Phenomenology from Heidegger serves as our methodological guide. The comprehensive journey leads us to the conclusion that the term 'culture' is related to the experience of Heideggerian building and dwelling, as long as it is seen from the perspective of care and protection, akin to communal construction. Thus, we question the colonial oversight paradigm of prohibitive policies regarding fire use in communities. This article aims to promote governmental practices that integrate culture from its conceptual depth into participatory institutional programs for the design of fire management policies, adopting an intercultural approach. In this way, we will recognize pyrobiocultural territories as cores of knowledge through which people live and dwell with care from people's memory lens.