The Open University Program experience and its contributions to social transformation

This paper is a reflection on the Open University Program that has been developed for twelve years in the Sanitation and Health Department of the Public Health National School/ Fiocruz. The Program is translated as a discussion movement concerning the roots of social inequality, looking for ways to diminish it, through the dialogue between the academic board and the poor local communities. Since its beginning, the Program has motivated the processes of community participation, playing an important role in improving life quality and environment for many poor communities. Using education as an instrument of promoting citizenship and community mobilization, it has empowered the communities neglected by government attention, to take proactive actions to maintain their health and dignity. The well-known results obtained by the Open University Program in Manguinhos, have highlighted its methodology - the research-action -, calling the attention of different public and private institutions and NGOs. It has also sensitized the direction of the Public Health National School in order to change it into an official Program of the school, representing its social commitment to the society. This paper is an analytic report of the Open University, highlighting its path, adopted methodology, main results and evaluation.