Soundscape Management: Pathways for Preserving Environmental Health and the Sonorous Heritage of the Manguinhos Campus

This article presents a protocol to be applied in a research project developed in the areas of historical, landscape and architectural preservation of the Campus of a Brazilian federal public institution, with the aim of providing subsidies for the strategic planning, management and preservation of sound heritage. The campus is characterized by extensive green areas surrounded by expressways with heavy vehicle traffic. Neglecting the acoustic quality of preserved areas compromises quality of life, makes open spaces underutilized and affects the ecosystem. Soundscape management requires both qualitative and quantitative approaches to support decision-making processes. The sound mapping, combined with cartophony, serves as a tool for developing environmental management policies and preserving sonorous heritage. In Europe, it has been carried out since the 1990s and became mandatory in 2002. However, this field remains underexplored in Brazil. Thus, the protocol is the result of the first stage of the aforementioned project and combines technical and participatory approaches to be used, such as georeferencing of sound records, measured levels, notes of perceived effects and characterization of each site, noise maps developed with predictive acoustic software, and quantification of critical receptors.