Open spaces as biocultural heritage: perspectives on cultural decentrality, resilience and sustainability in Rio de Janeiro’s metropolitan landscape

Abstract This article examines how social participation contributes to the conservation of two open spaces in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro—the Rocinha Ecological Park (PER) and the Nova Iguaçu Municipal Natural Park (PNMNI)—emphasising processes through which peripheral communities reappropriate the biocultural value of heritage. On the basis of the premise that public use is essential for reconciling conservation and sustainability, this study questions the prevailing dichotomy between nature and culture in heritage management. It employs a multimethod approach combining literature review, systematic direct observation, and document analysis of community and university outreach experiences. The empirical outputs are qualitative matrices (governance mechanisms, problems, and potentialities) that systematically label and categorise field data. These matrices are then analytically examined to understand governance mechanisms, value negotiation, collective outcomes and the production of resilience with respect to the two peripheral parks. Grounded in the concepts of biocultural heritage, living heritage, and cultural decentrality, this study proposes an integrated interpretation of nature and culture, challenging fragmented and elitist heritage frameworks. The findings reveal vulnerabilities the two open spaces share, such as the lack of governmental coordination and the symbolic exclusion of peripheral areas, while also highlighting the potential of local and academic networks in developing collaborative management models. It concludes that the resilience and sustainability of metropolitan landscapes depend not only on legal instruments but also on the recognition of socioenvironmental rights, the appreciation of local knowledge, and the adoption of shared governance models, within which the biocultural perspective emerges as a central strategy to foster spatial justice and strengthen collective identities.