Collaborative Governance, Public Policy Design and Integration and the Sustainable Development Goals: Concepts, instruments and processes to promote sustainable and resilient development in the tourist city of São Bento do Sapucaí

• Grant number: 23/10192-6
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research in Public Policies
• Start date: February 01, 2024
• End date: January 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - Public Policies
• Principal Investigator: Klaus Frey
• Grantee: Klaus Frey
• Host Institution: Centro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciências Sociais Aplicadas (CECS). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Bruno Peregrina Puga ; Jutta Gertrud Anna Gutberlet ; Leandro Luiz Giatti ; Maria Angelica Toniolo ; Pedro Henrique Campello Torres ; Pedro Roberto Jacobi ; Rafael Barbosa de Aguiar ; Rafael Olimpio Silva ; Sara Talita Sales silva
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/14484-4 - Development of an Innovative Methodology for Social Participation adapted and applied in the municipality of São Bento do Sapucaí, BP.TT; 24/07440-0 - Law, public policies, and sustainable tourism: the importance of law and public policies to ensure ecosystem services and common resources for tourist use, BP.MS; 24/13395-8 - Identifying data to strengthen sustainable and resilient development in the tourist town of São Bento do Sapucaí-SP, BP.TT; 24/07979-7 - The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Indicators for promoting sustainability and local resilience, BP.PD

Abstract

The development of the city of São Bento do Sapucaí, located in the Serra da Mantiqueira, is largely based tourism and family farming, suffering increasing urban pressure with real estate speculation and a spreading of settlements to ecologically vulnerable areas, increasingly putting at risk the traditional culture of the region, the natural wealth and resources fundamental to the development and quality of life of the city. The present project is based on the fundamentals of action research, involving City Hall and University, which aims to develop collaborative governance practices for the design and implementation of a sustainable tourism policy. Based on the Sustainable Development Goals, the project aims to co-create a theoretical-analytical and strategic-procedural framework to guide public policies in an integrated way towards sustainable transformation, with tourism as the main starting point for change.From the point of view of public management, it is expected to (i) improve the integration processes between municipal departments, as well as between State and society through collaborative governance; (ii) advance the transformation of local development in an integrated manner, anchored in sustainable tourism; (iii) contribute with sustainable governance experiences for the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda at the local level; and (iv) contribute to the qualification and awareness of public managers and technical staff, town councilors and members of local public policy councils, as well as representatives of civil society and local communities, in order to strengthen sustainable environmental governance.From an academic-scientific point of view, it is expected (1) to develop a theoretical-analytical framework to conceptually and strategically support transformation processes towards sustainability; (2) based on a critical assessment of institutional arrangements, collaborative practices and municipal legislation, to develop a set of principles and strategies capable of facilitating the integration of public policies, improving public governance in terms of efficiency/effectiveness and democracy/social inclusion, and better aligning the municipal legal framework with the challenges that municipalities face and will face in the future; (3) contribute to a conception of tourism (the result of a co-creative process between Science, Public Management and Civil Society) and sustainable local development, considering trade-offs (externalities and synergies) with other public policies; (4) to develop a strategic instrument oriented to public action guiding public policies and anchored in a set of indicators deduced from the Sustainable Development Goals and Targets; this instrument should assist the Municipality in evaluating proposals for laws and public policies in relation to their contribution to the SDGs and to a more sustainable tourism and local development; (5) to carry out theoretical and practical workshops contributing to the capacity building of the technical and management staff of the Municipality and other significant actors, providing, in addition, ideas and concrete proposals for the elaboration of the agenda of commitments to be assumed by the municipality. (AU)