Public communications, digital democracy and ecology: the quality of information about environmental sustainability on government web portals

• Grant number: 13/22772-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: March 01, 2014
• End date: February 29, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Communications - Public Relations and Propaganda
• Principal Investigator: Danilo Rothberg
• Grantee: Danilo Rothberg
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura, Artes e Comunicação (FAAC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant(s): 15/50070-0 - Narratives of water (now): a cross-cultural exploration of digital hydro-citizenship in the UK and Brazil, AP.R SPRINT

Abstract

As government web portals become more complex and comprehensive, scientific research advances by seeking to understand their characteristics, differences and shortcomings. The rapid evolution of concepts and practices of e-government and digital democracy requires the formulation of investigations to verify the occurrence of new developments still little known. Particularly in the field of Communication, questions have been posed in respect of the fulfillment of the right to information by government web portals, related to the commitment of the public management with sustainable development. This research project proposes, as an expected result, to identify the potential contribution from public communications about digital environment and sustainability to the strengthening of citizenship, considered in its dimension of exercising the right to information. Specifically, we expect to obtain: a) A comprehensive assessment of the quality of the achievements of digital public communications as a source of information about the performance of state and federal public policies for the environmental sustainability, facing the demands of social and economic development and public investment in areas such as nature conservation, water supply management, water resources, solid waste, biodiversity, conservation units, land use and environmental licensing policies. b) A systematic characterization, in comparative perspective, of the context, scope and depth of the information on policies for environmental sustainability available in government web portals of the 27 Brazilian federal units and the Ministry of the Environment regarding six categories of analysis: background and diagnoses; purposes; norms and standards; publics and sectors benefited; social impacts; economic impacts. c) The formulation, in face of the findings about the quality of the digital public communication about environmental sustainability, of management strategies of communication to government web portals, capable of improving the availability of information on the performance of the public policies of that sector. (AU)