Participation of society in environmental decision-making processes: the cases of the State Public Prosecutor's Office and the Municipal Council of Environment Defense in São Carlos – SP

Abstract

The emergence of environmental issues has been accompanied by worldwide debates about the paradigm of sustainability as a way to equate conflicts arising from the relationship between human development and the environment. In this regard, it is understood that the participation of society in decision-making processes is one of the main aspects for the transition to a sustainable model of development. In Brazil, the Federal Constitution and the National Environmental Policy offer a prominent place for the participation of society in strategies to protect the environment, with specific functions reserved for the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) and the Environmental Councils, in addition to ensuring spaces for the direct representation of civil society. Adopting the perspective that the effectiveness of social participation is directly related to the distribution of decision-making power, we sought to analyze the extent to which social participation is promoted within these agencies (using the categories of non-existent, weak, and effective) and to identify the respective intervening factors. The work adopts a mixed research approach, using the analysis of the documentation collected for 276 decision making processes that took place over a decade in the municipality of São Carlos (SP), complemented by records made during meetings and hearings, and the use of computational tools for data interpretation. The results indicate different levels of participation, and it is not possible to establish a pattern among the categories used for the classification of the processes, which allows us to reaffirm the influence of context as an element of great importance for the effectiveness of society's participation in environmental decision-making processes. Even so, the evidence allows us to conclude the importance of both - MP and councils - as essential elements for society to be informed and have a decisive influence on the decisions made.