Abstract
Brazil has embedded the socio-ecological learning process in the participatory management of river basin councils through its “sister laws” on water and the environment. GTHIDRO or, Grupo Transdisciplinar de Pesquisas em Governança da Água e do Território/Tecnologias Sociais para a Gestão da Água (TSGA), a transdisciplinary group of researchers at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, took these laws and developed new interpretations of socio-ecological learning. They incorporated an ethical component and a dynamic and complex program of participatory “cycles of learning” that brought committees and communities to a common understanding of socio-ecological processes, laws, and potential for collective action. Using resilience theory as a framework for understanding how to sustain and enhance adaptive capacity (Folke et al., 2002), this paper analyzes the processes of socio-ecological learning, including focus groups, physical dynamics that blend the conceptual with the physical, visioning, socio-ecological mapping, project planning and community celebrations through interviews, meeting notes, and written documents of the six case studies. The potential for socio-ecological learning as a tool for building the capacity of basin committees (Turvo, Ermo, Nova Veneza, Orleans e Braço do Norte in the southern part of the state, Urubici in the mountainous region, and Concordia in the middle eastern part) to plan and implement projects is substantiated as an important tool for building the resilience of the combined systems. The case studies indicate that their greatest achievement is the Strategic Planning Model for Sustainable Development, entitled PEDS, which diagrams how to improve the management core group’s capacity to plan and implement projects of their own design, using strategies they have learned and networks they have established in their watershed and state. While the potential for conflict over water and energy between the various economic sectors is strong in Brazil and elsewhere, with the GTHIDRO model the potential for collaboration on resource issues becomes even stronger. Observação dos Editores: O artigo foi publicado online em 16 de julho de 2014. Em 30 de julho de 2014, o arquivo foi substituído para inclusão de nomes de coautores.
Highlights
Brazil has embedded the socio-ecological learning process in the participatory management of river basin councils through its “sister laws” on water and the environment initiated since 1997
“above all, is a cognitive process which expands and transforms the consciousness [of participants] and makes possible the formation and qualification of participants” to understand the complexities of socio-ecological systems within the context of development (Palavizini, 2006, p. 155-156, my translation). To understand how this bundle of laws can be applied to the problems of existing watersheds, we turn to the work of a transdisciplinary group of researchers called GTHIDRO or, Grupo Transdisciplinar de Pesquisas em Governança da Água e do Território at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), who have allied with research and extension units of the Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária and Extensão Rural de Santa Catarina and the Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agro
6) We evaluate the role of social learning as a resilience tool by comparing its use within the PEDS (Planejamento Estratégico do Desenvolvimento Sustentável or Strategic Planning for Sustainable Development) model to its use in other communities in Brazil, Europe and the U.S 7) we discuss what can be learned from the results of our research and suggest which social learning strategies might be applicable elsewhere in communities facing water or energy crises
Summary
Brazil has embedded the socio-ecological learning process in the participatory management of river basin councils through its “sister laws” on water and the environment initiated since 1997. The Brazilian government has created a bundle of federal laws focused on water as a common or shared good and the social participation of stakeholders in their implementation: the National Laws of Sustainable Development, Environmental Education, Water Resources, Conservation Units, and City Statute, which together create an integrated vision of development of natural resources. The new water management model focuses on the river basin committee composed of representatives from water user groups, government, and organized civil society, with participatory or “social” learning as a key method for implementing this water policy within the context of sustainable development. “above all, is a cognitive process which expands and transforms the consciousness [of participants] and makes possible the formation and qualification of participants” to understand the complexities of socio-ecological systems within the context of development To understand how this bundle of laws can be applied to the problems of existing watersheds, we turn to the work of a transdisciplinary group of researchers called GTHIDRO or, Grupo Transdisciplinar de Pesquisas em Governança da Água e do Território at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), who have allied with research and extension units of the Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária and Extensão Rural de Santa Catarina and the Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agro-
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