Public relations and sustainability: a study of communication committees of river basins in the state of São Paulo

Abstract

The formulation and management of public policies which currently address the requirement of sustainability have begun to engage the various social sectors, aiming at increasing the efficiency and efficacy of policies. In Brazil, responsibilities have been shared among the many levels of government and social sectors. In the Sao Paulo state, the river basin committees represent important progress towards establishing participatory public spaces, in a shared management system of natural resources. This research project proposes to indicate strategies of communication and public relations which can contribute to the improvement of information flows and practices of mediated and direct communication existing among social actors in the Committees of River Basin Tiete-Batalha and Tiete-Jacare. Specific objectives are: a) to characterize the communicative processes within selected committees and their technical chambers, to identify procedures and means of dissemination of information generated within these bodies which are relevant to the formation of opinions and perspectives of social actors involved; b) to characterize the various relationships existing between social actors within the selected committees and their technical chambers, to identify mechanisms that facilitate or hinder their performance as participatory bodies; c) to identify opportunities within the communicative processes of the selected committees and their technical chambers, so that public relations practices can contribute to boost the performance of these instances of political participation; d) to propose strategies of communication management that can help to facilitate the dissemination of information and the relationships among social actors in the selected committees.