Water governance and public relations: the quality of public communications in the river basin committee of Alto Tietê

Abstract

A growing concern of public officials can be seen globally about how to deal effectively with the challenges arising from the sustainable exploitation of natural resources combined with productive mechanisms to the engagement of society in the formulation, implementation, execution and evaluation of public policies of that field. In Brazil, the legislation provides for the establishment of water management committees, participatory arenas for water management. This research project seeks to understand the mediated communication processes established by the Water Management Committee of the High Tiete (CBH-AT), in the São Paulo State, and to determine strategies of communication and public relations capable of improving the dynamics of information and communication practices present in their activities. Specific objectives are: a) to investigate the digital communication mechanisms operated by the CBH-AT, in order to characterize the quality of the information flows disseminated to promote the articulation of social actors and the construction of perspectives around the performance of that participatory institution; b) to characterize the different forms of mediated communication underpinning the interactions among the various social actors involved in CBH-AT, in order to understand the mechanisms that enable the activities of that public body and identify the procedures that help or hinder its performance as a participatory instance; c) to identify opportunities in the mediated communication practices of the CBH-AT, where public relations practices may contribute to boost the performance of this space of policy deliberation.