Abstract

FERREIRA, Vinícius Lauriano  and  ROTHBERG, Danilo. Communication and Interculturality in Water Governance in Brazil. anagramas rumbos sentidos comun. [online]. 2025, vol.23, n.46, a18.  Epub July 30, 2025. ISSN 1692-2522.  https://doi.org/10.22395/angr.v23n46a18.

Efficient public administration relies on shared views favoring synergies instead of clashes and engagement instead of paralysis. Among the various areas of public policy, environmental sustainability, in particular, can be even more reliant on intercultural communication concepts and practices so that the relationship between social sectors with different perspectives is facilitated. In countries such as Brazil, where water governance includes deliberative processes open to the participation of the whole society, such a relationship is seen in river basin committees as intercultural spaces. In those spaces, when negotiating diverse social agents' interests and aims, different visions regarding water use and management are changed and challenged. This research work examined the intersubjective relationships built at a river basin committee of special importance for the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Our goal was to investigate, following a semi-structured interview methodology, how intercultural relationships between social agents in a specific committee influenced their decision-making ability. Fifteen interviews were carried out with members of the three sectors of the committee (State officials, mayors, and civil society). The analysis allowed us to suggest opportunities to improve the committee's deliberative process through the case study technique. Findings suggest that the opportunities to improve committee decision-making ability lie in strengthening their practical authority through intercultural valorization and recognition approaches among their members.

Keywords : governance; environmental management; stakeholders; social participation, intercultural dialogue; communication planning; intergroup relations.

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