Municipal Atlantic Forest Plan in São Paulo: Participative Workshops as Part of the Planning Process

Abstract

In 2014, the Municipality of São Paulo started the implementation of the Atlantic Forest Municipal Plan, driven by the Atlantic Forest Law and by the revision of the Master Plan that took place in the same year. This article analyzes the process of conducting participatory workshops to identify potential priority areas for conservation and recovery of the Atlantic Forest vegetation in the city of São Paulo as part of the planning activities. The case study relied on information from documents and records, as well as direct and participant observation, collected during the preparation and execution of the workshops. The topics analyzed were: the preparation and organization of workshops, including the political and strategic contexts and communication with stakeholders; the workshops accomplishment, the participation and the results achieved, the lessons learned and the consequences for the whole planning process. Thus, on the one hand it was observed that the workshops captured important information; however, there was a limitation in the number of participants. The limitation resulted from the adoption of a tight schedule coming from the political context of the city at the time, as well as from the number of professionals available and suitable for the workshops. A positive aspect was the improvement in the method promoted between successive workshops. It is concluded that the workshops allowed aggregating the technical knowledge and the local population knowledge, what can be included in the next steps. The presented difficulties refer to obstacles to articulation with other areas of public administration and other agents.