Study Tour:  Partnerships for Local Governance Innovations in Brazil

2-16 February, 2003 Photo Source: http://www.iinesofflight.net

Brief Summary:

The study tour involved a six-person Philippine delegation led by the IPD.  Delegates were:  Carmel Abao (IPD Deputy Director), Charmaine Ramos (head of IPD’s Development Watch Unit),  Tomasito Villarin (Executive Director of IPG),  Maritona Victa-Labajo (Board Member of the Active Citizenship Foundation or ACF),  Hon. Exuperio Lloren (Mayor of Jagna, Bohol),  and Hon. Restituto Cacha (Vice-Mayor of Victoria, Laguna).   Two other Filipinos,  Joel Rocamora (Executive Director of IPD) and Daniel Edralin (Chairperson of the Alliance of Progressive Labor) joined the delegation at the start of the tour,  in Sao Paulo and Brasilia.

The two-week (February 2-16, 2003) itinerary of the team was organized by POLIS of Logolink Latin America in coordination with IPD.   The tour involved meetings with government officials, civil servants and civil society groups in 3 local governments and members of the national government in Brasilia.  It started with an IPD-POLIS meeting in Sao Paulo followed by trips to Brasilia (the capital), Porto Alegre (in the South), Belem (in the North) and Santo Andre (in Sao Paulo).  The tour ended with a brief evaluation of the study team with Zuleika Arashiro, POLIS coordinator for the study visit.

The visit was guided by a learning agenda previously agreed upon by IPD, POLIS and LOGOLINK. 

Report of Activities

Feb 2-3: Arrival in Sao Paulo

The team arrived in Sao Paulo on a Sunday, February 2.  After a grueling flight from Manila to London to Sao Paulo, the team rested upon arrival.  The first activity took place the following day in POLIS.  The team was welcomed by the POLIS staff led by its Executive Director, Jose Vaz and Zuleika Arashiro.  After sharing introductions and pleasantries, briefings took place.  Zuleika briefed the group about the itinerary,  Nilde ____ talked about participatory budgeting (PB) in Porto Alegre and Ana Claudia shared insights from her research on participatory initiatives in Brazil.   In between these meetings,  POLIS organized lunch for the team.  Others present during the meeting were Joel Rocamora and Daniel Edralin from the Philippines and Fabio (interpreter of the team for the Belem leg).   The day with POLIS ended with a tour of the POLIS office.  The team left for Brasilia 8 pm of the same day.

February 4-5:  Meetings in Brasilia

On February 4, the team met with Mr. Vicente Trevas,  Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) National Secretary for Institutional Affairs,  Mr. Olivio Dutra,  former mayor of Porto Alegre (initiator of participatory budgeting) now Minister of Cities,  and Mr. Cesar Alvarez,  Deputy Secretary to the Presidency.   These meetings provided the team with information and insight on PT principles that have guided their local governance work. 

The team was supposed to meet with Ines Magallanes of SNIA but this meeting was not clinched due to Ms Magallanes’ hectic schedule.

On the eve of February 5,  the team met briefly to process learnings of the previous days and sharpen questions for meetings in Porto Alegre. 

February 6-7:  Porto Alegre

The team left Brasilia for Porto Alegre on February 6.  The first meeting in Porto Alegre was with Serio Baierle of the NGO CIDADE.   Mr. Baierle briefed the team about participatory budgeting including some analysis by his group. 

The following day was spent with the municipal government of Porto Alegre.   This involved meetings with Lauro Machado of the GAPLAN or Planning Cabinet,  Luis Alberto Girardi,  Deputy Coordinator of the Community Relations Center (CRC) and Luciano Brunet,  coordinator of the Congress of City.  In these meetings,  details of participatory budgeting were discussed.  

The mayor of the city,  Mayor Jaao Verde, was out of town so the team instead met with the Vice-mayor.  This meeting turned out to be simply a courtesy call.

The visit to Porto Alegre was made more interesting with an exposure visit to a housing community that was a result of the participatory budgeting.  The team, thus, was able to talk to actual participants of the PB.  

February 8-9:  Break

The team had two days of rest in Porto Alegre.   On February 9,  the team traveled for 6 hours to the North, to Belem do Para.

February 10-11:   Belem

The visit in Belem started with a meeting with Mayor Edmilson Brito Rodriguez who generously shared with the team his insights on participatory governance,  including the experiences of Belem. 

The meeting was followed with discussions with Georgina Tolosa Galvao,  Secretary of Finance,  and her staff who made presentations on tax reforms and measures in Belem.   The team also meet with Nestor Pinto Bastos,  Director of CODEM -  Management and Development Company for the Metropolitan Area of Belem which undertook the modernization of tax mapping and tax collection systems in Belem.

The last meeting for the day was with Jurandir Novaes,  Secretary of the Municipal Secretariat of the General Coordination of Planning and Management (SEGEP).  Ms. Novaes made a presentation on the Congress of the City.  She was joined by community leaders who also shared with the team their experiences and roles in the participatory processes of Belem.

On February 11,  the team met with Guillerme ____,  a staff of FASE,  an NGO active in the Congress of the City.   Civil society leaders from the housing movement, the gay and lesbian movement and the black community movement were also present and active exchange of ideas took place.

The team proceeded to an “alternative school” for children of garbage collectors.  This school was part of Belem’s Seeds of Tomorrow program.   The children were very inspiring and the visit turned out to be highly interesting.

Another visit was made to a shanty town which was being developed as a result of Belem’s participatory processes.  The team met with architects and staff of this housing project that was a pilot for 1,500 families.   The meeting took place in the office of the project staff that was right in the vicinity of the project after which the team was toured around the shanty town.

February 12

This day was spent traveling from Belem back to Sao Paulo

February 13:  Day with city government of Santo Andre

Santo Andre is a highly industrial city found in the Greater ABC area of Sao Paulo.  Here, the team met with staff of the development and regional planning council,  the secretariat of the finance department,  managers of the People’s Bank and secretariat of the Planning and budgeting department.

Santo Andre conducts a number of participatory processes one of which is the regional planning – through the Regional Chamber of the Greater ABC area -- which includes coordination with other city governments in the area.

The team also a meeting and lunch with Mayor Joao Avemileno and his staff,  Jeroen Klink,  secretary of development and regional action.

February 14-15

The team rested and did some sightseeing during these two days.  Evaluation was supposed to take place on February 14 but the team decided to postpone it on the last day.

February 16:  Last day in Brazil

The team spent the day evaluating the study visit.  Everyone was satisfied especially since many of the questions were answered and the meetings were very interesting.  Zuleika,  POLIS staff, who was present in the meeting was commended by the group for her work of organizing the tour.