With Opportunity Comes Responsibility

As I spend my last day in Brazil drinking a black syrupy coffee on a noisy side street in the Vila Mariana neighbourhood I'm reflecting on both the last few days in Sao Paulo and the Brazilian experience in general. Winston Churchill once said "with opportunity comes responsibility". Given that this fellowship has been funded by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust it seems poignant that the quote has particular relevance to my experience in Brazil.

Brazil has become a land of opportunity in terms of economic development- it is no longer defined as "developing world" and avoided the impact of the global recession. The evident examples of World Cup investment demonstrate the spirit of opportunity that currently exists. This is a very different picture to the vision of Brazil in the 80s emerging from a repressive military regime with endemic issues of poverty. It is essential to make sense of this context before contemplating where participatory budgeting sits in the grand scheme of things. All of the examples of PB I have seen demonstrate a real opportunity to open up democratic processes - the motivation for doing this was very different in Brazil to the current motivation in the UK. However, these processes also share the same challenges of other forms of participatory democracy across the globe, but what appears to be clear is some fundamental principles about transparency, opportunity and empowerment which are as relevant in Brazil as they are in the UK.

Perhaps the most moving part of the last two days was the opportunity to talk to regular young people from some of the poor neighbourhoods and favelas around Sao Paulo. They have been fortunate enough to be selected for a training programme run by Projeto Pescar- a NGO which encourages businesses to provide training programmes for young people from local neighbourhoods to develop both life skills and technical skills to enter the world of work. Projeto Pescar encourages businesses to form partnerships to provide the training programmes in their respective fields. The group I visited were being trained in the optometry funded by a consortium of local optical businesses. The value of the programme was quickly apparent as I learnt of the young people's individual and family circumstances and support provided during their 12 months on the programme. The young people would dedicate 6 hours per day to the training, juggling that with attendance at School and responsibilities at home. All were clearly enthusiastic about the project and their life chances as a result. Part of their yearlong training has been about citizenship which also allows them to see their place in society and their ability to affect change for themselves and their communities. Whilst the young people were keen to talk to me about Manchester United and the Royal Family I was able to probe them more about their involvement in local decision making processes Although none of the young people had heard of Orcamento Participativo and had differing views on whether they felt the City Hall responded to their needs or involved them in addressing them - it was absolutely clear that the role of civil society organisations such as Pescar are vital in building the confidence an skills of disadvantaged people - not only in terms of employability but in terms of their wider roles in their communities and their society and their ability to participate in democratic processes- the creation of social capital which is not necessarily developed in their home lives.

The Pescar Project also seemed to represent an ambition relevant to the Great Yarmouth context; to combine economic and social development. Newly established Brazilian industries were actively encouraged to exercise their programme of social responsibility through this process - ensuring the economic opportunities they were pursuing on the outskirts of these communities demonstrated a responsibility to residents in the adjacent neighbourhoods. Exercising this responsibility brought a return for those businesses because they were able to build the skills of a potential workforce.

  

And then one might ask the question: How do we ensure that rather than just being a democratic process participatory budgeting not only delivers outcomes for local people but it actually delivers  long-term benefits which change the socio-economc conditions those communities find themselves in? For me, in spite of the difference in context the key challenge for community development and structures of participation will be the way in which the process can support meaningful change led by those it is intended to benefit which impacts on the economy, community and individual. My time in Brazil has certainly provided some food for thought.

More on PB

The last two days have been pretty hectic with various meetings relating to PB in Sao Paulo. I was at the meeting of the Economic Council this morning. About 20 people were in attendance including both civil servants and community representatives. The co-ordinator of the PB process chaired the meeting and took the audience through expenditure relating to the city's 3 year plan. There were many disgruntled attendees who scrutinised much of what was being presented. For example, the Mayor had vetoed the building of 3 new hospitals approved by the PB process in 2009, only 1 had been built. New bus lanes had not yet been built and it was evident that many neighbourhoods had still not seen previous initiatives implemented, such as a family health programme.

The mix of people and willingness for debate was however encouraging, also the investment in a 3 year plan - recognising the challenge of delivering some of these infrastructure projects in a 12 month cycle was particularly refreshing. The other element of the process I was most impressed by was the types of budget that were being discussed - the ambulance service, hospitals, education, transportation - major spheres of public life were subject to the PB process giving it both relevance and status in terms of delivering something of meaning. The decision-making bodies for these programmes in the UK would certainly not be open to a process of PB and certainly not at a spatial level of reference for individual citizens.

There will be further meetings of the economic council this week as they prepare and approve a working budget for this year. In a sense I am disappointed that I won't be here to follow the process- however, the cycle appears to follow a familiar process to both the Porto Alegre and Recife examples I have encountered.

Sao Paulo -The Urban Jungle

Flying from Amazonas to Sao Paulo was quite like leaving one jungle for another. The sprawling urban mecca of Sao Paulo contains a population of over 11 million people, making it South America's most populated city. My orientation began in haste having checked into at a fantastic hostel in the neighbourhood of Vila Mariana (the owners would later take me to experience the eclectic nightlife of Sao Paulo, where we danced until dawn). Whilst the downtown area lacks the beautiful vistas of other major cities, it is a hub for the ethnically diverse population. There are large japanese, italian and arabic communities in the city - which prides itself on its diversity.

Much of my weekend has been spent looking for "real" examples of participation and mobilisation in the Sao Paulo context. I was fortunate enough to stumble across a "Legalise Abortion" demonstration as I walked through the downtown area. I managed to speak to one of the organisers who had been particularly motivated by what she saw as the repressive approach of the state and Roman Catholic Church to abortion in Brazil where there is a legal penalty attached to a woman undergoing the procedure. This form of direct action was one that she saw as necessary and a means of increasing of both awareness and the membership base for the cause. The group had become tightly organised to be as effective as possible - I asked whether PB might provide an opportunity for their voice to be heard in Sao Paulo. My respondent felt that PB was a means for local issues not national issues to be addressed. For their group it was not about money - it was about changing policy.

Today I met Marcelo Barreto, Co-ordinator of the local skills and capacity building programme Fundacao Projeto Pescar. I will be visiting Marcelo's programme tomorrow, but today he invited me on a bike ride around the city and spoke at length about his experience of PB and working to increase community capacity and skills.  We also stumbled across an example of Sao Paulo's City Hall's programme of community participation - one of the park's was looking for a representative to sit on the park council. If you look at the photo of the poster- you will see that the community representative  must be over the age of 18. Interestingly, at the time we cycled through at least 40% of the users of the park were under the age of 18.

My final two days in Sao Paulo are going to be quite busy. I really want to probe the City Hall about how the machinery of participatory processes work in a city so vast and ethnically diverse and I also want to speak to ordinary citizens about their own experiences of community mobilisation and the various forms of participation offered by Sao Paulo's City Hall.

The Amazonas

When planning this fellowship my intention was to visit Rio Branco, capital of the north-western state of Acre, which borders Peru and Bolivia. Rio Branco has a well established "Orcamento Participativo" (Participatory Budgeting) process and offers a particular rural perspective, given its interaction with reservations and rubber tapper movements. I am extremely grateful for the help and advice of Claudia Cunha and Dande Tavares for helping me to try and arrange appointments with both NGO's and the Co-ordinator of Rio Branco's PB process. Alas, difficulties with co-ordinating dates, and travelling the sheer distance to Rio Branco meant that I had to revise my itinerary and settle on the Amazonian capital Manaus, which was more manageable from Brasilia.

During the first phase of my fellowship I have been rather anxious about having a full diary. In my normal working life at home 3-4 meetings or appointments a day is common, however in a different cultural context with limited pre-exisitng networks and contacts I realised this was too ambitious. I have also found that I've needed to be flexible with my time to ensure that I have the ability to chase leads passed to me by those I meet and see some of these processes in practice. The language difference has also meant that meetings have often been longer than I would normally anticipate to allow time for translation. I have also accepted that the essence of learning from this fellowship is the opportunity to observe and reflect - perhaps that's why I studied a social science degree at university! Nevertheless I currently feel like a giant sponge, soaking up everything around me and trying then to make sense of it. My notebook has become a curious collection of anecdotes, stories, quotes, observations and to-do lists which at the moment make some sense but I am sure in a few months will mean very little.

Manaus is the capital of the state of Amazonas, orginally home to the Manau tribe and colonised int he 17th century. It grew mainly due to the rubber boom as the main centre of commerce across the Amazon region. Today the city heaves with over 3 million inhabitants and is a major transport hub for a hundreds of river communities stretching deep into the Amazon. Transport by boat is by far the most popular way to leave or enter the city and many tourists leave the city by boat along Rio Negro to the famous "meeting of the waters" where the Negro meets the mighty Amazon River, lifeblood of the rainforest.

Coincidentally, on the day I arrived in the city the local newspapers were covering the story of the previous day's ruling by the state government to implement PB across Amazonas.
http://www.d24am.com/noticias/politica/orcamento-participativo-ganha-forca-na-assembleia-legislativa-do-amazonas/24207

I was intrigued to learn more, however the response I could deduce from the State government was more one of ideology - the belief that community participation in formulating the state budget had to be a good thing. It has long been established in the southern state of Rio Grand do Sul and is therefore possible on a large scale. What didn't seem to be clear was the practicality of running a PB process across the Amazon region relating to the spend of state monies. That is not to say that  the indigenous communities of the Amazon region are not familiar with participatory processes, indeed it appears to have been the machinery of development with these communities for a number of years. But what does appear to be the challenge is making such a bold political statement and then fulfilling that ambition- indeed the government is proposing legislative and institutional changes rather than just piloting a process. There are likely to be notable challenges of running a PB process across the Amazon region, not only in terms of geography and connectivity, but also in terms of the way the state apportions it's budget to areas and communities- this may not be in quite the same ways in which the communities see themselves. Equally the challenges for those living in the wider Amazon are likely to be very different to those living in Manaus, where PB has been embedded at a city level and in a more manageable way spatially.

I also made some contact with NGO's working in the region to understand the implications of government activity and relationship between the state and communities in across this region. I decided to utilise my 4 nights vacation time in Brazil with a trip into the rainforest. Perhaps the fact that the guide had lost an eye should have been warning enough, but it felt like a Bruce Parry meet Crocodile Dundee meet Indiana Jones type adventure complete with piranha fishing, alligator spotting, camping and survival techniques in the jungle and experiencing one of the most incredible environments I have ever been in. The experience was completely awe inspiring and I would wholeheartedly recommend, providing your equipped with at least 4 cans of insect repellent and  heavy duty waterproofs and can survive without the internet or a phone signal for a few days.  The trip also gave me an opportunity to talk to local people, manioc farmers, rubber tappers and others living in those communities where PB is likely to impact. What was clear was that the state will need to fine-tune PB to best fit the Amazon region and its communities.

There are particularities to life in the Amazon that don't necessarily fit with the urban model of PB - least of all the more limited contact people have with state institutions like the Police and Healthcare and also the ways in which such communities mobilise to address challenges. It would certainly be fascinating to see how PB plays out in the Amazon region over the coming years. Perhaps a reason to return someday, although I don't think I need too many excuses...

Brasilia

After a long and sweaty night I arrived in Brasilia somewhat dishevelled. My apparent inability to converse with anybody in coherent Portuguese meant that I spent over an hour trying to establish where I needed to be. I had read in guide books that Brasilia is not quite like any other city and it really did feel like waking up in a parallel universe. It was built quickly in the late 50s as part of a grand master plan to create a new capital for the country. The immediacy of the motor car, vast lawns and imposing tower blocks created the image of a city similar to that of computer games I used to play on my Sega Master System in the early 90s. The nerve centre of the country's federal government and where better to probe further the origin and spread of PB than the University of Brasilia's Political Science Department and Professor Rebecca Abers, who has spent much of her career devoted to issues of participatory democracy in Brazil.

Rebecca was able to provide both a thorough and insightful account of the Brazilian context. Rebecca mentioned that whilst PB is one of the tools used as part of this process it is not obligatory, although successive PT administrations across cities and states have used PT because they feel they ought to (owing to the original success of Porto Alegre). Infact it appears that federal laws demand forms of participation in order to release funds to local municipalities. There are literally thousands of community councils throughout cities across Brazil. Participation is now engrained in the national psyche as a way of "getting things done", opposed to previous "backroom"  negotiations associated with the clientelism and corruption of the past. A community leader knows that if she/he wants to instigate change they need to mobilise others to attend public forums. For Rebecca, PB has been successful because it's tangible and can deliver immediate outcomes. Rebecca has spent the past 10 years looking at the plight of rural communities around the North-East's water basins in terms of participatory democracy. The high levels of participation are not quite so evident in these examples because
a) the forums for participation created do not match the social communities participants live in,
and
b) the strategic and policy decisions debated are complex and not immediate. They therefore lack the tangibility that PB provides.

The meeting with Rebecca was both insightful and enlightening. Rebecca was reserved about the applicability of PB in a British setting, given the specific political circumstances in Brazil and certainly rejected the notion that PB should be something undertaken at an "ATM machine" - the essence of participatory democracy is about collaboration and deliberation. Rebecca also invited me to an inaugral PB meeting happening in her neighbourhood (the PT have just taken control of Brasilia).

As this fellowship is progressing I am really learning that the Porto Alegre example is one which is heavily branded and publicised internationally because of it's success in terms of turnout and delivery. But it's success was not about opening up a public budget for public decision, it was about a far wider set of political processes pertinent to that city and that moment in time. Therefore  it would be naive to expect the Porto Alegre model of PB to work in any global setting (or indeed any Brazilian setting as the varying levels of success at implementing PB across the country have shown). What seems to be important is the "culture of participation" and the "development of governance practice" which enable citizens to have far more control over the decisions taken by the state which affect them, if PB is part of this wider process it seems to be far more successful.

Perhaps I'm already getting too philosophical... right, time to attempt to cross the 6 lane side road and get some food.
Ate amanha Brasilia!

Recife: "The City of Contrasts"

Recife is the capital of the north-eastern state of Pernambuco with a city population of about 1.5 million. Known as the "City of Contrasts" a multi-million pound tourism industry complete with thousands of high rise, secure apartment blocks for the middle classes sits cheek by jowl with some of the poorest favelas in the country. There is a common expression in Recife that you are never more than "1km from a slum". Even when lounging on the never ending  beach at Boa Viagem, some 400 favelas sit only a few blocks behind the central promenade. The favelas are dispersed across the city, some perched on hill-sides at risk of sudden landslides and some on low-lying land at risk of floods - being a sub tropical environment both of these occurrences are common. Several favelas spent much of last week under water, not helped by a hugely inadequate sanitation system resulting in gallons of raw sewerage pouring onto the streets.

Much of my time in Recife has been spent understanding the context of life here, speaking to organisations working on various civil society programmes and engaging in part of community life (most notably those involving food). I have also collected a range of literature, photographs and charts (mainly in Portuguese) to help map out the PB process and the role of civil society organisations across the city. My Portuguese has had to improve rapidly as very little English is spoken in the city. I also benefited from some support with some of the interviews with a local interpreter- Leonardo.

I felt a very slight sense of de ja vu yesterday as I visited a youth programme "A juventude e Ação Política" aimed at increasing political awareness and civic literacy for 15-30 year olds. Colleagues in Great Yarmouth will recall our hugely successful "Take Part" programme- dealing with many of the same issues. Whilst the contextual issues for young people in these communities are different- the notion that in both countries this age group is the most disengaged from political processes highlights some of the challenges we face in ensuring democratic processes evolve to meet the needs of future generations. What is certainly clear in both the Brazilian and British context- is that programmes such as these provide the gateway into more formalised processes such as participatory budgeting.

Participatory Budgeting emerged in a different context in Recife compared to Porto Alegre. The PT did not take control of Recife until 2000 and the blue print model of PB was not implemented in Recife until that time. Recife did however, already have a very strong culture of participation and community mobilisation through an existing capacity building programme which brought together forms of PB within a wider programme of civil society. Unfortunately it seems this programme was disregarded by the new PT administration who wanted to implement a high profile PB process- which would attract thousands of participants and demonstrate the "participatory" nature to the new regime. And true to it's word the PT administration has continued to run PB (although it is not a legal requirement in Recife like it is in Porto Alegre, meaning it could be withdrawn should there be a change of leadership). Over 120,000 residents engaged in PB in 2009- a phenomenally high figure, similar to the turn out in Porto Alegre. I have spent some time today with 2 NGO's: Etapas and Fase probing more about the evidently high levels of engagement in civil society.
From both these and the Porto Alegre interviews some observations are becoming clear:

1. PB seems to be one of the only vehicles through which funds are allocated to poor neighbourhoods - therefore there seems to be a real sense that "if we don't participate we will miss out" on things like having a decent sanitation system on our street, having a road without pot holes, accessing basic education, leisure and healthcare etc.
2. PB has its risks - Brazilian political culture is still fraught with corruption and manipulation- PB is often used as a vehicle by politicians to deliver pet projects and programmes. There is also a sense that PB doesn't always allow a strategic dialogue- often people don't know why they are participating- just that if they don't they will miss out. This inevitably puts communities at odds with one another and in competition for scarce resources. Unsurprisingly there is not an equal distribution of resource across neighbourhoods. As seems to be clear in the Recife example, those communities with the most complex and compounded problems are the ones with the greatest challenges in terms of community mobilisation. The dealing of crack has become the lifeblood of some of these communities with children as young as 5 dealing in order to survive. These are the communities which often miss out through the PB process.
3. PB does provide a democratic model of resource allocation- of particular significance given the historical and political context of Brazil and this had resulted in a number of improvements. Unlike the UK- people tend to know how they can participate and the structures of participation are open and well promoted.
4. Whilst PB appears to be successful because it is part of a wider process of administration, with neighbourhood councils in Porto Alegre and the Mayor's City Hall in the Neighbourhood Programme in Recife participatory approaches don't appear to have encompassed all aspects of public administration. Recife also struggles with approaches to urban planning and the resettlement of the poor and has struggled with attempts to consolidate the role of the private sector and big corporations.
5. Whilst structures can be created by respective local governments- communities must be given the resources to mobilise and address their own concerns - this requires support, capacity building and investment. In Brazil much of this support comes from NGO's often funded by international aid agencies.

Both organisations I have spoken to today are having funds cut by international aid agencies because Brazil is no longer recognised as a "developing" nation. They were both resolute in their response to this - "to say the country has benefitted from economic development does not mean to say there has been an automatic reduction in inequality". The challenges will certainly remain in Recife - participatory budgeting appears to be one way of addressing these- although community mobilisation will be essential to make this work for the people who need it the most.

I hope to upload some pictures of the Recife experience soon. I head to Brasilia in the early hours of tomorrow morning where I will be meeting Professor Rebecca Abers - a leading academic light in participatory politics in Brazil...

NB: Pics from Recife Below:

Solidarity and Survival

Solidariedade is a NGO working across Porto Alegre, but focusing primarily on the district of Cristal.
http://ong.portoweb.com.br/ongsolidariedade/default.php?p_secao=13&PHPSESSID=b7662beecd42219ad139dd3ce5f63b47
The volunteer-led organisation developed as a NGO is 2001 to support community mobilisation and participation, particularly in the PB process. Upon finding their premises - a large corrugated iron shed in a residential neighbourhood it was immediately apparent at the grassroots nature of their work. The co-ordinator Sergio talked me through some of their activities ranging from community capacity building workshops to help groups of residents participate in the PB process, to more directive community-based programmes such as training courses and vocational programmes. The organisation also facilitated the publication of a book on the PB process in 2003 told from the viewpoint of participants, outlining levels of involvement for ordinary residents across the city. The book also provided a critique of the PB process at that time.

When asked if he could explain the reason for the evident high turnout at Monday night's assembly Sergio suggested that in his view it was about collective consciousness as a means of asserting community needs- some of which he explained are taken for granted in the UK and Europe,  or also indeed across more affluent communities in Brazil. Issues such as sanitation, basic access to healthcare and childcare and education are often priorities for the PB process. For Brazil's working classes PB becomes a vehicle for addressing acute and substantial needs, which may or may not be otherwise addressed by the state.

This is not to say, however, that the PB process delivers the necessary outcomes identified by communities. Solidariedade is still waiting to receive funds to deliver a project, voted for during the 2004 PB process, along with many other projects voted on by local communities. The administration of the PB process appears bureaucratic and fraught with challenges- particularly in terms of appropriate feedback and levels of ongoing dialogue (issues familiar for those involved in community work in the UK). What does appear strong however, is the spirit of participation embedded in the ethos of governance in Porto Alegre. This ethos has passed from the previous Workers Party (PT) administration to the current Workers Democratic Party (TDP), demonstrating the commitment across party politics to a form of co-produced "governance" rather than "government" at a local level in Rio Grand do Sul.

On Thursday afternoon I went to visit "Chocolatao" - the vila due for demolition as part of the redevelopment of the area. Community leaders had been on local radio stations earlier in the day condemning City Hall for undertaking a gentrification programme and moving the poorest communities several miles out of the city, to an area where there was little infrastructure and no work. Many of those living in Chocolatao were "Papaleiros" (rubbish collectors) and depended on the refuse generated across the city centre to survive. The scene was somewhat sorrowful with both federal and military police clearing the site- a neighbouring plot of land already a construction site, and the few remaining residents loading their limited possession onto trucks before being transported to a new life - out of sight. It would be useful to interview the City Hall on its participatory approach to urban planning- but unfortunately I was unable to meet anybody from that department and so it is probably unfair of me to speculate.      

Porto Alegre - Birthplace of the Participatory Budget

So having orientated myself in Porto Alegre I have spent the last few days in meetings and events associated with "Orcamento Participativo". I aso got to visit a local High School (where my host Angela teaches) and talk to some of the students about life in the UK. My friend Marika has been tremendous and has helped with translating some of the more technical terms used at the "Assemblia" last night and with the scheduing of meetings in general.

One of yesterday´s meetings was with Cidade- a local NGO, who have led research and seminars on PB in Porto Alegre for over 20 years. It is clear that the political and socio-economic context in Porto Alegre has changed over that time. Today, PB appears to mean different things in the city. Cidade has also looked at different methods of moiblisation to support poor communities. Their most current campaign is to support the mobilisation of residents in a local favela "Chocolatao" who are due to be evicted this Thursday. This is all part of the urban planning programme to utilise downtown real estate for development linked to the 2014 World Cup in Rio. As a result the affected communities have established World Cup Popular Committees and are employing a range of strategies to challenge City Hall on their land regularisation policies.

This plight is a stark contrast to the image of co-production and participation evident last night at the first of a month long series of thematic "Assemblias" as part of the participatory budgeting process. Last night saw around 500 residents attend the "educacao assemblia" and determine priorities for City Hall education expenditure over the coming year. The overwhelming impression this event gave was one of huge energy and excitement. Participants ranged in age and background and it appeared as much of a social event as part of a political process. A large auditorium provided an imposing venue but the style was relaxed and engaging. Indeed, it was particularly refreshing to see members of Porto Alegre´s deaf community take to the stage to criticise the Assembly for no longer providing sign language to support their engagement.

Paticipation and reocgnition appear to be something people fight for in Porto Alegre.
It became clear in today´s smaller meeting with City Hall representatives that "participation and solidarity" remain central to the ethos of the municipality and participatory budgeting is only one such method employed. As a consequence significant resource is invested into the process of participation from publicity to outreach and engagement work, to administrative and financial staff dedicated to the process. Whilst over R 2,000,000 is invested in programmes annually via PB, I managed to deduce that over R 300,000 is invested in the faciliation of assemblies both at neighbourhood and city level and in addition it is supported by over 50 dedicated staff.

Tomorrow, I plan to visit another NGO- Soliderade working specifically in an outer city neighbourhood - Cristal. I hope to spend some time getting a feel for the impact PB has "on the ground" and what difference it makes to the lives of some of the poorest residents in the city. 

Just landed at Sao Paulo Guarulhos after a gruelling 16 hour flight via New York. Have been pondering my research question over a double-expresso and have come up with the following:

"In what ways do structures of participation and strategies of mobilisation enable those furthest away from decision-making to influence change?" 

My fieldwork will focus upon two emerging concepts in current debates in the UK around increasing community participation to grow the Big Society. Both of these concepts originate in the Americas - namely:

• Particpatory Budgeting in Brazil
• Community Organising in the USA

My interviews start in Porto Alegre on Monday where I will be spending some time with the City Municipality and a number of Non-Governmental Orgnaisations who have been involved in PB since its inception in 1989.

Right, off to complete the final leg of my journey. Am looking forward to a Capirinha in Porto Alegre this evening. Hopefully, I'll be there in time for the Saturday night festivities. Often the best site for any fieldwork!!!