Kind of knowledge and types of proofs to design and assess the sustainability of agricultural and rural development policies

Abstract

Public policies aimed at the rural environment – both Brazilian and international – have had to face, especially in recent years, a new set of questions related to the implementation of governmental programs, which has resulted in the demand for new attributes and new forms of operating public intervention instruments. Several questions, far from reaffirming the exclusively sector-based character of public policies, have provoked (new) tensions involving dimensions previously excluded from the universe of agricultural and agrarian policies and have become part of the range of references which policy-makers face. Moreover, different forms of governance and differentiated scales of implementation take on a crucial role in the institutional context and design, altering the formulation and decision making spaces available to specific policies, as well as contributing to a greater capacity for dialogue, participation and social control on the part of the different actors who permeate the arenas related to the various programs operating in the rural environment. The proposal to hold an international seminar presented here aims to expand on the treatment of the questions referred to above, taking as a background the domestic and international context. In relation to Brazil, reflection on the role of the 1988 Federal Constitution in structuring both sector based policies and their actual experiences is suggested. The event is aimed at both an academic (universities and research institutes) and non-academic (non-governmental organizations, social movements, public agencies, etc.) public, seeking to include in the different panels representatives from Brazilian and foreign universities, public agencies, networks of social actors and research institutes with experience in the area.