SPECIAL ISSUE SÃO PAULO MACROMETROPOLIS ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE FORUM

The territory of São Paulo Macrometropolis, in São Paulo (Brazil), composed of 174 municipalities, 5 metropolitan regions, 2 urban agglomerations and about 33,652,991 residents have been the focus of increasing interest of researchers and managers from different fields of knowledge (MILZ; JACOBI, 2019). ThisSpecial Issue from Ambiente & Sociedade presents a selection of the award-winning presentation at the1 ^st São Paulo Macrometropolis Environmental Governance Forum, held on April 24 and 25, 2019, at the Institute of Energy and Environment (IEE) of the University of Sao Paulo (USP).

Organized within the scope of the FAPESP Thematic Project “Environmental governance in the São Paulo Macrometropolis due to climatic variability” (Project 2015/03804-9), under professor Pedro Roberto Jacobi coordination, the I Forum aimed to bring together professors, researchers, managers, students and interested parties that have as their common object of study the São Paulo Macrometropolis and its dialogue with the environmental issue. In this sense, it was an interdisciplinary and multi-institutional event that sought to identify and share knowledge on the ongoing researches or already concluded works about this territory.

There were two days of fruitful and exciting interdisciplinary debates, with representatives from several institutions such as ITA, UNIFESP, UNIVAP, UFABC, UNICAMP, UFV, USP, UNISANTOS, University of Waterloo, among others. All works can be accessed online at the event ‘s annals.³

If the São Paulo Macrometropolis does not formally exist from a Law or Decree, its territory is being planned and planned beyond formal borders (TRAVASSOS et al., 2020). The articleFormation of the Macrometropolis in Brazil: urbanization process and the constitution of a winning region, by Jefferson Tavares (IAU/ USP) rescues the creation of the territory in the light of the theoretical references of regional development and the idea of “winning region” interpreted according to the Brazilian reality. Tavares rescues the debate about the planning actions that promoted urban dispersion between the 1940s and 1980s. For the author, the delimitation of the São Paulo Macrometropolis as an area of ​​productive competitiveness is consolidated from a successful, complex and conflicting center.

The enormous spatial production of wealth contrasts with the enormous production of inequalities in this territory (TRAVASSOS; MOMM; TORRES, 2019; TORRES; RAMOS; POLLACHI, 2019). If we consider that a significant portion of the environmental protection areas of the State of São Paulo are in the territory of the Macrometropolis, the tendency is for the intensification of environmental conflicts, as can already be observed in Paranapiacaba or São Sebastião (TORRES; RAMOS; GONÇALVES, 2019), as well as others areas to come involving the transport and logistics sector, especially in a context of attacks and weakening of current environmental standards and legislation.

The article from Angelica Aparecida Tanus Benatti Alvim (Mackenzie), Viviane Manzione Rubio (Mackenzie) and Lucia Maria Machado Bogus (PUC-SP),Conflicts, Vulnerable Areas and Sustainability in the São Paulo Macrometropolis dissect the relationships between territorial dynamics and environmental conflicts issues. For the authors, it is a complex urban-regional phenomenon and logics predominantly associated with economic and circulation flows, with different local dynamics. Results of the article indicate that the dispersed and “unplanned” urbanization process has perverse effects in the areas of environmental protection, putting the region’s natural heritage at risk.

The region’s environmental heritage is analyzed in relation to the specific ecosystem service for the Paraíba do Sul protection area in the article Payments for ecosystem services to water resources protection in Paraíba do Sul Environmental Protection Area, from Bruna Fatiche Pavani (ITA), Thiago Lopes Ribeiro (ITA), Demerval Aparecido Gonçalvez (ITA), Wilson Cabral Sousa Junior (ITA), Eduardo Moraes Arraut (ITA) e Angelica Giarolla (ITA).

The authors propose a methodology of payment for environmental services (PES) in the region associated with the water supply in the Paraíba do Sul river basin based on reforestation scenarios and erosion, and simulating the conversion of current grazing areas for forests.

The articleWater Governance in Vale do Paraíba Paulista: Network of Actors and Socioecological Systemsfrom Alexandre Rodolfo Marques (INPE), Maria Angelica Toniolo (UNIVAP) Myanna Lahsen, Sergio Pulice, Evandro Branco Albiach (INPE), Diogenes S. Alves Branco Albiach (INPE), also focuses on the water supply region for the Paraíba Valley, focusing on the networks of actors analysis and the importance of adaptive governance to face contexts of crises, such as that recorded between 2013-2015.

Based on the Social Network Analysis, the authors show that there is a mismatch between civil society and public authorities in the area of ​​negotiation. The work purposefully identifies opportunities for connections between civil society and academia for cooperation in water governance.

The metropolitan region of Vale do Paraíba and Litoral Norte is also covered in the articlePolitics and Planning in Vale do Paraíba and Litoral Norte: The regional integration in question, from Cilene Gomes (UNIVAP) and Daniel José de Andrade (UNIVAP). The authors rescue the regional planning process in a current context of political and institutional organization, regarding the Statute of the Metropolis and the relations between state and society and public functions of common interest.

If part of the Macrometropolis coastal cities is in the metropolitan region of Vale do Paraíba and Litoral Norte, another considerable one is in the metropolitan region of Baixada Santista. The articleAdvancing in the ecosystem approach to beaches: What science reports to the Macrometrópole Paulistaby Luciana Yokoyama Xavier (USP), Leandra Regina Gonçalves (USP), Hélio Hermino Checon (USP), Guilherme Nascimento Corte (USP) and Alexander Turra (USP), shows an original path of the scientific literature on the management of beaches on the macrometropolis coast status.

The article presents a review of Brazilian scientific production related to beach management with a focus on the territory of the São Paulo Macrometropolis and management based on ecosystems. According to the authors, research is still embryonic, not being sufficient, for example, for decision-making related to conservation, being essential the investment in larger studies focused on the coastal ecosystem, with an interdisciplinary, integrated and applied focus.

The present Special Issue closes with the articleWaste from electronic equipment in the Macrometrópole Paulista: standards and techniques at the service of reverse logistics,from Kauê Lopes dos Santos (USP), which addresses one of the most critical themes of contemporary environmental management. The article presents an extensive detail of the current conditions of the management of recycling of electronic equipment waste (WEEE) in the São Paulo Macrometropolis and exposes the long way to go to guarantee a circular economy.

The 2013 and 2015 water crisis showed that it is no longer possible to govern natural resources on a local or metropolitan scale with centralized decisions, as is the case in São Paulo. The crisis has shown that the interdependence of natural resources related to water supply, for example, needs to be addressed on a macro scale, involving stakeholders and extrapolating the borders and the traditional paradigms, seeking emerging new ways of planning, management and governance. The São Paulo Macrometropolis, with unique contours and numbers compared to countries (population, area, GDP, etc.) is an important space to reflect on the new forms of space production and knowledge production in a context of uncertainties such as the one we live in of climate emergency and darkness in the current political scenario.

May the reading of thisSpecial Issue contribute to this reflection and illuminate new environmental debates and their relationship with the contemporary formation of the space. If the current phase of neoliberalism represents the intensification of capital’s influence and dominance, reflecting the rise of capitalism, as a way of production, in an ethics, in a set of political imperatives and in a cultural logic that aims to strengthen, restore or, in some cases, restoring the power of economic elites. On the other hand it extends the arena for a resurgence of movements that can express their demands, egalitarian policies and seeking economic justice (HARVEY, 2005). Giving voice and reverberating the demands of movements, co creation processes and insurgent planning and governance practices in the territory is imperative for the formation of a more just and sustainable Macrometropolitan territory.

Have a good read!

References:

• HARVEY, D. A brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2005.
• MILZ, B., JACOBI, R. P. Levantamento exploratório de estudos sobre a Governança ambiental na Macrometrópole Paulista. Anais do I Fórum de Governança Ambiental da Macrometrópole Paulista. São Paulo: IEE-USP, 1a ed., 2019, p. 8-13. Disponível em http://pesquisa.ufabc.edu.br/macroamb/i-forum-de-governanca-ambiental-da-macrometropole-paulista/
  » http://pesquisa.ufabc.edu.br/macroamb/i-forum-de-governanca-ambiental-da-macrometropole-paulista/
• TORRES, P. H. C; RAMOS, R. F.; POLLACHI, A. A macrometropolização em São Paulo: reterritorialização, reescalonamento e a cidade-região. Cad. Metrop., São Paulo,v. 22, n. 47, p. 103-122, Apr. 2020 .
• TORRES, P. H. C.; RAMOS, R.F.; GONÇALVES, L.R. Conflitos ambientais na macrometrópole paulista: Paranapiacaba e São Sebastião. Ambiente e Sociedade, São Paulo, v. 22, pp. 1-20, 2019.
• TRAVASSOS, L., ZIONI, S., TORRES, P. H. C., FERNANDES, B., ARAÚJO, G. Heterogeneidade e fragmentação espacial na Macrometrópole paulista: a produção de fronteiras e buracos. Ambient. soc., São Paulo, v. 23, 2020.
• TRAVASSOS, L.; MOMM, S.; TORRES, P. Apontamentos sobre urbanização, adaptação e vulnerabilidades na MMP. In: TORRES, P.; JACOBI, P. R.; BARBI, F.; GONÇALVES, L.R. (org). Governança e Planejamento Ambiental: adaptação e políticas públicas na Macrometrópole Paulista. Rio de Janeiro, Letra Capital, 2019.

• 3
  . Available at http://pesquisa.ufabc.edu.br/macroamb/i-forum-de-governanca-ambiental-da-macrometropole-paulista/

• 1
  . Researcher of the FAPESP Thematic Project (2015/03804-9) Environmental Governance in the São Paulo Macrometropolis due to climatic variability.
• 2
  . Researcher Responsible for the FAPESP Thematic Project (2015/03804-9) Environmental Governance in the São Paulo Macrometropolis due to climatic variability.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  08 June 2020
• Date of issue
  2020