Camila Medeiros Cleyton Gerhardt Maria Jos Carneiro CPDA/UFRRJ EBP-BIOSOC Validity of scientific knowledge and public policies: the case of agriculture.

Camila MedeirosCleyton Gerhardt

Maria José CarneiroCPDA/UFRRJ

EBP-BIOSOCValidity of scientific knowledge and public

policies: the case of agriculture sustainable development in Brazil

Preliminary Results of WP 1. June 2007

I – The methodology of the application of the questionnaires. Five recorded interviews about the

creation process of: 2 Conservation Units: Três Picos State

Park, State Environmental Protected Area Macaé de Cima and

The Atlantic Forest Law

II – Profile of the interviewees:

1. Chief of the sector of FEEMA, President of the Management Counsel of APA Macaé de Cima; geographer, 34 years old;

2. FEEMA employee since its creation, 68 years old, graduated in Natural History; she participated on the first studies to create a protected area;

3. Regional co-ordinator of the Vice Presidency of the IEF, agronomic engineer, 81 years old, collaborated on the preparation of the diagnostics which culminated in the creation of State Park of Três Picos;

II. Profile of the Interviewees on the Atlantic Forest Law

1. Graduated in Pedagogy and Ecology Specialist, 42 years; of the founders of a environmental NGO; national co-ordinator of the Atlantic Forest Network in the 1990s and 2000; Participated in the debates that led to the outlining of the first minute of the Atlantic Forest Law;

2. Graduated in Mechanical Engineering, specialisation in Environmental Management, 57 years old; one of the founders of a NGO; he participated in the preparation of various environmental laws

III - Scientific knowledge set in motion

1. The case of the APA Macaé de Cima: A study group (within FEEMA) was instituted: The exploratory fieldwork was undertook; Specialists and academic works, published or

unpublished was consulted; But it wasn’t known how to quote references or the

authors; Sources: libraries and private collections; No interest in information or studies, in the area of

Social Science; The informal network of information on scientific

material was cited as a much resorted-to source

IV - Scientific knowledge set in motion

2. The case of the State Park of Três Picos A work group formed by IEF employees adhered to the

designation of superior authority; Sources: technical publications, popular articles,

manuals/revisions, magazines, unpublished documents/reports, the technical opinion of specialists external to the work group, documentation or personal reports of traditional practices;

The knowledge used came generally from specialists, principally in the universities;

IV - Scientific knowledge set in motion

Apparent contradictions on the questionnaire: It was considered that scientific knowledge was

more important than personal experience, or that of colleagues;

but fieldwork was emphasised, as was self-knowledge, which was of great importance at the time due to the little existing knowledge.

information and technical support was not lacking for the making of the final decision

V. Final considerations on the use of scientific knowledge1. Much of the knowledge produced in

reports resulted from self experience and field research,

2. Difficulty on identifing the compilers of the final text of the laws.

3. It seems to us that the main way of bringing scientific knowledge to practice in this period mainly happened through the direct assistance of scientists, which emphasizes the importance of personal relationships between researchers and environmental activists.

VI. Final considerations on the use of scientific knowledge”: 2 points1. Sinuous path between the study stages

and its legal institutionalisation;=>The redactors of initial assessments lose

control over their demands when they are in the field of political decisions;

=> Power relationship: the technicians who have redacted the initial text have no power of negotiation over the final decision;

=> The decisions are political ones: most frequently complies with political interests and/or of private interests on the area.

VI. Final considerations on the use of scientific knowledge”: 2 points2. Belonging to a collectivity:

The NGOs; Conama; Atlantic Forest Network, supported by scientists.

the positions defended in Conama had been previously negotiated outside this forum.

The “compilers” are seen as a collective subject

VII. Preliminary interpretations Technical and scientific criteria contribute to and

legitimise the designations of political measures before society;

However, other motivations and interests are added to the technical aspects and to the conceptual discussions, which supported the decision-making process.

The decisions-making are taken as collectives: individual actors are neutralized by institutions.

The decisions-making don’t take into account the scientific evidences.

VIII. Further steps To understand more deeply how these individual

or corporative interests and motivations have combined with the use of scientific evidence in the conception of these measures.

To highlighte the importance of personal relationships and the intense exchange of information between experts and representatives of NGOs, of governmental and of parliamentary institutions.