Regionalização e desenvolvimento: um estudo de caso de um consórcio intermunicipal

Abstract

The paradigm of markets globalization has brought the nations to acquire a global dimension, making the geographic space to assume new shapes, in which the region came to assume a level of significant importance. The context of economic, organizational, technological and institutional change makes the regional development a privileged instrument of analysis, whose understanding of the term starts from a systemic and multidisciplinary perspective involving social, cultural, ecological, economic and spatial aspects. Considering the case studied where the regional development is dependent of the articulation of the forces in his own territory, the development results from the direct involvement of regional agents - economic, social and political - in the design and implementation of a personal project of development. The Consortium for Sustainable Development of Fourth Colony (CONDESUS), object of this study, is located in the region of the Fourth Colony, in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul, created in 1996 and composed by the following cities: Agudo, Dona Francisca, Faxinal do Soturno, Ivorá, Nova Palma, Pinhal Grande, Restinga Seca, São João do Polêsine e Silveira Martins. This study aimed to describe how CONDESUS enabled the articulation of the municipalities of the Fourth Colony in favor of regional development. It was conducted a qualitative case study of exploratory and descriptive nature, for which were consulted secondary data and information obtained through interviews with people responsible for the governance structure of CONDESUS, being separated into two groups: 1) Executive Secretariat and 2) Council of Mayors. The treatment of the qualitative data was done by the method of content analysis, whereby it was possible to create categories, to codify, filter, make searches and questioning the data to answer the research questions. As a result, it was found that the CONDESUS provides the articulation of the municipalities of the Fourth Colony from the following aspects: a) promotes the emergence of a regional identity based on cooperativism b) develops activities designed to benefit all members c) restricts that individual interests determine the regional decision making, d) favors the regional development from the exploitation of local potential; e) enabled the strengthening of the "brand" Fourth Colony, and f) enabled the structuring of a development plan, based on regional interests. However, it is observed that even with the positive aspects highlighted, the CONDESUS need to improve aspects such as: a) deepening relations with the surroundings, b) participation of economic and social actors in the region, c) relationship between the consortium and its institutional support; d) qualification and retention of human resources and e) improvement of infrastructure of reception.