Planejamento participativo: a experiência do processo de elaboração do Plano Plurianual Participativo de Natal/RN (2022- 2025)

Abstract

In Brazil cenario, the Pluriannual Plan is the government's main medium-term planning mechanism, in which priority actions and policies are defined for the four-year period. It is therefore understood that planning should be built on debates and negotiations between the various social and political actors. In the municipality of Natal, the last process of drawing up the Pluriannual Plan took place during the Covid-19 pandemic and, as a result, the participatory methodology had to be applied in a hybrid way, generating uncertainties about the effectiveness of participation. In view of this, the aim of this study is to understand how the process of drawing up Natal's Participatory Pluriannual Plan for the period 2022 to 2025 took place in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to examine the conditions for social participation in government planning, the study adopts the model proposed by De Toni (2017) as its theoretical-methodological basis. To do this, it uses a qualitative approach, applying the technique of documentary research in official documents of the process and other works dedicated to the object of study; and semi-structured interviews with public managers and representatives of society who took part in drawing up the plan, which will be examined using the content analysis proposed by Bardin (1977). The results indicate that: (1) communication and the transparency of the procedures were limited, since formal means of dissemination were used, resulting in low social mobilization; (2) the empowerment of the participants and the agreement arenas occurred in a consultative manner, given that the spaces for proposals and decisions proved to be limited for civil society to the detriment of the government; (3) the monitoring and evaluation mechanisms put in place were insufficient, as the portal with information about the plan was out of date, preventing social control of the public policies defined. It is emphasized that the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted social and economic inequalities, making it difficult for certain groups to access participatory spaces. From this perspective, the need for the municipal government to adopt strategies that increase the participation of the population in decision-making processes is defended, guaranteeing spaces for dialog and collaboration to define priorities in government planning even in times of crisis.