Growth of social involvement in brazilian legislation on environmental risk management

Abstract

Brazilian legislation has been undergoing changes throughout history, as has the National System of Protection and Civil Defence - SINPDEC. The Federal Constitution of 1988 is a milestone in the country's re-democratization and fostering of social participation in public management. The present study sought to examine how society has been inserted in the SINPDEC, and especially the forms of participation in the environmental risk prevention phase. Five Laws related to the System promulgated in 1988, 1993, 2005, 2010 and 2012 were selected for analysis. Four categories of analysis were used: 1) ways of inserting civil society into the system in decision-making bodies; 2) community mobilization; 3) provision of preventive education in the school environment; and 4) human resources training. Of the categories studied, the provision of preventive education in the school environment made great progress in the legislation. However, with the current political reforms there is a threat of regression in this area. Overall, there have been a number of breakthroughs and some setbacks over the past few decades, but these laws seek to keep up with international trends, especially the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Hyogo Framework for Action.