|
Revista Produção e Desenvolvimento Research in Production and Development
|
eISSN: 2446-9580 Doi: https://doi.org/10.32358/rpd.2022.v8.566 |
UNIVERSITY EXTENSION FOR DEVELOPING URBAN PLANNING PUBLIC POLICIES: A TERRITORIAL GOVERNANCE APPROACH
|
Emerson Fábio da Silva Araújo (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9018-0425) 1, emerson.fabio@ufersa.edu.br José Giovani Nobre Gomes (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6169-6396) 1, jgiovaninobre@gmail.com
1 State University of Rio Grande do Norte, 59000-000, Pau dos Ferros - RN, Brazil |
Submitted: 30/08/2021. Accepted: 21/01/2022
Published: 31/01/2022
ABSTRACT
Purpose: The study aims to analyze the contributions of the extension practice of Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid (UFERSA), in the elaboration of public policies aimed at urban planning in Pau dos Ferros city (from Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil).
Methodology/Approach: This is exploratory-descriptive research that uses content analysis of qualitative information collected through the application of 10 semi-structured interviews with subjects who participated in this process.
Findings: The empirical results point to the need to better adapt the practice to formal aspects and also to the need to implement systematization processes in the relationship with society, especially with political agents.
Research Limitation/implication: Need for qualitative information, through structured interviews with the actors involved, in order to deepen the assessment regarding the contributions and aspects to be improved in this cooperation action between universities and society.
Originality/Value of paper: The use of the criteria that guide the practice of territorial governance recommended in the Dallabrida model (2017) is intended to be a model of an analysis tool that helps public universities to identify in their extension practices the aspects that allow the assessment of good governance and, consequently, relationship with society.
KEYWORD: higher education institution, public management, urban planning, semiarid, extension service.
EXTENSÃO UNIVERSITÁRIA PARA DESENVOLVER POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS DE PLANEJAMENTO URBANO: UMA ABORDAGEM DE GOVERNANÇA TERRITORIAL
RESUMO
Objetivo: O estudo visa analisar as contribuições da prática extensionista da Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido, na elaboração de políticas públicas voltados ao planejamento urbano na cidade de Pau dos Ferros (estado do Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil).
Metodologia/Abordagem: Trata-se de uma pesquisa exploratória-descritiva que utiliza a análise de conteúdo das informações qualitativas levantadas por meio de 10 entrevistas semiestruturadas com sujeitos participantes desse processo.
Conclusões: Os resultados empíricos apontam para a necessidade de melhor adequação da prática aos aspectos formais recomendados e também para a necessidade de implementação de processos de sistematização na relação com a sociedade, especialmente com os agentes políticos.
Limitações da pesquisa: No âmbito da análise interna a quantidade de projetos analisados a partir de normativas internas implicam em conclusões pontuais, não sendo possível identificar como práticas nos demais projetos de extensão.
Originalidade/Valor do artigo: A utilização dos critérios que orientam a prática de governança territorial preconizada no modelo Dallabrida (2017) pretende ser um modelo de ferramenta de análise que ajude as universidades públicas a identificar em suas práticas de extensão os aspectos que permitem avaliar a boa governança e, consequentemente, a relação com a sociedade.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: instituição de ensino superior, gestão pública, planejamento urbano, semiárido, serviço de extensão.
1. INTRODUCTION
Authors such as Nogueira (2001), Diniz (2012), Deus & Henriques (2017), Dos Santos (2019), and Álvarez et al. (2020) present different approaches in different methodologies on the extension evolution and practice in universities. However, there is an absence in the literature of a study that discusses the use of a closed model for the analysis and evaluation of this university pillar in territorial development. It should be noted initially that, based on the literature review, the study identified a theoretical gap when verifying that the analysis of extension actions, in the aforementioned context, lacks a model that allows an assessment that considers the aspects of complexity and the multidisciplinary pattern (Serrano, 2013), typical of actions that involve the relations between State, University, and Society (Diniz, 2012), regarding territorial development of a given place, municipality, or locality (Dallabrida, 2021).
The paper contributes to the discussion and confrontation of this academic gap by presenting the model developed by Dallabrida (2017), which advocates the use of dimensions, guiding principles of territorial governance, precisely when addressing this theoretical debate to evaluate the practice (Dallabrida, 2021), which “comprehends territorial governance as a process of planning and management of territorial dynamics that prioritize an innovative, shared and collaborative perspective, through horizontal relationships”. In this regard, the study aims to analyze the contributions of the extension practice of the Pau dos Ferros Campus of the Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid (UFERSA), in the elaboration of public policies aimed at urban planning in the city.
Not by chance in the relations of extension/society, there is convergence with the scope of the discussion on management in the relations of cooperation and conflicts in the territory regarding its development (Ximenes et al., 2018; Santos, 2019; Gumiero & Tigre, 2020). This approach proved to be adequate for the objectives of the study, since one of the proposals of the paper is to present a model that can be used as a tool for analysis and that helps not only the specific projects of this paper, but also other actions with this bias aimed at urban planning and the complexity of the interaction between institutions, to identify in their extension practices the aspects that allow the identification of good governance and consequently have effectiveness in their implementations and in the relationship with society.
For this purpose, this theoretical framework is used, which defines guiding parameters of collective action, which is proposed as a method to guide the territorial management process, regarding its development, which has made an effort precisely to carry out a conceptual systematization concerning the relationship between institutions, including higher education centers, and the role of civil society in a process that seeks to harmonize a vision of the future and a certain pattern of territorial development, without, however, disregarding the irreplaceable role of the State as the planner of this process.
The empirical results show that the contributions of UFERSA's extension actions are relevant, such as the elaboration of the draft of the Participatory Master Plan and the Multipurpose Registry of the municipality, in view of the proposed objectives. However, they proved to be incomplete, with the need of better adaptation of the practice to the aspects established in its general guidelines of the management policy, defined in the Institutional Pedagogical Plan and the theoretical adequacy of Dallabrida Model (2017) to assess territorial governance between university activities and society and to implement systematization for the relationship with society, especially with political agents.
In addition to this introduction, the article presents a literature review, material and methodology, results, conclusions and references.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Conceptions on University Extension and approach to the contributions under analysis
The university extension is inserted in the context of the basic objectives of the university, professional training, employment generation, and dissemination of new knowledge (Wick et al., 2019; Bastianini et al., 2019; Sousa et al., 2021; Madan et al., 2021; Orui et al., 2021). In this context of complexity and diversity, the extension method seeks to combine 'thinking' with 'doing' in a reflexive, creative, and conscientious way, allowing the academic community to propose or directly interfere in the social reality at the scale proposed by a given project scope.
In order to deepen the theoretical basis regarding the concept of extension and contribute to the objectives of the paper, a literature review was carried out, initially presenting the dissertation thesis by Diniz (2012), which analyzes the relationship between university extension and the implementation of public policies. According to the author, the University Extension/Public Policies relationship, as part of the relationship between State, University and Society, was “historically and socially constituted, and is marked by contradictions and conflicts that influence its development” (Diniz, 2012, p 13).
Although it is a challenge to point out all the phases and concepts that run through this historical and political process until reaching the contributions of university extension in an advanced campus located in Potiguar semi-arid, a brief temporal review of the main landmarks and actors that make up this pillar of universities is presented to reinforce the theoretical basis of this paper. In this regard, Gurgel (1986) considered in his work three phases of extension in Brazil: the pioneering (1912 to 1930), the period of isolated experiences (1930 to 1986), and the beginning of the process of further institutionalization, between 1969 and 1976.
De Paula (2013) points out the relevance of the structuring and construction of the university extension policy, in 1987, with the creation of the Forum of Pro-Rectors of Extension of Brazilian Public Universities (FORPROEX), responsible for actions such as the construction of instruments for evaluation and monitoring of extension actions and the implementation of the institutionalization of extension as an essential dimension of the university activity, acting as the main interlocutor in the definition of public policies to promote extension. Diniz (2012) points out that FORPROEX collectively built on the elaborations that guided the institutionalization process of university extension in Brazil, being the National Extension Plan (PNEX) one of the main achievements of the Pro-Rectors Forum. In this document, extension was defined as following:
The University Extension is an educational, cultural, and scientific process that articulates Teaching and Research in an inseparable way and enables the transforming relationship between University and Society. Extension is a two-way street, with guaranteed transit for the academic community, which finds, in society, the opportunity to develop the praxis of academic knowledge (BRASIL/MEC, 2001, p. 5).
From this most recent clipping, some authors as Sampaio & Freitas (2010) point out that the extension activity is the one directed to the community in the form of teaching or actions of specific social extensions, being grounded in structured knowledge in that field, but also in favorable spaces for the emergence of new research questions, capable of generating new knowledge.
In addition to the concepts about university extension, it is important to emphasize that this theoretical basis was built from the discussions in the various National Meetings of Extension Pro-Rectors. For the purposes of this study, it is worth characterizing two topics from the FORPROEX discourses, which are: the constitution and dissemination of a conception of extension as an instrument of public policy, as well as the issue focused on the evaluation of extension actions (Diniz, 2012). Considering that, since the 1990s, FORPROEX established through the VII National Forum Meeting, held in 1993 in the city of Cuiabá-MT, under the theme Evaluation of Extension in the context of university autonomy, the guiding parameters for evaluating extension. For Diniz (2012), the main objective was to build an extension assessment methodology that was concerned with privileging not only extension managers but all those involved in extension activities.
For a more global assessment that is able to measure the impacts of university extension contributions to public policies, we believe in the need to involve the different subjects participating in this process. Thus, the organizations involved need to be part of the assessment, as it is through them that certain public policies are effectively executed (DINIZ, 2012, p. 64).
Álvarez et al. (2020) in a discussion on university extension management, in the context of the Argentine University of Pinar del Río “Hermanos Saiz Montes de Oca”, points out the lack of evaluation as an inefficiency factor in the management of extension processes, and concludes that its effectiveness will be achieved from acting in a systemic and contextualized view. Such study, despite keeping a relationship with the concept of governance regarding collective action, does not present a model that allows the evaluation of extension practices (Ferrão, 2010).
Deus & Henriques (2017, p. 86) in the discussion about Brazilian University and its social insertion point out that "the educational and training potential of the extension must be inserted in a qualified way in the university pedagogical project." They also mention the consequent need of the universities for processes and instruments for measuring, as in the Brazilian case, the National System for Assessment of Higher Education – SINAES, among others, to include extension actions.
On the role of university extension related to the theme of public policies, a detailed analysis of the National Extension Plan carried out by Nogueira (2001) points out that participation in this field is directed towards the elaboration, monitoring and evaluation of certain public policies. Still according to the author, universities cannot deviate from their purposes, occupying spaces that are not their attribution.
It is important to emphasize that the intervention in the reality does not lead the university to replace functions under the responsibility of the State, but rather to produce scientific and technological as well as artistic and philosophical knowledge, making it accessible to the population (Nogueira, 2001, p. 119).
Thus, once this brief theoretical approach has been made and these two topics related to the construction of the concept of extension and its actors have been addressed, Dos Santos (2019) points in his dissertation thesis entitled “Teaching, Research, Extension: a case study on the Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid, in Rio Grande do Norte” to a scenario of a certain discredit of the extension activity when taking data related to the dedication of teachers, which according to Santos (2019, p. 61) present themselves disproportionately, "in which the teaching pillar has the largest number of professors, followed by research and lastly extension."
However, still according to Dos Santos (2019), even in this scenario, there is a perspective that the extension activities have a greater adhesion at the university. In view of the approval of Law No. 13.005/2014, the National Education Plan (PNE) was approved, which provides for a minimum of 10% of curricular credits in undergraduate courses for university extension programs and projects.
2.2 Territorial Governance and the Dallabrida Model
Being one of the objectives of this article the presentation and use of a model that points to evidence of good territorial governance practices, a brief discussion about the concepts of territory and its patrimony is necessary; governance and the conception of territorial governance, which is pointed out by Dallabrida (2017) as a method for collective action.
It should be noted that the use of the territorial approach presented by Dallabrida is justified by the author's effort to identify and establish epistemic-theoretical references that are convergent with the territorial approach, and in this regard propose:
Taking the territory with its patrimony as a reference in the analysis and proposition of innovative and sustainable development strategies for municipalities, regions, or territories (Dallabriada et al., 2021, p. 259).
Based on the theoretical synthesis of the author's previous reflections, the identification of central theoretical categories "that dialogue with epistemic assumptions converging with the territorial approach" is reinforced. Dallabriada et al. (2021, p. 267), among which, the methodological indications that guide the territorial heritage and its components, as a starting point and guidelines in the elaboration of localized development strategies.
Given the identification of the theoretical category on territorial patrimony in the context of conceptual systematization regarding the relationship between institutions, including higher education centers, and the role of civil society in a process that aims to harmonize a vision of the future and a certain pattern of territorial development, without, however, disregarding the irreplaceable role of the State as the planner of this process.
The importance of this study is presented from the analysis of the extension action of UFERSA projects, as an opportunity to validate this conceptual category and also the methodological assumptions that converge with the territorial approach, using the Dallabrida Model (2017) for evaluation of the extension action in the theoretical context that aims at good practices of territorial governance.
In this regard, once the importance of the academic contribution of the author Dallabrida is presented, with the discussion and presentation of categories and methodological procedures in the scope of the territorial approach to development, in addition to the analysis and identification of this transversal concept to the extension practice from three UFERSA projects. Next there is a discussion about the concept of territory, understood as a basic conceptual category for the beginning of the debate.
Even though according to Badie (1996) the end of territories was pronounced, in reference to the old conception related to the notion of the Nation-State, in which the meaning of territory as a spatial area over which a given state has jurisdiction prevails. However, other views, mainly those coming from geographers, present a contemporary understanding, according to Dallabrida (2017, p. 144), based on an integrative and relational view of the territory, understood as "a place of expression of power relations, identities and individual and collective territorialities".
Thus, still on the importance of the initial debate, Santos (1994), in the text “The return of the territory”, proposes the construction of new horizontalities (spaces for everyone), in what the author calls a territorial society, in which the path to development take place through the participation of all actors of this territory in this process, while Pecqueur (2009) with the study “The territorial turn of the global economy” proposed the advance, moving from the idea of comparative advantage to the concern with a differentiating advantage, that is, transforming territorial specificities, normally considered as comparative advantages, into differentiating advantages.
Massey et al. (2012) emphasizes the relationships between the spatial, natural, and social dimensions, abandoning the singularities of the place. Saquet (2015) synthesizes the meaning of territory as a social, historical, and relational construction. According to the author, territory is linked to the process of appropriation and domination of space and the people who reside in it.
It is noticed that the initial presentation of these approaches are important contributions to the objectives of this study, since they are the basis for understanding their practical implications, and from this basic literature review, it is identified the conceptual category of territorial patrimony, which for Dallabrida (2017, p. 153) “is the main reference in any territorial intervention or analysis”. He also points out that the starting point for thinking about territorial development must be considered: “its values and attributes, its assets and resources, material, immaterial, generic or specific, especially the latter”.
Camagni et al. (2009) uses the expression territorial capital to refer to the variety of tangible and intangible goods, of a private, public or mixed nature, constituted in a given territory, the same author starts from the premise that regional growth patterns are diversified and differentiated territorially, because the places have different territorial assets (assets or resources), which define specific growth or development strategies for each city, region or territory. Capello et al. (2009), Saquet (2015), Dallabrida (2017), Benassi et al. (2021), Morretta (2021), Getzner & Moroz (2022), indicates the concept of territorial capital to refer to all goods, public or private, of a particular territorial area. For Dallabrida (2017), territorial assets and resources is found in the direct relationship with the groups' capacities regarding their organization and elaboration of a political development project based on territorial specificities and on the process of identification and activation of resources, that is, in the transformation of resources into specific assets.
The concepts presented are, therefore, the basis for the debate on collective action in the territory and, therefore, the starting point for the approach to territorial governance with a view to discussing and proposing the model that guides the practice of territorial governance (Dallabrida, 2017). This identification in the literature review is relevant and will be conceptualized below, considering that it is one of the objectives of the paper, that is, using the proposed methodology, to carry out a comparison between the closed model and the responses of the subjects involved, in order to identify a positive or negative relationship between the theoretical basis and the extension practice in question.
Before deepening this concept, a brief explanation about the term “governance” is worth, since it is a term used by several areas of knowledge, including Geography, Political Science, Administration, Economics, and not always with the same meaning. Although, according to Ferrão (2010), in universities, the term “governance” and its translations have been used since the 1980s, it was only in the late 1990s that seminal texts on the subject were published, such as those by Stoker (1998). Ferrão (2010) states that the emergence of the term governance translates distinct political-ideological positions, even though they all affect the modern conception of the role of the State and the author specifies them: (i) neoliberal economic visions (deregulatory governance); (ii) postmodern civilist views (diversifying governance); (iii) neomodern views (regulatory, strategic and collaborative governance).
Also according to Ferrão (2010), this process that started in Europe and is adopted by several national projects from different States, brought these visions that coexist in these societies, even if sometimes conflicting and in others peacefully, and refers to the key idea associated with the processes of decentralization, accountability, participation, coordination, cooperation, partnerships, and contracting. These key ideas are equally present in the debate and application in Brazil and their consequences in the territories.
Therefore, after this brief approach of the term “governance”, it is discussed about the concept of territorial governance and later the presentation of the Dallabrida model (2017) that guides the process of territorial management through the definition of its dimensions, categories, and criteria. Thus, the author's concept is assumed, which:
“comprises territorial governance with a process of planning and managing territorial dynamics that prioritizes an innovative, shared, and collaborative perspective, through horizontal relationships. However, this process includes power struggles, discussions, negotiations and, finally, deliberations, between state agents, and representatives of the social and business sectors, university, or research centers. Processes of this nature are based on an irreplaceable role of the State, on a qualified notion of democracy, and on the role of civil society, aiming to harmonize a vision of the future and a certain pattern of territorial development.” (Dallabrida, 2015, p. 325).
And then, what Dallabrida (2017) understands as guiding parameters of the collective action that proposes the method to guide the territory management process is presented, with a view to its development, consisting of four dimensions: Actors, powers and relations; decision processes; and coordination of policies and results of territorial governance processes, in addition to the guiding principles and the respective analysis criteria, according to an extract from the adapted model presented below in Table 1.
Table 1: Extract of dimensions, guiding principles, and criteria for evaluating governance practices
|
Dimensions |
Guiding principles |
criteria for evaluating governance practices |
|
Actors, powers, and relationships |
Guiding principles |
Subsidiarity (vertical and horizontal) |
|
Analysis Criteria |
Distribution of attributions and competences |
|
|
Decision processes |
Guiding principles |
Representativeness |
|
Analysis Criteria |
Representativeness of sector members |
|
|
Policy coordination |
Guiding principles |
Decentralization of policies |
|
Analysis Criteria |
Strategic oversight to enable the aggregation of areas and sectors of relevant policies |
|
|
Results of territorial governance processes |
Guiding principles |
Decentralization of policies |
|
Analysis Criteria |
Strategic oversight to enable the aggregation of areas and sectors of relevant policies |
Source: Adapted from Dallabrida (2017).
For Dallabrida (2017), summarizing the contributions of the main authors on the topic, the concept of governance in its general meaning,
"refers to self-organized networks and involving a complex set of organizations, institutions and actors from public and private sectors, such as representatives of the business sector, workers unions, civil society, popular movements, and state agents, acting in an interactive process, in which interactions are rooted and regulated by rules of the game negotiated and agreed upon by the participants.” (Dallabrida, 2017, p. 155).
According to the same author, these are decision-making processes, or it can be said that they are relatively horizontal spaces of accountability, featuring a model of collective regulation and policy making, that is, a more cooperative government format, unlike the hierarchical model in which state authorities exercise sovereign power over the groups and citizens that make up civil society.
3. MATERIAL AND METHODOLOGY
This article is an exploratory and descriptive research regarding its objective. Based on the identification as exploratory research, this study takes the form of a case study with a qualitative approach. According to Yin (2009), the case study uses data collected from real events, intending to describe facts inserted in its own context and is characterized by being detailed research that enables deep knowledge.
The qualitative approach is concerned with aspects of reality that cannot be quantified, focusing on understanding and explaining the dynamics of social relations. In the study, the triangulation approach of the data collected through interviews, observation, and document analysis. According to Decrop (2004), triangulation means observing the same phenomenon from more than one data source, which limits personal and methodological biases and increases the generalizability of a study.
Regarding the observation technique, this is justified because the author has a working relationship with UFERSA, which allowed him to observe the execution of the Urbanized Land Access and Land Regularization and Smart City projects, and to participate as a volunteer in the Reinvent your Neighborhood project. The experience in the Institution over the five years of public service and seek for a proactive role and a leading position as a subject of transformation within the technical-administrative attributions and currently as a researcher of extension actions in the scenario presented.
To analyze the qualitative data, content analysis was chosen, one of the most common for this kind of information. According to Laville and Dione (1999), through content analysis, an attempt is made to dismantle the structure and elements of the content, to clarify their different characteristics and meaning. The same authors suggest that the contents be cut into themes, that is, into fragments that translate a particular idea, which can either be a concept or a relation between concepts.
The data referring to the extension projects that are related to the objectives of the study were identified through the Academic Activity Information System (SIGAA) and processed through Microsoft Excel® software.
The next step after cutting the contents is the definition of the analytical categories, “[...] rubrics under which the content elements grouped by kinship of meaning will come to be organized [...]” (Laville and Dione, 1999, p. 219). There are three ways to define these categories, including the closed model, in which the researcher previously establishes the categories based on a theoretical model, then submitting it to verification. This model has proven to be the most viable for the purpose of the study.
Based on the theoretical approach mentioned above regarding data analysis and the option for the closed model of analysis, the data collected through semi-structured interviews were fragmented and the meaning of each report was analyzed. Thus, it was possible to compare this content with the closed model proposed by Dallabrida (2017), which contains the guiding parameters (dimensions, guiding principles, and criteria) to analyze and evaluate territorial governance practices, in addition to the comparison with the internal regulations of UFERSA regarding the practices of extension action.
Thus, semi-structured interviews were applied, in a remote format, between December 2020 and February 2021, using the Meet app, due to restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and after authorization by the UERN Research Ethics Committee, with the subjects who actively participated in the Project Coordination and in the Committee formed by the City Hall of Pau dos Ferros to prepare the Participatory Master Plan.
From the constant questions in the aforementioned interviews, three categories were defined for analysis, the first named Internal Analysis, related to the model that guides the extension practice internally (pedagogical plan, institutional arrangement); the second category is External Analysis, which analyzes the content focused on the relationship with society and learning; and the third comprises the Model that guides the practice of Territorial Governance of Dallabrida (2017). All the answers were fragmented, and their relationships of meanings and analysis carried out in comparison to the closed models and theoretical concepts presented.
In addition to the documentary research carried out in the UERN and UFERSA Directorate Secretariats, in order to identify evidence of formal communication between the institutions involved in the scope of the study. They will be presented in the results section.
4. RESULTS
4.1 UFERSA Campus in Pau dos Ferros
Having identified the relevance of the extension practice in this current situation, in addition to the aspects related to the conceptions of university extension, development throughout history, as well as its current composition and guidelines indicated by the National Forum for University Extension, an objective approach of these guidelines is taken for the implementation of extension at UFERSA, through the application of the concepts of the latest version of the Institutional Pedagogical Plan (2019) and the identification of extension practices on the UFERSA Campus in Pau dos Ferros, precisely in the actions that contribute to urban planning policies .
However, before objectively approaching the institutional concepts regarding the extension practice, a brief contextualization of the expansion of higher education in the Upper West Region of the State of Rio Grande and the subsequent characterization of the city of Pau dos Ferros/RN should be made. In this regard, according to Carvalho (2018), this process began in 2003, with the Expansion Program, also known as Expansion I, to meet the goals of the National Education Program PNE (2001-2010), having as one of the main guidelines the interiorization, focused on the economic needs and vocations of each region of the country.
In this context of expansion, according to Carvalho (2018), the Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid (UFERSA) officially emerged on July 26, 2005, through Law No. 11.155 (BRASIL, 2005a). The transformation into a Federal University came from a history of claims by the then Superior School of Agriculture of Mossoró – ESAM, created through Decree No. 03/1967. Three years after the transformation, UFERSA began its expansion to other micro-regions of RN, also supported by political negotiations.
The Pau dos Ferros Campus started its activities in 2012. A survey carried out in the Integrated Academic Activities Management System (SIGAA), shows that the Campus in the semester of 2021.2 has 1,658 students enrolled in seven undergraduate courses: Bachelor of Science and Technology (BCT), Architecture and Urbanism, Interdisciplinary Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology (BTI), Civil Engineering, Environmental and Sanitary Engineering, Computer Engineering and Software Engineering, in addition to eighty-three professors, forty administrative technicians, and thirty outsourced employees.
Figure 1 – UFERSA location map – Pau dos Ferros Campus
As for the characterization of the study area, according to Alves & Freitas (2021) in an article on the interiorization of educational policies, points out that the municipality of Pau dos Ferros is located in the region called “Alto Oeste” of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, with an average distance of 400 km from the capital, Natal, and with an estimated population of 30,600 inhabitants (IBGE, 2020). In 2018, in studies on Regions of Influence of Cities (Regic, 2018), Pau dos Ferros appears as the third level in the urban hierarchy in the state of RN (sub-regional center A), with influence within and outside the state, mainly regarding the offer of services, including educational service, added with implementation and undergraduate and graduate university courses.
4.2 Extension policy at UFERSA
Once this brief characterization is carried out, the discussion about the approximation of the theoretical bases on the contributions of extension practices to public policies related to urban planning in the city of Pau dos Ferros is resumed, thus starting the analysis in the UFERSA documents notably the Institutional Pedagogical Project (PPI-2019) which, in the chapter devoted to philosophical principles, defines the academic-pedagogical function of the university:
The academic-pedagogical function of the University in compliance with specific functions, and in attention to its institutional project, is therefore to intervene productively in society, in order to enhance its creative capacity and generate situations of overcoming in relation to current stages and construction of necessary and desirable future scenarios (PPI UFERSA, 2019).
The document continues in the definitions, in the chapter dedicated to Academic Policy it states that it constitutes a normative element of pedagogical/administrative practices advocated by "principles, values and actions that should guide university life and its relationship with society, based on the ethical axis fundamental for the construction of citizenship as a collective good” (PPI UFERSA, 2019).
In order to cover the integrated management of teaching, research and extension, the document also defines its institutional management policy that guides the planning, organization, coordination, and evaluation of all ends and means activities, adopting the General Management Policy Guidelines, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Management Policy General Guidelines
|
a) Integration between Teaching, Research and Extension: Institutional Management, at its various levels, must be at the service of UFERSA's core activities, promoting the integration of people, resources, and actions, in order to achieve the objectives and goals traced by the University; |
b) Transparency: information and decisions relevant to the different institutional levels must be distributed and communicated through mechanisms established by law and institutional communication channels; |
|
c) Prioritize the Quality of Developed Actions: manage, execute, and evaluate activities, processes, projects, and programs, considering previously defined quality requirements and contributing to the achievement of objectives and goals; |
d) Meeting Social Demands: consider UFERSA's role in meeting social demands based on its mission, vision, principles, and institutional values; |
Source: UFERSA's Institutional Pedagogical Plan – 2019 (Adapted by the author).
Another important aspect, presented in UFERSA's Institutional Pedagogical Project, a document that guides the practice of university extension, refers to the types of actions that can be carried out, as highlighted next: programs, projects, events, and service provision. With emphasis on the definition of the concept of projects, these are actions of an academic nature, with an educational, social, cultural, scientific, or technological nature, with a specific objective, developed in the short and medium term.
The present study realizes an analysis of Extension Projects with local coverage, in view of the aspects that characterize this format, especially its results, the involvement of different agents, and notably its relationship with the objectives of this study. Thus, the identification of the Projects was carried out through verification in the Integrated System of Academic Activities Management, so that further analysis can be executed, in order to bring their contents closer to the respective researched theoretical bases.
Therefore, with the presentation of the content in Table 3, in addition to explaining the choice of the type of extension action to be analyzed, the identification of the projects that will be discussed and their respective contributions to public policies in Pau dos Ferros, namely: Access to Urbanized Land and Land Regularization (Draft of the Participative Master Plan); SMART CITY PAU DOS FERROS: Development of integrated systems to support multipurpose registration (Multipurpose Registration); and Reinvent your Neighborhood (Dom Bosco Multipurpose Space).
Table 3: UFERSA Extension Actions – Pau dos Ferros Campus, related to Urban Planning
|
Title |
Year |
Category |
Scope |
CNPq Area |
|
2015 |
Project |
Local |
Exact and Earth Sciences |
|
|
SMART CITY PAU DOS FERROS: Development of integrated systems to support multipurpose registration. |
2018 |
Project |
Local
|
Engineering |
|
2018 |
Project |
Local |
Applied Social Sciences |
Source: UFERSA Academic Activities Management System (SIGAA) – 2021
The next discussion will be around the presentation of the concepts that support the definition of the territorial governance model defined by Dallabrida (2017) and subsequent analysis of its applicability to reality, using the proposed methodology, presented in the speeches of the interviewed subjects, which will be discussed in the session regarding the results.
4.3 The territorial governance approach
Once all the theoretical approach regarding the objective of the study has been carried out and the methodological aspects have been presented, this section presents the results of the documental research, as well as an extract from the answers given by the interviewees, which are divided into two blocks. Regarding the documents identified in the UFERSA directorate secretariat, it was found: Official Letter No. 103 from December 23, 2016, is a response to a request for information from the City Hall of Pau dos Ferros regarding the Projects of the Participatory Master Plan; official letter No. 023 from April 12, 2017, about availability for discussion of adjustments to finalize the Plan's final document; and official letter No. 013 from March 2018, which forwards and makes available the final version of the Plan to the Municipality of Pau dos Ferros. In the Smart City and Reinvent your Neighborhood projects, no communication or submission of their contributions by official document was identified.
The answers to the questions were divided into two blocks: the first consisting of questions related to the category of internal analysis and therefore to the adequacy of the extension practice in the Semiarid region to the PPI (UFERSA – 2019); to the internal arrangement; to the importance of the Extension Coordinator; logistic conditions; and ending with a question about the application of an evaluation instrument with the project participants. The results presented in table 4 will carry out an analysis of extension practices and their contributions from a comparison with the model defined in the Institutional Pedagogical Plan.
Table 4: Internal Analysis Category
|
Question summary |
Evidence of the extension practice |
|
Relation between the institutional theoretical basis (PPI) and university extension in practice.
|
[...] The Pedagogical Plan, [...] it guides the carrying out of extension actions within the university, what are the references it should use [...] each and every document or action that we are going to carry out we have to take into account the official documents of the university, the regiment, the statute, the PPI and the PDI, all of them have to be taken into account, all the actions that we develop take into account the guidelines of this document” (Subject 9). "I believe so, when we start an extension project, there is a very strong alignment with that" (Subject 6). [...] Professors often forget a little of the Institutional Plan when associating, writing their descriptive projects [...] in this regard, it is no different from the Smart City Pau dos Ferros project [...] because everything that the people carried out throughout the project has an affinity with the Institutional Plan” (Subject 5). “To be honest, I don't deeply know the issues that are in the PDI, I believe that there is an adjustment, but I wouldn't be able to speak properly because I don't know these points so well” (Subject 07). |
|
Extension Coordination of the Pau dos Ferros Campus as an articulation actor with society.
|
"The Coordinator, I believe, has a very important role because they work as this link with the community and when they follow these extension actions, [...] I believe it is a very important role, both in connection with the community and to know if the actions developed are in accordance with the university's extension policy and national policies, because those of the university are carried out in accordance with national legislation” (Subject 9). "There was no participation [...] so when we started, what was the participation when we started the registration, questions I had related to filling in these things [...] the involvement was minimal, it was more informative than even participatory in the project execution process, [...] an extension Coordination closer to the project because sometimes it has more strength to reach the city hall and raise resources [...] the participation of the Extension Coordinator is important and in this case there was unfortunately none” (Subject 6). "The involvement of the Extension Coordination is important because we have the representative of that activity within the institution, who can, in a way, provide a general overview for our partners, whether it is a company or a public or private institution, [...] the involvement of the coordination is more at the beginning, this articulation is functional between the bodies, between the City Hall” (Subject 5). |
|
Verification of the existence and application of a management instrument to assess the satisfaction of the public served or participating in extension projects. |
“[...] And we saw the face of each student in the project, how satisfied they were with that” (Subject 05). “No, what happened was that at the patron's party, it was the peak moment for the project’s presentation. What actually measured it, in a very subjective way, was the moment of the final presentation, the direct contact we had with the community that actively responded with applause and satisfaction, emotion. [...] people coming and saying how important that moment was and narrating, the evaluation was also very subjective” (Subject 06). “Good question, we didn't really apply an evaluative questionnaire to find out the degree of satisfaction. This degree of satisfaction was really perceived through the interaction with the community [...]” (Subject 07). |
Source: Elaborated by the author (2021)
Therefore, there is an understanding from the subjects in the sense of recognizing the importance of using the concepts predicted in the PPI (UFERSA-2019), especially in the project preparation phase and as a requirement in the registration of the analyzed Extension Projects. However, it can be seen from the subjects' reports that, even though they were encouraged to go deeper into the content of the PPI and the importance of its assumptions, the subjects demonstrate a superficial knowledge of the document, which can be understood as one of the reasons for the lack of an evaluation instrument of the results of the projects.
Regarding the perception of the importance of the extension coordinator's performance, despite the methodological limit, as it deals with the analysis of only three projects, it is clear that in two projects the participation was positive and in one of the projects it was not satisfactory, which indicates the possibility of this actor not being present in all projects, even if their performance is understood as an important link between the university and society.
In addition to Álvarez et al. (2020), which points out the lack of evaluation as an inefficiency factor in the management of extension processes, and concludes that its effectiveness will be achieved from acting in a systemic and contextualized view, and a gap in the practice of the internal guidelines provided for in the General Extension Guidelines regarding the need to:
"Prioritize the Quality of Developed Actions: manage, execute, and evaluate activities, processes, projects, and programs, considering previously defined quality requirements and contributing to the achievement of objectives and goals" (PPI UFERSA, 2019).
In the next block, the results aimed at the category of external analysis will be presented, table 5, with questions about the relationship between the university and society through extension actions, in particular the city hall of Pau dos Ferros, notably the institution with the greatest interaction in this process.
Table 5: External Analysis Category
|
Question summary |
Evidence of the extension practice |
|
Assessment of the posture of the municipal executive power during the execution of the extension project. |
[...] we delivered and the municipality ended up not giving the necessary referrals, then another administration came (2017-2020). The other administration asked us to update it, the project was already over, it even supported it with some scholarships for some students to do this update. The update is carried out and it was delivered again (2019) and was not executed and then a new update was requested. The project remains outdated again and without any referral by the government (Subject 3). “I think there was a good relationship between the coordination, the teams, and the municipal management. All our requests to the Department of Taxation or even to the municipality itself, we make a project and set a deadline, establish a budget [...]” (Subject 05). "[...] the executive branch at the time was a disappointment, so the mayor did not embrace this idea, and on the day of the presentation I was saying that it was a subjective evaluation, but on the day of the project, we were presenting, in many moments, in some moments when he wasn't paying attention, anyway he was there, there was a moment when he had his back to the structure set up there, [...], in front of all that population, we saw the lack of interest from the executive power” (Subject 6). "Look, I think there is improvement, but I think the improvement should be more within the City Hall itself, because there was a certain lack of communication within the city hall, even between the Departments. Suddenly there were so many scholarship holders available to us and we didn't even know for sure how it was distributed between the Department of Planning, Environment, and the Department of Infrastructure. I think the lack of communication is internal” (Subject 10). |
|
Contributions from extension projects in the area of urban planning.
|
"The objective was to build the Master Plan proposal, it was built, but as far as I know it has not been voted on by the City Council, so we can say that we didn’t have the response that would be necessary. The general document is a base document, but it must go through the City Council, be analyzed and voted on. As far as I know it hasn't been voted yet; if it's already been voted I don't know the date” (Subject 9). "Yes, and it stands out for having been a more active multidisciplinary team at the beginning. We made a very comprehensive questionnaire and this questionnaire addressed several areas not only of urban planning, more related, for example, to the environmental part, the mobility part, the accessibility part, urban infrastructure, so there was a civil engineer participating, there was a professor of environmental engineering in all courses at UFERSA, [...] not only was it at the level of urban planning, but a project that was designed in multidisciplinary scale and achieved the purpose of serving this part of urban planning and the territorial ordering initially proposed” (Subject 6). “The intention of the project was to do this re-registration of properties and lots that were quite outdated [...] in a way, the taxes being collected properly. Since we carried out all this survey to update the register of properties in the municipality, and went from 2,000, 3,000 to 16,000, we met the municipality's need to update this register. And what did we not fully satisfy? Together with this registration update of properties, we had a system to be developed” (Subject 5). |
Source: Elaborated by the author (2021)
The reports present an evaluation with a negative bias on the position of the municipal executive power in the management of the results proposed for the elaboration of the draft of the Participative Master Plan, as well as the contributions of “projeto Reinvente seu Bairro” (Reinvent your Neighborhood project), since the first one referrals for the implementation of the Participative Master Plan were not given, even after the updates requested and carried out by the university.
Both the government and the municipal legislature have not completed the necessary directions for the implementation of this basic instrument of development and urban expansion policy, which distributes the risks and benefits of this process, inducing an inclusive and sustainable development (Machado, 2016). In the case of the architectural project of a public apparatus – Dom Bosco Multipurpose Space (square) in “Frei Damião” neighborhood, elaborated by the project Reinvent your Neighborhood – there is a more punctual contribution, but the feasibility of execution was not used or even discussed. There is also a deficiency on the part of the executive power in relation to the use of qualified labor placed at its disposal, notably the scholarship holders, according to the report presented.
It is noticed that the relationship between the municipal executive and legislative powers and the university in the development of extension projects present relevant results, in view of the social and economic impacts proposed by these contributions, and also taking into account the deficiency of the technical staff of these public entities in the area of urban planning. However, it was expected, in addition to a good reception, a greater interest and effectiveness in putting into practice academic expertise, notably that derived from the Architecture and Urbanism course.
In this regard, it appears that the Project of the Access to Urbanized Land and Reinvent your Neighborhood and their respective contributions, the draft of the Participatory Master Plan and the architectural project of a public apparatus – “Espaço Multiuso Dom Bosco” (square) in the Frei Damião neighborhood – did not have the necessary referrals to be put into practice or executed, as well as the absence of monitoring instruments on the part of the university with political entities in order to postulate greater effectiveness of the inputs and intellectual energy applied in these undertakings.
However, the Smart City Project presented a favorable relation to the development of the proposed objectives, which appears to have occurred due to the deficiency in the registration of properties until then and notably the fiscal interest with the increase in the collection of the Urban Land Tax, to meet other social needs.
Therefore, in the analysis of contributions perceived as relevant and incomplete, it was found that there are gaps in the alignment of extension practice with the general guidelines of the PPI, among which the “meeting social demands: considering the role of UFERSA in meeting social demands based on its mission, its vision, its principles, and its institutional values" and other guidelines of this theoretical basis, namely:
"The academic-pedagogical function of the University, in compliance with its specific functions and in attention to its institutional project, is, therefore, to intervene productively in society, in order to enhance its creative capacity and generate situations of overcoming current stages and the construction of necessary and desirable future scenarios.”
Thus, it is understood that, in addition to the delivery of contributions, a better systematization of the institutional relationship with these political actors is needed, considering that these political actors are ultimately responsible for the decision to put them into practice or not, and also the conclusions regarding the gaps in meeting social demands Diniz (2012).
To deepen this understanding. the next session is dedicated to the discussion of the Territorial Governance category, adding the approach of its aspects already addressed in the theoretical framework, which perceives the presence of universities in certain locations as true intellectual assets and the capacity of these actors who make up these spaces to articulate in order to promote the development of this territory, as pointed out by Dallabrida (2017):
"Summarizing the reflection on territorial assets and resources, it is indicative that the challenge of development strategies lies in taking ownership of specific resources and seeking what may constitute the identifiable potential of a territory, which requires a specification process or resource activation, that is, turning resources into specific assets. The effectiveness of this perspective is directly related to the capacities of groups regarding the organization and elaboration of a political development project, supported by territorial specificities” (DALLABRIDA, 2017, p. 151).
In this regard, using the proposed methodology to achieve the specific objective of the study of identifying and analyzing the correlation of similarity or not between the guiding parameters of this collective action, which is proposed as a model to guide the territorial management process. The evidence is presented below in Tables 6 and 7.
Table 6: Dimensions, guiding principles, criteria for evaluating evidence of extension practice.
|
Dimension: Actors, powers, and relationships |
||
|
Guiding principles |
Analysis criteria |
Evidence of the extension practice |
|
Subsidiarity (vertical and horizontal) |
Division of attributions and competences |
"[...] there were several meetings in the legislative assembly, although they were quite empty with low involvement of the Legislative Chamber itself. It is worth knowing and highlighting that this is not a process of high accountability from the university, but mainly from the city hall and, within the scope it is perhaps even more responsible, because that is how it is the body, in the legislative sphere it will be the fundamental representation to articulate society in the process, it is not UFERSA's obligation to do this” (Subject 1). |
|
State protagonism |
Prominence of the State, as the guider of networks |
"In the development of the activity we have several difficulties. The first is the difficulty of involving the municipality itself, as it does not have specialized or available labor to monitor the process and execute it; the involvement of all interested parties in the civil society representation process as well, so it was a very big difficulty in mobilizing and one of the biggest difficulties. We completed the study and delivered it to the municipality and the municipality did not take the necessary steps in time” (Subject 3). |
|
Social protagonism |
Active participation of civil society |
|
|
Business protagonism |
Socially and Environmentally Responsible Business Action |
"[...] there are several institutions within this Management Nucleus, [...] when we arrived at the public hearing, what we actually found at the public hearing was the company owners. The concern was ‘my company is in a residential area, with a master plan will it leave the residential area?’, ‘I have a subdivision in such a neighborhood, will this subdivision be considered within an urban area or within a rural area?’ So, we actually saw these entrepreneurs more than the population itself, which is the most affected” (Subject 4). |
|
Dimension: decision processes |
||
|
Representativeness
|
Representativeness of sector members |
"[...] some representatives of the municipality and when I say municipality I mean institutions based in the municipality, universities, schools, merchants, in short, there were representatives from various segments based in Pau dos Ferros, it was not just the university, there was a representative of CREA too, it was a very representative Committee [...]” (Subject 2) |
|
Cooperation and interdependence
|
Conflict management, with legitimization of actions through cooperation, negotiation, and sharing |
“[...] at other times I even considered presenting it to the City Hall, but you may even be asking yourself, why didn't you present it to the City Hall? The intermediary was the Department of the Environment, so I always asked for feedback, [...] and they always answered me, while Secretary of Environment, that they didn't take it, didn't bring an answer from the executive either, I still didn't know the answer" (Subject 6). |
|
Governability |
Posse de capacidade de governar em rede |
"In this administration, what we noticed was a lack of synchrony between the main Secretariats, [...] so there was a lack of dialogue mainly between these three Secretariats and that was what was burdening, we had a meeting and said ‘we need this and that’ and in the meeting itself, we realized that the Secretariats said among themselves ‘you are doing this, you are doing that and we are not aware’” (Subject 8). |
Source: Adapted from Dallabrida (2017)
Regarding the evidence presented in Table 6, it is clear that the project that provided for the most relevant contribution, notably the draft of the Participatory Master Plan, even if it was finalized and delivered to the city hall, does not present a positive correlation when compared to the guiding principles of state and social protagonism, in addition to Subsidiarity (vertical and horizontal); the latter having as an analysis criterion the division of attributions and competences.
Still on the analysis of this last criterion, Dallabrida (2015) in the study that gave rise to the model, with an experience of territorial associations in Brazil and Portugal, already pointed out the difficulty of the State in proposing territorial policies due to ignorance and disregard for “Historical processes of territorial articulation, even if such policies include, in their genesis, participatory principles” (Dallabrida, 2015, p. 324).
The findings in table 7 also point out that in reality there was an overlapping of responsibilities of UFERSA, on the role that theoretically belongs to the state and largely presented in the theoretical framework. As pointed out by Nogueira (2001, p. 119), in a detailed analysis of the Plan Extension National, according to the author: "the intervention does not actually lead the university to replace functions under the responsibility of the State". In the case under study, the responsibility for planning, conducting, coordinating, and performing all steps related to the construction of public urban planning policies for Pau dos Ferros city.
Table 7: Dimensions, guiding principles, criteria for evaluating evidence of extension practice.
|
Dimension: Policy Coordination |
||
|
Guiding principles |
Analysis Criteria |
Evidence found |
|
Policy decentralization |
Strategic oversight to enable the aggregation of relevant policy areas and sectors |
"One thing that I think should be highlighted is that it was not UFERSA's responsibility to carry out social mobilization. The responsibility of social mobilization to make judgments, to enforce it is the popular consultation for the preparation of the plan was the Chamber’s, so much so that some meetings were held in the Chamber itself. The scholarship holders, the professors, they presented some data, so to finish my reflection it was a process elaborated in an extremely technical way, in an extremely insightful way, which should have been done with greater appeal from the Chamber for their participation process” (Subject 1). |
|
Horizontal integration |
Intersystemic integration between policies with impact on the territory |
"The Chamber also has this capacity for popular mobilization, and we see that it did not happen only in the case of the project, but we see here in an average city like Pau dos Ferros, it is a characteristic, the culture of lack of popular participation in the interests of city, community, whatever neighborhood it may be" (Subject 6). |
|
Vertical integration |
Integration of vertical policies, coming from different levels of government |
"[...] because these two institutions, city hall and UFERSA are co-responsible, I don't like to say that name, no one is responsible, but there were so many institutions co-responsible for the elaboration, even UFERSA, more especially the city hall is the executing agency and the responsible agency, it is also responsible for the process” (Subject 1). |
|
Policy effectiveness |
Focus of results on collectively defined goals |
"The intention of the project was to do this re-registration of properties and lots, which was quite outdated, [...] since we carried out all this survey for the registration of the municipality's properties, and went from 2,000, 3,000 to 16,000, we met this municipality's need to update this registry [...]” (Subject 5). "Along with the system, we developed an App, an application that the people who collected this data in the field, [...] was a bonus, let's say, that will allow the tax inspectors to use it and update it, make registration updates over time [...]” (Subject 5). |
|
Dimension: Results of territorial governance processes |
||
|
Sharing of objectives and goals |
Maximização dos efeitos das políticas na sociedade e nos territórios |
“[...] the municipality used to have around 2,000 or 3,000 registered properties. With an update, we reached 16,000 lots and properties. Imagine how much this can add to revenue for the municipality, at the same time of return for society, since when charging the land tax, you have to transform this tax, this revenue in benefits for the population” (Subject 5). |
|
Empowerment of the actors |
Actors as subjects of collective action |
"[...] institutions headquartered in the city, universities, schools, merchants, in short, there were representatives from various segments headquartered in Pau dos Ferros, it was not just the university, there was also a representative of CREA, it was a very representative Committee, (. ..) at the beginning there was an atmosphere of enthusiasm and good expectations, but these calls stopped in the first year, so I don't know if you have this information, the schedule, this control, but this first year there was the presence of these representatives of this very representative committee, but which over time lost its routine of meetings and active participation, so for this reason I believe that this Committee was lost in time, that's exactly what happened” (Subject 2). |
|
Territorialization of development processes |
Territory as a reference matrix, with the enhancement of territorial capital, without disregarding the multi-scalarity of the processes |
"[...] the municipal Master Plans they ask to be participative, the whole community, the university, the productive sectors, especially excluded social groups, they need to be heard so that we can build a planning instrument that pays attention to collectivity that allows people to have the right to the city, so accessibility, mobility, housing, public services in a balanced way in the city, it is necessary that people are heard. Of course there is part of the responsibility of those who are ahead, to organize and work methodologies that encourage and motivate these people to be heard and to get closer to these spaces” (Subject 2). |
|
Integrative territorial management |
Focus on improving social cohesion and socio-economic-environmental development |
“[...] the great urban problem in Brazil and in developed countries is a well-done and participatory urban planning. We have excellent examples that show that these odds of inequality are mitigated, they are reduced, when everyone participates democratically. There is even a term called urban democracy, so it's allowing people to have access to the city, because it's not enough to have access to housing and not have transport that takes you to work, being in a wheelchair and not being able to cross the street or access a building, [...] it is necessary to have access, to perceive these people, the socioeconomic profile, the problems of low mobility, [...] anyway, so this is the fight we are fighting for a more inclusive city (Subject 2). |
Source: Adapted from Dallabrida (2017)
It can also be seen in aspects related to decision-making processes, with emphasis on the guiding principle aimed at the representativeness of the institutions involved, a deficiency of popular participation in this process. In the case of the initial involvement of entities, a good participation was found, while regarding the project Reinventing your Neighborhood, there is a negative correlation in the guiding principle of cooperation and interdependence, which refers to the absence of a systematization instrument in the relationship between university and government.
These are relatively horizontal decision-making processes or accountability spaces (Weale, 2011), as a new model of collective regulation and policy making (Blanco and Comà, 2003; Graña, 2005).
There is also a deficiency in the internal organization of the municipal executive power evidenced in the correlation with the principle of governability, since communication between the secretariats would be a basic condition to manage the other institutions involved in the management processes of the partnerships executed through the extension projects.
The analysis of the correlations presented in Table 7, in the comparison between the reports of the interviews about the preparation of the draft of the Master Plan, with the guiding principles of policy decentralization, vertical and horizontal integration of the dimension: Policy coordination reinforces the observation already discussed, regarding the overlapping of UFERSA's extension actions on the responsibilities of the executive and legislative powers of the municipality of Pau dos Ferros. In view of the negative correlations with the guiding principles of territorial governance and the identification of the territorial conditioning that points to the lack of culture, participation, and social control on the part of the population (Dallabrida, 2017).
The correlations presented on the results of the governance processes reinforce the perception that the actions developed in the Reinvent your Neighborhood and Access to Urbanized Land and Land Regularization projects are at odds with the theoretical basis pointed out by Dallabrida (2020). “To think of new possibilities in the dynamics of localized development, with the activation of territorial patrimony as the central strategy” (Dallabrida, 2020, p. 267).
In this context, UFERSA's contributions are understood as territorial resources, since even being used, they were not fully utilized.
Assets are understood as 'activity' factors, while resources are factors to be revealed, explored, or even to be organized. Resources, unlike assets, constitute a reserve, a latent potential (Benko and Pecqueur, 2001, p. 41).
Nevertheless, and confirming the validity of the model, such projects, despite presenting relevant contributions, for the purposes for which they were proposed, did not have their contributions carried out. The issue also raised in the theoretical basis regarding the need for evaluation of extension actions with all institutions involved, precisely because they are responsible for implementing these public policies (Diniz, 2012).
The Smart City project, development of integrated systems to support multipurpose registration, on the other hand, presented positive correlations in 3 of the 4 dimensions presented and therefore in line with the proposed model, since its objective met the interests, in theory and in practice of the institutions involved. It appears that the model is equally valid in the positive evidence, since the contributions of this project, namely: the multipurpose registry and the application to assist the servers of the municipal secretariat of taxation were taken advantage of and put into practice by the municipal executive power.
5. CONCLUSION
Extension constitutes an important pedagogical and academic instrument, in the sense of providing the relationship between society and university, by putting into practice this exchange of knowledge and technical-citizen training of those involved, in the context of the objectives of this article and using from the proposed methodology. It is concluded that the contributions of this extension action through the three projects analyzed, related to public policies for urban planning in the city of Pau dos Ferros, are relevant, in view of the proposed objectives, however they are incomplete since it is observed in the studied period, between 2015 and 2020, two of them were not used.
Also according to the study proposal regarding the analysis of the importance of its pedagogical and planning instruments, notably the PPI and the PDI, in the extension practice, it can be said that there is a perception by the interviewees of the importance of these documents, but in practice, they are used only at the time of document formalization, that is, in the registration of projects in the SIGAA Extension Module, since disagreements were detected between the practice and the guidelines of the regulations, especially the gap in meeting social demands and lack of satisfaction assessment instruments, observed in the three analyzed projects.
Such action, as developed by the Access to Urbanized Land project, which provided for the preparation of the draft Participatory Master Plan, and taking into account the analysis of negative corrections between the theoretical basis of territorial governance and the evidence of its practice, presented in Tables 6 and 7, it leads to the conclusion that the model indicated in this paper and proposed by Dallabrida (2017) is adequate for the purpose of the study, in the sense of detecting even in the execution, through these correlations, if the practice of extension projects, framed in this theoretical basis, obey the general parameters of good governance, and from this analysis, identify adjustments or not in the development of the projects.
In the last case analyzed, it was found that there was an overlapping of responsibilities, as it was a process in which the university's proactivity proved to be greater than the obligation of municipal public authorities to plan, coordinate, and lead the way in which the Participatory Master Plan of the Municipality was built (Nogueira, 2001). The consequences of inconsistencies with the theoretical basis of territorial governance and the orientation of the Institutional Development Plan (2019), which point to the irreplaceable role of the State in the protagonism of this process of formulation and execution of public policies aimed at urban planning, reflect the results of frustration, both in the Access to Urbanized Land Project and in Reinventing your Neighborhood, which similarly point to a more comprehensive conclusion of this study.
That is the need to implement an instrument that systematizes the institutional relationship between the university and society, in order to create regularity, definition of responsibilities, and greater awareness by the university of the importance of these contributions to society, especially with the political agents of the municipality, as they are ultimately responsible for prioritizing or not the implementation of these contributions and the effective achievement of the institutional mission of the university, to promote social, economic, and cultural development of the territory in which it is located in a harmonious and cooperative manner (Diniz, 2012).
6. REFERENCES
Álvarez B. O.,
Breijo W. T., González Fernández-Larrea, M. (2020). Análisis de las tendencias
de la gestión de la extensión universitaria desde el departamento docente.
MENDIVE, 18 (2), 379-393.
Disponível
em: http://mendive.upr.edu.cu/index.php/MendiveUPR/article/view/1928.
Alves, L. S. F., & Freitas, C. C. G. (2021). Políticas educacionais
e interiorização. Sociedade e Território, 33(1), 116-135. https://doi.org/10.21680/2177-8396.2021v33n1ID23432
Badie, B. (1996, December). La fin
des territoires westphaliens. In allocution prononcée lors du colloque Le
territoire, lien ou frontière.
Bastianini, M. E., Gusman, D. J. R.,
Telles, L. Q., Assunção, L. R. D. S., Marsicano, J. A., & Prado, R. L. D.
(2019). Dental caries among preschool children: effects of social inequality
and the impact of a university extension project. Revista Gaúcha de
Odontologia, 67. https://doi.org/10.1590/1981-86372019000373632
Benassi, F., D'Elia, M., &
Petrei, F. (2021). The “meso” dimension of territorial capital: Evidence from
Italy. Regional Science Policy & Practice, 13(1), 159-175. https://doi.org/10.1111/rsp3.12365
Benko, G.,
Pecqueur, B. (2001). Os recursos de territórios e os territórios de recursos.
Geosul, 16
(32), 31-50.
Brasil. (2001). Ministério da Educação. Plano Nacional
de Extensão Universitária. Brasília, DF, 2001.
Brasil. (2014). Lei nº 13.005, de 25 de junho de 2014.
Aprova o Plano Nacional de Educação - PNE e dá outras providências. Brasília:
DF.
Camagni, R. (2009).
Territorial capital and regional development. In: Capello, R. Nijkamp, P. Urban
dynamics and Growth. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2009, 121-152. Available at: https://papers.tinbergen.nl/09059.pdf.
Capello, R.;
Caragliu, A.; Nijkamp. P. (2009). Territorial capital and regional development:
increasing returns in cognitive knowledge use. Tinbergen
Institute Discussion Papers, 2209-059/3, 1-22.
Carvalho, J. D. (2018). Memórias da expansão e
interiorização do ensino superior no semiárido potiguar. Revista Brasileira de
Planejamento e Desenvolvimento. Curitiba, 7(2), 241-263, https://doi.org/10.3895/rbpd.v7n2.5724
Dallabrida, V. R.
(2015). Governança territorial: do debate teórico à avaliação da sua prática.
Análise Social, 2(215), 304-328. https://doi.org/10.3895/rbpd.v7n2.5724
Dallabrida, V. R.
(2017). Aproximações teóricas que tenta explicar as possibilidades e desafios
quanto ao desenvolvimento de lugares, regiões, territórios ou países. Curitiba.
Cap. 4 (Pág. 135-161).
Dallabrida, V. R.,
Rotta, E., & Büttenbender, P. L. (2021a). Pressupostos epistêmico-teóricos
convergentes com a abordagem territorial. Revista Brasileira de Gestão e
Desenvolvimento Regional, 17(2). https://doi.org/10.54399/rbgdr.v17i2.6343
Dallabrida,
V. R., Rotta, E., Büttenbender, P. L., Denardin, V. F., & Arenhart, L. O.
(2021). Abordagem territorial do desenvolvimento: categorias conceituais e
pressupostos metodológicos. Guaju, 7(1), 8-80. http://dxdoi.org/10.5380/guaju.v7il.80437.
De Paula, J. A.
(2013). A extensão universitária: história, conceito e propostas.
Interfaces-Revista de Extensão da UFMG, 1(1), 5-23. https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/revistainterfaces/articl/view/18930
Decrop, A. (2004). Qualitative Research Practice: A
guide for social science, students and researchers. Rechercher et Applications
en Marketing, 19, 126-127. https://doi.org/10.1177/076737010401900208
Deus, S.; Henriques, R.L.M. A
Universidade Brasileira e sua Inserção social. In: Castro, J. O.; Tommasino, H.
Los caminos de la extensión en América Latina y el Caribe. Santa Rosa:
Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, 2017. 230 p.
Diniz, F. P. (2012). A
Extensão Universitária como instrumento de política pública. Orientador:
Dijaci David de Oliveira. 2012. 140 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Ciências
Sociais) –
Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia. http://repositorio.bc.ufg.br/tede/handle/tde/1614.
Dos Santos, E.
(2019). Ensino, pesquisa e extensão: um estudo de caso da Universidade Federal
Rural do Semi-árido, Estado do Rio Grande do Norte.
http://repositorio.ufersa.edu.br/handle/prefix/5352. Acesso em: 14/08/2021.
Ferrão, J.
(2010). Governance and territorial planning: reflections for
efficient, fair and democratic territorial governance. Prospectiva e planeamento,
17. Available at: https://dssbr.ensp.fiocruz.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/governanca_ordenamento_territorio.pdf. Accessed on: 02
sept 2020.
Forproex (1987). I
Encontro Nacional de Pró-Reitores de Extensão das Universidades Públicas
Brasileiras - Conceito de extensão,
institucionalização e financiamento. UNB, Brasília.
Getzner, M., Moroz, S. The economic
development of regions in Ukraine: with tests on the territorial capital
approach. Empirica 49, 225–251 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10663-021-09521-w
Gumiero, R. G.,
& Tigre, A. M. L. (2020). Evaluation of policies for regional development:
Unifesspa actions for social inclusion and empowerment in Pará Amazônia.
Revista Produção e Desenvolvimento, 6. https://doi.org/10.32358/rpd.2020.v6.474
Gurgel, R. M. (1986). Extensão universitária:
comunicação ou domesticação? São Paulo: Cortez/Autores associados/Universidade
Federal do Ceará. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/228836342.pdf
Jessop, B.
(1998). The rise of governance and the risks of failure: the case of economic
development. International Social Science Journal, v. 50, n. 155, p. 29-45.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2451.00107
La Ville C., Dionne
J. A. (1999). Construção do saber – manual de metodologia da pesquisa em
ciências humanas. Belo Horizonte, Editora UFMG , 340 p. ISBN 978-85-7307-489-5.
Machado, E. G.;
Freire, G. M. C. A.; Almeida, A. P. (2016). Extensão universitária,
planejamento urbano e democracia na elaboração de um plano diretor
participativo no semiárido nordestino. Rev. Ciênc. Ext. 12 (1), 63-79.
Disponível em: https://ojs.unesp.br/index.php/revista_proex/article/view/1139
Madan, S., Baker, A., Maredia, K.,
& Bates, R. (2021). Agricultural extension capacity development in
developing countries: an international training course at Michigan State
University. Development in Practice, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2021.1958165
Massey, D. S. (2012). Reflections on
the dimensions of segregation. Social Forces, 91(1), 39-43.
Morretta, V. (2021). Territorial
capital in local economic endogenous development. Regional Science Policy &
Practice, 13(1), 103-119. https://doi.org/10.1111/rsp3.12317
Nogueira, M. D. P.
(2001). Extensão Universitária no Brasil: uma Revisão Conceitual. Editora UNB.
2001
Orui, K., Frohlich, J. R., Stewart,
S. H., Sherry, S. B., & Keough, M. T. (2021). Examining subgroups of
depression and alcohol misuse in emerging adults during university: a
replication and extension study. International Journal of Mental Health and
Addiction, 19(6), 2323-2341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00325-w
Pecqueur, B.
(2009). A guinada territorial da economia global. Política & Sociedade, 14,
79-105. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7984.2009v8n14p79
PPI. Projeto Pedagógico
Institucional. (2019). Universidade
Federal Rural do Semi-Árido, Mossoró.
Sampaio, J. H.,
& Freitas, M. H. (2010). A Indissociabilidade entre Ensino, Pesquisa e
Extensão. In: Gonçalves, L. de F. et al. (org). Educação superior: princípios,
finalidades e formação continuada de professores. (pp. 123-148). Brasília: Ed.
Universa e Liber Livros, 2010.
Santos, M. (1994).
O retorno do território. In Santos, M.; Souza, M. A. A.; Silveira, M. (1994).
Território, globalização e fragmentação. São Paulo: Hucitec.
Saquet, M. (2015).
Por uma geografia das territorialidades e das temporalidades. Uma concepção
multidimensional voltada para a cooperação e para o desenvolvimento
territorial. 2ª ed. Rio de Janeiro: Ed. Consequências.
Sousa, L. A. D., Salim, N. R.,
Fumincelli, L., & Teixeira, I. M. D. C. (2021). Complementary therapies in
education, community extension and research in nursing. Revista Brasileira de
Enfermagem, 74. https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2020-0449
Stoker, G. (1998). Governance as a theory. Five propositions. International
Social Science Journal, 50(155), 17-28.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2451.00106
Weale, A.
(2011). New Modes of Governance, Political Accountability and Public Reason.
Government and Opposition, 46(1), 58-80. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-7053.2010.01330.x
Wick, A. F., Haley, J., Gasch, C.,
Wehlander, T., Briese, L., & Samson‐Liebig, S. (2019). Network‐based
approaches for soil health research and extension programming in North Dakota,
USA. Soil use and management, 35(1), 177-184. https://doi.org/10.1111/sum.12444
Ximenes, M. F. F.
M.; Araújo, M. F. F.; Souza, C.; Tinoco, B. G. A. Caminhos da Extensão na UFRN:
desafios e perspectivas do passado e do presente. Revista Extensão &
Sociedade, 22 Jun. 2018. https://doi.org/10.21680/2178-6054.2018vn0ID14745
Yin, R. K. (2009). Pesquisa de estudo de caso, desenho e métodos. Califórnia: Sage Publications.
DECLARATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ARTICLE - CRediT
|
ROLE |
EAraujo |
JGomes |
|
Conceptualization – Ideas; formulation or evolution of overarching research goals and aims. |
x |
|
|
Data curation – Management activities to annotate (produce metadata), scrub data and maintain research data (including software code, where it is necessary for interpreting the data itself) for initial use and later re-use. |
x |
|
|
Formal analysis – Application of statistical, mathematical, computational, or other formal techniques to analyze or synthesize study data. |
x |
|
|
Funding acquisition - Acquisition of the financial support for the project leading to this publication. |
x |
|
|
Investigation – Conducting a research and investigation process, specifically performing the experiments, or data/evidence collection. |
x |
|
|
Methodology – Development or design of methodology; creation of models. |
|
x |
|
Project administration – Management and coordination responsibility for the research activity planning and execution. |
x |
|
|
Resources – Provision of study materials, reagents, materials, patients, laboratory samples, animals, instrumentation, computing resources, or other analysis tools. |
|
x |
|
Software – Programming, software development; designing computer programs; implementation of the computer code and supporting algorithms; testing of existing code components. |
|
x |
|
Supervision – Oversight and leadership responsibility for the research activity planning and execution, including mentorship external to the core team. |
|
x |
|
Validation – Verification, whether as a part of the activity or separate, of the overall replication/reproducibility of results/experiments and other research outputs. |
|
x |
|
Visualization – Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work, specifically visualization/data presentation. |
x |
|
|
Writing – original draft – Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work, specifically writing the initial draft (including substantive translation). |
x |
|
|
Writing – review & editing – Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work by those from the original research group, specifically critical review, commentary or revision – including pre- or post-publication stages. |
|
x |