Participatory processes in local planning towards sustainable development. Case study: alta gracia and Jesús María municipalities. Province of Córdoba, Argentina.

Abstract

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development points out the importance of local actors’ active participation in the appropriation, implementation and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Recognizing the local government as the bodies who is responsible for creating basic conditions for the population, it fosters participation as a warrantor of duties and rights concerning social relationships and local space production itself. Special attention is given to those territories where agricultural and tourist activities are placed, aiming for ecosystem and historical heritage sustainability within their interfaces. In this order, the investigation of local planning processes in the Municipalities of Alta Gracia and Jesus Maria, in the province of Cordoba, Argentina, was proposed. The purpose was: a) to analyze planning processes focusing on the achievement of the SDGs, b) to analyze the scope of social actors’ participation in such processes and, c) to identify their strengths and weaknesses. These objectives were met through documentary and field methodological design, where data from printed and electronic sources was analyzed, and interviews were carried out with actors of the local planning processes. The research is a contribution of the Latin American Center for Interdisciplinary Training (CELFI) to search for solutions to complex situations that delay the effective achievement of sustainable development at the local level, strengthening the Institute for Research and Training in Public Administration Institute’s (IIFAP) lines of research and their contributions to public management improvement.