Strong Together

This project intends to act in a current scenario in which it is increasingly necessary to bring civil society closer to global development agendas. With the objective of promoting the Sustainable Development Goal 6, which aims to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation, this project assists representatives of society through workshops. The project seeks to qualify Municipal Councils for Basic Sanitation in the region of the Médio Vale do Itajaí, southern Brazil. The region has approximately 780 thousand inhabitants, divided in fifhteen collegiate bodies denominated Municipal Councils of Basic Sanitation. Each council is located in a municipality of the same region. The solution proposed deals with the interconnection of the contents addressed in the fifhteen Councils, established in a single platform, in the form of an application, in which the population will have access to the discussions, as well as suggesting guidelines for future meetings.

In an analysis of the local action of the public policies, the form that the local government has to strengthen and demand that the services provided are good and impose quality aspects, among others, is to mobilize the civil society. It is understood that social control can be understood as a participation of society in public administration, in monitoring, control and control of actions. It is, therefore, an important tool for strengthening citizenship. The problem caused by the low participation of local communities in the whole process of public policy formulation is a problem that in many cases is not perceived at first, with secondary and indirect consequences. The scale is high at the local, regional or global level. The people directly affected by this project proposal are approximately one hundred basic sanitation counselors, that is, social control agents belonging to collegiate bodies formed by representatives of organized civil society. The collegiate bodies appear with the power to intervene in the administrative decision in order to attend to the interests of society. The company has at its disposal an instrument that allows a follow-up of the activities carried out.

The purpose of this project is to promote the Sustainable Development Goal 6 in a regionalised thinking, which specifies the actions that ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by means of qualification to the Municipal Councils of Basic Sanitation in the region of the Médio Vale do Itajaí, southern Brazil. The region in implementation has approximately 780 thousand inhabitants, divided in fifhteen collegiate bodies denominated Municipal Councils of Basic Sanitation. Each council is located in a municipality of the same region. The concepts of participation and social control are among the growing yearnings of society, that is, increasingly the public sector is charged for greater transparency and participation in public management. The solution proposed with this project deals with the interconnection of the contents addressed in the fifhteen Basic Sanitation Councils, established in a single platform, in the form of an application, in which the population will have access to the discussions, as well as suggesting guidelines for future meetings. With a large-scale action, this solution promotes the institutionalization of SDG at the level it is implemented, as well as support for social control.

This solution was designed and planned to serve as an interconnection tool with stakeholders in the planning and implementation of public policies in the area of basic sanitation, especially in the case of water and depletion. Initially, the proposed platform aims to organize and incorporate all relevant information and characterize the institutionality of the Boards. In the sequence, it is hoped to categorize the subjects that were subjects of the periodic meetings of fifteen Councils. In order to maintain transparency and access to all citizens, the platform will be periodically updated with the information that will be made available by each collegiate, such as dates of meetings, minutes, documents, bills, among others. Suggestions for upcoming meeting schedules may also be forwarded by the citizen directly through the application. The Municipal Councils are fundamental to the access of users of basic sanitation services to the deliberate themes on this segment. These collegiate bodies deal with matters of interest to everyone because they impact on the daily life and for exerting influence in sectors such as public health and education. It should be noted that the need to implement an integrated and efficient system with the capacity to interact with other governmental systems was identified.

The proposed solution represents a future investment with great prospects. This investment in education and empowerment of the decision-making body at local level means a relationship of trust between public agents and society in the short and long term. The suggested innovative proposal consists of a simple idea, but of high impact in the communities where it is applied. Allying the technological potential of bringing together relevant information to society to the own power of investigation of each citizen through its pro-activity, means to create a facilitator to the transparency and accountability of public actions. Therefore, the differential can be observed from the moment in which there is no longer the difficulty of access of the population to the discussions related to basic sanitation. It seeks to facilitate social control of public discussions, with training workshops in order to mark the technical knowledge of representatives of social control and the actions of these local actors, to make public and make the discussions and decisions public through an application, transparency of public actions.

The technology, classified as a new application of an existing technology, has at its core the objectivity in sharing the actions developed in fifteen Municipal Councils of Basic Sanitation. The use of the application on smartphones, tablets and computers aims to make the process agile, dynamic and easily accessible to all ages and levels of contact with these technologies. With the option of posting different types of media, the proposed application allows the content creator, the representative to be appointed by the colleges themselves, to multiply the actions in different ways and as necessary to convey the information in the best possible way. Bringing technology to these institutions represents a breakthrough for local citizenship, with regional and national impacts. By combining modernity with consolidated elements, everyone wins.

Considering elements such as low participation of citizens in collegiate bodies that aim to discuss direct interests of the population, the proposal presented here has the objective of bringing technical knowledge to the counselors, allied to the technological apparatus that brings the citizen's council even closer. This proposal proposes to be identified as a solution to the problems experienced in the daily life of the public sector, regarding the issue of social participation and access to decision-making. It is believed that, directly related to the volume of information, the more involved the citizen will be of the problems that affect him. In this way, with data, check, monitor and monitor actions that will impact one's life and family. In a survey carried out in 2018, there was a noticeable attention and concern regarding the citizen role in the position of advisor, as well as this participation being relevant to the decision-making process and the following developments. It was noted that the planning and monitoring of public acts are relevant factors, which converges with the discussion held in the theoretical framework of this research on the issue of the effectiveness of instances of social control for the process of democracy.

It is projected to meet in the realization periods the amount referring to the population of the fifteen municipalities that compose the region of the Middle Vale do Itajaí, southern Brazil. In the current period it is estimated that about 780 thousand people, to whom the system will be available for consultation. In the period of one year with the current population projection, the quantitative of 790,000 is predicted and in five years, of 820,000 inhabitants. It should be noted that the number of directors in the fifteen boards is approximately 100 (one hundred) directors.

The transformational impact is essential, with relevance in projects where action on society, with incentive to democracy and social control are the pillars of support. The possibility of replication in the proposed solution is totally feasible, since the use can occur by different institutions that deal with the theme Sustainable Development Goals - SDG 6. As well as its replication can occur for other types of advice (public transportation, education or health), because the initial and procedural idea is the same. We are sure that by replicating a platform of social control, who will win is the citizens themselves who will have with them an important tool of control and monitoring.

The main barriers are the financial question, in which the search for financial support is a constant battle to coordinate the project, just to carry out the maintenance of the activities in their best configuration. We are constantly looking for financial support and networking with people passionate about development, water and sanitation. As far as the technical barrier is the constant verification of the technology, the attendance to the needs, to maintain the virtual environment safe and also accessible and of easy use by all type of user. As the project expands its breadth and capacity, the challenge becomes the need for service, with a consequent increase in the number of employees and content managers (from the training workshops of the advisors and the application).

In the financial area, sources of financing will be sought from the public authorities and other sources. The technical stage will be fulfilled with the appointment of the advisors to the definition of responsible person, in order to follow the growth of the demands with the expansion of the activities.

This is a collegiate body formed by representatives of civil society, called the Municipal Council of Basic Sanitation.

Directly in the fifteen municipalities, in which each municipality has its Municipal Council of Basic Sanitation, there are approximately 100 (one hundred) people.

It was found that, together with the rise of civil society participation in the public policy management processes, the deliberative power of the Municipal Councils of Basic Sanitation in relation to these management processes was strengthened respectively. During the working period with the Councils, it was envisaged that these actions enhance the exercise of citizenship, bypassing the margins of content imposed by laws and regulations. In other words, there is inspiration, motivation for the participants in this process to develop a sense of social responsibility and to see themselves as an important element of this structure. There were also lively discussions about the participation of civil society in the process of building this new Agenda. In addition, there is a commitment to increase the participatory method. However, for these changes in the process of democratization to be constant and meaningful, these representatives of civil society need to be able to influence what it means to have information, opinions, conditions and instruments to become subjects of action and not mere complements her.

At the moment, the solution does not count on partnerships. But it aims to align strategic visions with universities, public authorities and other institutions of organized civil society.

The proposed business model with this solution is to add value to the way in which the relationship between public authority and civil society currently takes place. Between these two actors, the opportunity envisioned by this solution can be put into practice. It is understood here as a client, any citizen interested in knowing more about the actions related to basic sanitation, in particular, when it comes to water and sanitation, as recommended in ODS 6. Still as beneficiaries, citizens and their own counselors when they receive the training through the training workshops to understand the Council's attributions regarding the SDG 6. The product, that is, the final result of this solution is the society's involvement through the application that will gather the information shared by the boards in the platform where any interested party will have access.

We are constantly looking for financial support and networking with people passionate about development, water and sanitation. In the financial area, sources of financing will be sought from the public authorities and other sources. The technical stage will be fulfilled with the appointment of the advisors to the definition of responsible person, in order to follow the growth of the demands with the expansion of the activities.

Access to information, updating of contents and exchange of cases are necessary and in this in this sense, training and training workshops are an important method of qualification of the directors and consequently the contributions brought to the discussion. Overcoming the challenges, generating awareness of effective participation and contribution of the directors, with interventions that contribute to and increase the quality of discussions. And not just by restricting oneself to mere participation without propositions that evolution of the theme. The network of partnerships created through the connections proposed by Solve motivates and promotes social entrepreneurs to invest in new access practices in order to expand good practices. Who wins the end of this process is society and in it, stamped the future generations that deserve a better planet to live and live.

We intend to align the strategic vision with universities, companies that focus on the area of focus (water and sanitation, SDG), public authorities and other institutions of organized civil society.

With the utilization of a platform, any individual can propose guidelines, topics and suggestions through this platform linking public power and collegiate institutions formed by members of society who seek greater participation and knowledge of the decisions that are made in the local, regional and national level. AI will come to add technological resources to the work done with representatives of civil society. Making processes more efficient, practical and objective is a way to promote transparency to public acts and greater public confidence in official acts.

The proposed solution comes to deal with a serious problem faced in the government-society relationship. By conducting training for the counselors and implementing a platform, any individual can propose guidelines, topics and suggestions through this platform linking public power and collegiate institutions formed by members of society who seek greater participation and knowledge of the decisions that are made in the local, regional and national level.