Strong and efficient public policies motivate

The Green-Blue City program is an initiative from the São Paulo state government which, since 2007, aims to support and promote the environmental management in its 645 cities. Municipal administrations have one year to prepare a detailed report about their actions regarding ten directives which encompass air pollution, water recourses, solid waste, gases emission, sewage treatment, environmental education and biodiversity, among others. The municipalities which have a more green-friendly agenda are awarded as Blue-Green cities, and the 50 better positioned gain access to a budget and to a set of equipments specifically created for improvements in this select group. This public policy program became a great success.

Foreseeing an opportunity emerging from this program, in May 21, 2019, I reunited the 13 cities that integrate the sanitation business unit I then worked for. Since these municipalities are located within the Piracicaba, Capivari and Jundiaí river basins, helping them to boost their environmental agenda would also mean improvement of their sanitation ratings.

The event became a successful collaborative meeting. The interlocutors designated by the municipal administrations were able to share good practices and strengthen our network. Those administrations which were not so engaged on the Green-Blue City program could meet their neighbours, which testified all the advantages that came along the certification, such as tourism expansion and political regional influence. For the sanitation company, it was possible to use its presence in that group of municipalities to reunite them and promote discussions related to problems involving downstream impacts. Yet, the collaborative proposals that resulted from the dynamics conducted during the event proved that, if cities are united in a regional alliance, many of the critical issues faced individually can be masterly resolved.