Improving water governance in Brazil: an organisational memory approach

Abstract Brazilian river basin committees are a democratic innovation increasingly studied throughout the world as a positive example of water governance, with some limitations. In our two-year research project (2018-2020), we aimed at activating, preserving and circulating narratives and stories from the participation of the various social, economic and political actors in the Upper Tietê River Basin Committee (São Paulo), in order to gather organisational memories. Our interview data bring lessons applicable to contexts with similar governance systems and others beyond, by suggesting how democratic, participatory arrangements can be improved as strategies that a society can explore in the process of learning how to cope with the effects of climate change, including the threat of water scarcity that grew in the metropolitan region of São Paulo after 2014. Interviews point to the need to clarify the roles of the committee and its members before society, to strengthen authority and legitimacy.