Planificación, participación y sustentabilidad del desarrollo en Puerto San Julián: Desafí­os de la polí­tica local

Abstract

This paper describes the experience of the district of Puerto San Julián, Province of Santa Cruz, after the creation of the Agencia de Desarrollo (Office of Development), and the subsequent impact between 2004 and 2013. The process takes place in a regional and provincial context heavily influenced by market factors. The collective efforts made in the territory have not been nor are a simple adaptation to these dynamics, but a process of a political nature which included as its foundation, an existing social demand for sustainable development. The direction taken reflects the fact that the action of governing and the governability of the development had to take into account historical factors and specific needs which are unlikely to be argued against. The Plan Participativo de Desarrollo (Participative Plan of Development) with a 2020 horizon, and the Acuerdos de Responsabilidad Social (Agreements of Social Responsibility) both formalized by the Municipal State, the Office of Development and the company Cerro Vanguardia S.A. since 2010, are expressions of this complexity. In our summary, we show the importance of the political nature of the process, the social learning in the field of disputes, conflicts and agreements; and, the challenges for public policy in the choices facing development projects within a specific territory.