Socio-political-environmental perceptions of participants in the public hearings of the Brazilian Representative House on Environment

Abstract

Abstract The article analyzes the perceptions of the citizens who participated in the public hearings promoted by the Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development (CMADS) of the Chamber of Deputies during the year 2018. The methodology consisted in the use of a questionnaire with open and closed questions applied to a sample of 71.22% of the public that was present at these events. For the study of perceptions, open questions are particularly relevant, since they consist of arguments, analyzes and justifications presented by citizens, based on the experience of participating. The conclusions show that a diversity of citizens’ perceptions of the CMADS agenda, the topics under debate and the participation of technicians and representatives of entities from the environmental field. On the other hand, there are critical opinions in relation to the performance of parliamentarians, representatives of government agencies and the dynamics of debates.

Keywords

• Environmental perceptions
• public hearings
• Commission for the Environment and Sustainable Development
• Chamber of Deputies