O consórcio do Rio Jacaré: limites e desafios para a cooperação intermunicipal e para o desenvolvimento regiona

This article has, as its main subject of reflection, a brazilian experience of intermunicipal cooperation named the "Consórcio Intermunicipal pela Conservação da Natureza na Bacia do Rio Jacaré Pepira" better known as "Consórcio do Rio Jacaré", located in São Paulo State, Brazil. Having its origin in 1985, the consortium is considered the first inter-municipal experience of cooperation witch tried to associate regional development with environmental issues. The research, qualitative in the method, designed as single case study and supported by data collected through desk research, systematized information on the projects and activities of the Consortium, pointing among the members those which effectively beneficed from the supposed cooperation, along with the difficulties faced and the context which led the consortium to the state of stagnation in which plunged after 1999. The results showed that, despite its historical and regional importance, the consortium could not be seen as a management model, being weakened by the political and institutional environment, the local realities, the absence of maturity of partners for joint cooperation, in addition to the lack of clarity on the regional dimension of the projects.