The Sister Watersheds project arose from a partnership between the ECOAR Institute For Citizenship (Instituto Ecoar para Cidadania) in São Paulo, Brazil, the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) at York University, and the University of São Paulo – in mid 2003. The project was a research, educational development and exchange linkage funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) through the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). Its objectives were to strengthen democratic participation in watershed management by increasing public awareness regarding watershed governance, developing innovative ways of reaching out to local populations, and facilitating exchanges of information and the development of practical public participation strategies, thus contributing to the administration, improvement, and democratization of watershed resources in Brazil. The project included opportunities for graduate students, faculty, and community members from watersheds which are home to the York University and University of Sao Paulo campuses to visit each other and exchange strategies for democratic watershed governance, within the context of the varying institutional structures in Brazil and Canada.
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