{"id":319654,"date":"2020-01-06T18:22:30","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T21:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=319654"},"modified":"2020-01-08T17:40:11","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T20:40:11","slug":"an-effective-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/an-effective-model\/","title":{"rendered":"An effective model"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP) is celebrating its 50th<\/sup> anniversary with a reformulated research pipeline that better addresses societal needs, and a funding strategy that balances public and private funding from sources that include the three levels of government, funding agencies, international organizations, corporations, and third-sector organizations. Created during the military dictatorship (1964\u20131985), and with a portfolio of approximately 500 scientific investigation projects completed to date\u2014including pioneering studies in fields such as population studies, policy, the labor market, and inequalities\u2014the center remains an important think tank for political, economic, and social issues and is today one of Brazil\u2019s leading research institutions in the humanities.<\/p>\n

CEBRAP was founded in 1969 by a multidisciplinary group of professors who had lost their positions at universities due to political persecution, among them sociologist Fernando Henrique Cardoso, philosopher Jos\u00e9 Arthur Giannotti, demographer Elza Salvatori Berqu\u00f3, and sociologist and demographer C\u00e2ndido Proc\u00f3pio Ferreira de Camargo (1922\u20131987), all from the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP). In 1975, the center received a financial boost when an endowment fund of US$3.47 million (in current figures) was established with grant money from the Ford Foundation. \u201cThe foundation was looking to set up research institutions in Brazil to prevent a massive flight of intellectuals as had occurred in Argentina,\u201d says Giannotti, a professor at the School of Philosophy, Languages and Literature, and Human Sciences (FFLCH) at USP. In an interview this year for a video celebrating the center\u2019s 50th<\/sup> anniversary, former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso recalls how funding for the center was arranged through Peter Bell (1941\u20132014), an American human rights advocate who had joined the Ford Foundation office in Rio de Janeiro in 1964.<\/p>\n

Engaging with the private sector supports the design of project proposals that are in the public interest and can generate funding<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

CEBRAP continued to receive funding from the Ford Foundation and, to a lesser degree, from the MacArthur Foundation and the Brazilian Funding Authority for Studies and Projects (FINEP) until the mid-1990s. The money was used to defray administrative expenses and to pay a fixed staff of 20 researchers, who retained employment at the center regardless of the number of research projects in progress at any given time. \u201cFoundations like Ford and MacArthur, while being liberal by the American definition of the term, were progressives who advocated for democratic values. They supported a number of civil-society organizations against the authoritarian context of Latin American dictatorships,\u201d explains political scientist Adrian Gurza Lavalle of FFLCH, who served as scientific director at CEBRAP between 2008 and 2010.<\/p>\n

Sociologist Angela Alonso, a professor at FFLCH who has served as president of CEBRAP over the past four years, says part of the endowment fund was used in the 1980s to purchase commercial properties in S\u00e3o Paulo. These properties were leased and the rent was used towards operating expenses until the mid-2000s, when they were sold for approximately R$3 million and the proceeds reallocated to short-term investments. Another portion of the endowment fund was used in late 1976 to purchase the center\u2019s current offices in Vila Mariana. The decision to move from rented to owned offices came after a bomb attack that year on the house used as office space in Higien\u00f3polis.<\/p>\n

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Juca Martins \/ Olhar Imagem <\/span><\/a> Research at the center investigates the role of social organizations in building democracy. In the photo, a steelworkers\u2019 union rally in the ABC area (1979)Juca Martins \/ Olhar Imagem <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Alonso notes that under the organization\u2019s bylaws, the principal of the endowment can only be used if previously authorized in a meeting of the board of trustees and audit board, and only in situations that are deemed critical, such as if the center is unable to maintain its administrative activities or pay its staff. \u201cOther than in these circumstances, the center is only permitted to spend the amount by which returns on the endowment fund exceed inflation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

A turning point<\/strong>
\nAfter relying primarily on international funding for several years, the center faced new challenges following Brazil\u2019s redemocratization in the mid-1980s. Although the return to democracy meant the end of political pressures on some members, and new fronts of research\u2014one being the new political conjuncture and its implications for civil society and urban life\u2014it also meant that the center would have to reformulate its funding strategy. Because Brazil was no longer considered a country in a situation of vulnerability, funding from international institutions was gradually withdrawn and funneled elsewhere in Eastern Europe, Africa, and Central America. Political scientist Fernando Limongi, a professor at FFLCH, recounts how when he was appointed as president of CEBRAP in 2001, the only source of institutional funding remaining was FINEP. \u201cThis compelled a reorganization of the center,\u201d he recalls. \u201cOur research staff could no longer be permanent, and the center became reliant on revenue derived from research projects. We created a common fund drawing from project overheads, which has since been used towards defraying administrative expenses,\u201d explains Limongi. Meanwhile, international foundations also adopted a new governance model that prioritized projects with real-world applications and measurable outcomes, as opposed to the essentially academic studies which were then prevalent at CEBRAP.<\/p>\n

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L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves<\/span><\/a> The south side of S\u00e3o Paulo: urban planning research explores topics such as inequality and mobilityL\u00e9o Ramos Chaves<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

In addition to its conventional studies\u2014primarily funded by public research-funding agencies\u2014and applied research and advisory services for government agencies, CEBRAP added new research programs for the private sector and third-sector organizations to its portfolio. \u201cPrivate-sector research has gained increasing weight in our activities over the previous 10 years. We have successfully developed projects for companies looking to address societal problems, including urban mobility research for Ita\u00fa, social-impact research for Natura, and legislative development research for Valor Econ\u00f4mico<\/em>,\u201d says sociologist Carlos Torres Freire, who has held the position of scientific director since 2015. Today, 35% of the center\u2019s funding derives from funding agencies such as FAPESP, the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES), and the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq)\u2014FAPESP alone has provided 442 research and training grants since 1962, mostly since the 2000s. Another 15% of the center\u2019s budget comes from international grants, and 20% from government partnerships for projects such as georeferenced poverty surveys; technology transfer for data acquisition on slums; demographic assessments; and urban planning initiatives. Public-interest research for the private sector accounts for another 18% of funding, with the remaining 12% deriving from services provided to third-sector organizations.<\/p>\n

Anthropologist Paula Montero, a professor at FFLCH who served as president of CEBRAP from 2008 to 2015, explains that the center needs to have at least 20 ongoing research projects at any given time to stay in the black. It currently has 28. Approximately 20% of the revenue from these projects goes to operating expenses. CEBRAP\u2019s governance structure is composed of a president, an administrative director and a scientific director. Fundraising activities, which involve responding to calls for proposals, and setting up partnerships with nongovernment organizations (NGOs), governments, and corporations, are managed by the scientific director and the heads of each of the center\u2019s 15 research departments.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n \n \n \n <\/picture><\/div>
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\u201cYounger researchers have shown themselves highly capable of developing new revenue streams by engaging with the private sector to design project proposals that are in the public interest, giving the center greater financial stability,\u201d says Montero. CEBRAP\u2019s continued vitality has also been thanks to efforts to train new researchers. \u201cHaving new generations of researchers with the same stature in public debate and scholarly research as our senior researchers has also been a way to attract news sources of funding,\u201d says Alonso. CEBRAP\u2019s staff currently comprises seven employees in administrative positions, approximately 50 researchers hired on a project basis, and 30 postdoctoral, doctoral, master\u2019s, scientific initiation, and technical-level scholarship holders. The center also has around 30 unpaid volunteers working either directly within research projects or in institutional activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur approach to maintaining financial balance is ensuring we are not dependent on a single source of funding by building capabilities for both academic research as well as applied research and publishing,\u201d says philosopher Marcos Nobre, a professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences at the University of Campinas (IFCH-UNICAMP) and current president of CEBRAP. In addition to conducting research proper, the center publishes the journal Novos Estudos<\/em> with sponsorship from the Carlos Chagas Foundation (FCC), organizes training and seminars on public issues, and engages in science outreach.<\/p>\n

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Reproduced from the book Retrato de grupo \u2013 40 anos do CEBRAP<\/em><\/span><\/a> A letter from human rights advocate Peter Bell, the first in a series of communications between the Ford Foundation and CEBRAPReproduced from the book Retrato de grupo \u2013 40 anos do CEBRAP<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Classic and emerging issues\u00a0<\/strong>
\nCEBRAP\u2019s successful reorganization of its funding structure came in tandem with an effort to renovate its research interests, which now include seminal research as well as studies on emerging issues. Classic topics\u2014those which have been present on the center\u2019s research agenda since inception, such as the employment market, unionism, poverty, social movements, population studies, and political institutions\u2014have been supplemented over the past 10 years by topics such as innovation, the internet, and digital inclusion, says Freire, citing the field of metropolitan studies as an example. \u201cThis area of research has been on CEBRAP\u2019s agenda since its foundation. The book S\u00e3o Paulo 1975: Crescimento e pobreza<\/em> [S\u00e3o Paulo 1975: Growth and poverty; Edi\u00e7\u00f5es Loyola, 1976], published as a result of a study developed for the Catholic Justice & Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of S\u00e3o Paulo, which explored links between economic development and poverty in the city, is one of our most significant publications to date,\u201d says the sociologist. \u201cBut the 2000s saw a reformulation of the center\u2019s research agenda relating to urban planning, with mobility becoming a core research interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another classic research topic for which the center has redesigned its approach is the relationship between the State and civil society. Adrian Lavalle notes that in the early 2000s, these studies were concerned with understanding how these interactions would develop following the end of the dictatorship. \u201cThey were premised on the assumption, inherited from transition literature, that civil society would wane following the return to democracy, an assumption that proved to be mistaken. We found, instead, that society continued to grow in both breadth and influence on public policies, especially social policies,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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Reproduced from the book Retrato de grupo \u2013 40 anos do CEBRAP<\/em><\/span><\/a> Ruth Cardoso (1930\u20132008), Elza Berqu\u00f3, Jos\u00e9 Arthur Giannotti, and Francisco de Oliveira (1933\u20132019), clockwise, in a meeting at CEBRAP in 1994Reproduced from the book Retrato de grupo \u2013 40 anos do CEBRAP<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Among the pioneering research initiatives that have attracted funding to the center since inception, some of the most successful include the population studies of demographer Elza Berqu\u00f3. In the 1960s, Berqu\u00f3 founded the Center for Population Dynamics Studies (CEDIP) at the former School of Hygiene and Public Health, now the School of Public Health (FSP), at USP<\/a>. With funding from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), CEDIP conducted research that broke away from prior paradigms focusing only on the determinants of reproductive behavior. Instead, more complex mechanisms\u2014such as the forms of organization of production and labor, mediated by institutions such as family, school, and religion\u2014were assumed to be at play, ultimately influencing reproductive behavior. Following a pause as a result of the military coup and Berqu\u00f3\u2019s compulsory retirement, she resumed her research after joining CEBRAP where, years later, she would develop Brazil\u2019s first proposal on affirmative action for black people, receiving funding of US$2 million from the MacArthur Foundation.<\/p>\n

The Center for Metropolitan Studies (CEM), founded by a group of CEBRAP researchers in response to FAPESP\u2019s first call for proposals for Research, Innovation, and Dissemination Centers (RIDC), in 2000, is another significant initiative that has helped to generate new knowledge and inform public policy. Montero, who was a member of the founding team, says that one of the goals in creating the CEM was to disseminate scientific knowledge to the public. \u201cThe CEM further enhanced CEBRAP\u2019s capabilities for interdisciplinary, high-performance research that was responsive to government agendas,\u201d says Montero. Political scientist Marta Arretche, who heads the CEM, says the institution has recently increased its research effort on relationships between public policy and inequality, using a range of disciplinary and methodological approaches. \u201cOur research agenda was originally focused on the metropolitan area of S\u00e3o Paulo,\u201d she says. \u201cBut the scope of our research has gradually expanded to capture the full diversity of Brazil\u2019s urban and metropolitan landscapes.\u201d In 2004, again in response to demand from the public sector, sociologist Glauco Arbix, a professor at FFLCH, developed a comparative study on the innovation strategies of seven countries for the then Ministry of Development. \u201cThis project involved 40 researchers and prepared several reports that were used to inform Federal Government policies for science and technology,\u201d he says. The challenge of building and consolidating democracy remains an overarching theme across all research programs at the institution.<\/p>\n

Project<\/strong>
\nFAPESP has provided 442 research grants and scholarships to researchers linked to CEBRAP. See bv.fapesp.br\/48035.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CEBRAP celebrates its 50th anniversary with a multifaceted research pipeline and a diversified funding structure","protected":false},"author":601,"featured_media":319671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[203,222,234,261,265],"coauthors":[1600],"class_list":["post-319654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humanities","tag-architecture","tag-demography","tag-finance","tag-sociology","tag-urbanism"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319654"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":319857,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319654\/revisions\/319857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319654"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=319654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}