“<em>Paraná 12 meses</em>” project in a context of sustainable rural development

Abstract

In the context of public policy against rural poverty through community strengthening, this paper analyzes the action of “Paraná 12 meses” (Paraná 12 months) project in the municipality of São Jerônimo da Serra, state of Paraná. Carrying out the program according to the principles of university extension, in a joint action of faculty, student and community, the researcher lived with one of the beneficiary families while interviewing 70% of the participants. The survey showed that the project still in action has already transformed the productive substructure and the community organization by stimulating collective labor and strengthening local association. However the community is still dependent on external agents to execute their activities, thus showing the necessity of actions to promote the citizenship in rural development projects. To make public policy more consistent and productive, and particularly develop local potentialities the projects should take into account political, social, economic, environmental, technological and educational aspects.