Cross-Sector Work

Cross-sector collaboration is a defining feature of Brazilian governance, particularly at the local level.¹ Mechanisms like municipal policy councils involve civil society in decision-making², while public–private partnerships are central to infrastructure and service delivery.³

These arrangements enable coordination across government, business, and NGOs. The catastrophic floods of 2024 in Rio Grande do Sul, for example, showed how networks can mobilize public agencies, local organizations, and private resources quickly.^{4, 5} Ongoing examples range from the Amazon, where Uma Concertação pela Amazônia (A Concertation for the Amazon) has brought together more than 500 leaders from the public and private sectors, academia, and civil society⁶, to Brazil's cities, where the Programa Cidades Sustentáveis (Sustainable Cities Program) asks mayoral candidates to adopt a civil-society sustainability agenda and report on their progress.⁷

Brazil has formalized cross-sector collaboration, especially through municipal policy councils (conselhos gestores).¹ These councils bring together government officials and civil society representatives to deliberate on priorities, including budget allocations.^{2, 8}

In the area of health, federal law requires a permanent, deliberative council at every level of government, with users of the public health system holding half the seats. Each council helps shape health strategy and oversees how it is carried out, including spending.⁸ A 2009 study found health councils in all 5,564 of Brazil's municipalities, with about 72,000 members.⁹

In social assistance, federal funding reaches a municipality only if it runs a council split equally between government and civil society.¹⁰ This model of participatory governance, developed after the adoption of the 1988 Constitution, has become a structural feature of service delivery at the municipal level.¹¹

In the economic and infrastructure sphere, public–private partnerships (PPPs) play a growing role, as fiscal constraints and investment needs have pushed governments to rely on private capital and expertise for transport and sanitation.^{3, 12} In the sanitation sector, private investment rose from BRL 3bn (about USD 590m) in 2020 to a record BRL 29.8bn (about USD 5.3bn) by late 2025.³ While PPPs have expanded infrastructure capacity, they also raise questions around contract design, risk-sharing, transparency, and long-term public oversight.¹²

Crisis response highlights both the strengths and limits of Brazil's cross-sector ecosystem. The 2024 floods in Rio Grande do Sul affected 95% of the state's municipalities and more than 2.4 million people.¹³ Federal ministries, the armed forces, and Brazil's Defesa Civil (civil defense) coordinated the official response with state and municipal authorities⁵, while social institutions and civilian volunteers met urgent needs such as food and health care.⁴ This response demonstrated how much decentralized networks can add to top-down emergency response.⁴

Other cross-sector arrangements are embedded in everyday economic life. The Sistema S, a network of employer-funded entities run by business federations, illustrates long-standing collaboration between the private sector and public policy, delivering vocational training, health, and cultural services nationwide.^{14, 15}

Despite these strengths, coordination challenges persist. Fragmentation and overlapping mandates across government bodies weaken coordination.¹⁶ Strengthening these collaborations — for example, through "quadruple helix" models linking government, industry, academia, and civil society¹⁷ — could help tackle complex challenges such as urban violence, workforce transition, and climate adaptation.