In December 2008, the company Energia Sustentável do Brasil (ESBR), winner of the concession auction for the Jirau Hydroelectric Project (AHE Jirau) on the Madeira River in Rondônia, approached Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) seeking a study of regional development potentials to support a local development model for an area with delicate socioenvironmental conditions and significant biodiversity.

At the time, ESBR expressed its intention to leave a “legacy” for the region through the establishment of a Development Hub in Nova Mutum Paraná. The locality planned by ESBR houses part of the project’s workforce, some of the resettled families from areas to be flooded, and part of the population drawn to the region by expectations of economic development.

For FGVces, the legacy to be left by ESBR could generate benefits both for the company and particularly for the region, insofar as it fostered a new approach to the implementation of large-scale projects, promoting a form of development that is innovative and aligned with national and global trends toward sustainability. Reaching this level, leveraging the significant financial, human, and institutional resources and attention directed at AHE Jirau, would mean setting an example for the private and public sectors in Brazil.

In 2009, FGV conducted a six-month diagnostic and analysis of the region’s development potentials, which formed the basis for recommendations for a local development proposal for AHE Jirau. This work planted the seed for the structure and legacy that ESBR could leave for the region.

FGV São Paulo School of Business Administration (FGV EAESP)

FGV Center for Sustainability Studies (FGVces)

Researchers:Kena Chaves/ Graziela Azevedo 

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