Indicators of sustainable development of Santa Catarina mesoregions: a comparative analysis

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the sustainable performance of Santa Catarina mesoregions from the sustainable development indicators proposed by the Santa Catarina Federation of Municipalities (FECAM). Methodology: To analyze the sustainable performance of the Santa Catarina mesoregions, a descriptive, documentary and quali-quantitative research was conducted. The study sample comprised the six mesoregions of the state of Santa Catarina, namely, Serrana, Norte Catarinense, Oeste Catarinense, Sul Catarinense, Vale do Itajaí and Grande Florianópolis. Data from the Municipal Sustainable Development Index - IDMS were collected on the FECAM website and comprise the year 2018. The analysis considered the descriptive statistics and correlation techniques. Results: The results reveal a state formed by 5 mesoregions that have a sustainable performance considered low-median, and 1 mesoregion with a sustainable average performance, which consists of the Vale do Itajaí mesoregion whose IDMS was 0.625. This result is generally reflected in the low rates of environmental management, economic dynamism and wealth distribution, demonstrating that the Economic and Environmental dimensions deserve attention from municipal public managers, as they were located between Medium-low and Low sustainable development. Neither of the four dimensions nor the consolidated IDMS of Santa Catarina mesoregions is classified with sustainable performance considered High or Medium-high. Overall, there was a slight worsening in the development of the mesoregions between 2016 and 2018. Contributions of the Study: By assessing the sustainable development of the mesoregions, the study contributes to the literature on regional indicator systems and sustainable regional development, allowing the understanding of the sustainable performance process of the municipalities that make up these mesoregions, as well as enabling the monitoring and the comparability of this performance. The study also contributes to the implementation of results-oriented management, which is the main indication of the new public management, whose emphasis is on the effective use of information.