Confluência do Capital Social, Empoderamento e Governança Ambiental na Sadia Qualidade de Vida em Comunidades Rurais no Ceará

Abstract: The understanding of how social capital, empowerment and environmental governance relate in the local level can strengthen the role of public power and private institutions in implementing strategies to promote quality of life. In this perspective the objective of this study is to analyse the confluence of social capital, empowerment and environmental governance for the healthy quality of life in rural communities in Ceará, Brazil. For this, primary data obtained from community representatives were used. The operationalization of the analysed concepts was accomplished through the construction of aggregate indexes. As the main method of analysis, a structural equation model was estimated. The most relevant results showed that social capital and empowerment are related to each other in promoting healthy quality of life in the communities studied, while environmental governance cannot promote change in this sense. The importance of community participation in development / involvement was evident, thus improving access to social rights with responsible and supportive participation in order to achieve the healthy quality of life in an ecologically balanced environment for present and future generations.