According to the United Nations, by 2050, about 68% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. This population increase requires environmental resilience and planning ability to reduce the negative environmental impacts associated with growth. In this scenario, life cycle analysis, whose standards were introduced by ISO 14000 series, is an essential tool. From this perspective, smart cities whose concern about environmental sustainability is paramount corroborating SDG 11. This study aims to provide a holistic view of environmental technologies developed by Brazilian inventors, focused on life cycle analysis, which promotes innovation by helping cities build greener, more efficient, resilient, and sustainable environments. The methodology of this article was an exploratory study and investigated the scenario of patents in the life cycle. 209 patent processes with Brazilian inventors were found in the Espacenet database. Analyzing each of the results individually revealed processes related to air quality, solid waste, and environmental sanitation. The review of patent processes allowed mapping of the technological advances linked to life cycle analysis, finding that the system is still little explored and can present competitive advantages for cities.

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is the main leafy vegetable grown in Brazil. Its productivity and quality are limited by the growing season, the nearby environment and the type of cultivar adopted. The objective of this work was to verify at different times of the year the best planting environment for lettuce cultivation in a semi-humid tropical climate. For this purpose, an experiment was set up in three different seasons (October–November 2014, January–March, May–July 2015). The experimental design was randomized blocks, in a 3 × 3 × 2 factorial arrangement, consisting of three seasons, three cultivars (cvs. Vera^®, Tainá^® and Rafaela^®) and two growing environments (low tunnel with beds protected with mulching consisting of soil protection with plastic fabric covering, and beds without protection or conventional cultivation) and four replicates per treatment. Plant biomass, stem length, head diameter, number of leaves per head and crop productivity were evaluated as response parameters. The results showed that the May–July period favored biomass production, head diameter and productivity. Despite the similarity between varieties, the variety Vera^® is more productive in biomass, number of leaves per head, stem length and productivity. The low tunnel planting system with mulching is adequate under the conditions evaluated for lettuce cultivation. This system in the May–July period favors a superior development in the characteristics biomass, head diameter and productivity, if compared to conventional cultivation during the October–November period.

This study investigates the impact of extreme rainfall events on soil erosion in the downstream Parnaíba River Basin, located in the Brazilian Cerrado. The analysis focused on rainfall erosivity (R factor) and soil erodibility (K factor) as key indicators. The average erosivity in the region was 9051 MJ mm h⁻¹ha⁻¹year⁻¹, with a variation between 7943 and 10,081 MJ mm h⁻¹ha⁻¹year⁻¹, suggesting a high erosive potential, mainly in the rainiest months, from December to April. The soils of the studied area, mainly Ultisols and Chernosols, present high to very high erodibility, with K factor values ranging from 0.025 to 0.050 t h MJ⁻¹ mm⁻¹. Furthermore, fieldwork revealed areas, near highways, with apparently fragile soils, as well as rills and gullies, identified through photographs taken during fieldwork. These locations, due to the combination of high erosivity and susceptible soils, were considered prone to the occurrence of erosion processes, representing an additional risk to local infrastructure. The spatialization of R and K factors, along with field observations, showed that much of the area is at high risk of erosion and landslides, particularly in regions with greater topographic variability and proximity to water bodies. These results provide a basis for the development of mitigation strategies, being important for the effective prevention of landslides.

The application of governance in recent years appears as a tool of entities that organize sport. Considering this aspect, it was observed that many sports entities present problems in following mechanisms to improve management, both in national and international contexts. Governance materializes with principles of transparency, accountability, equity, institutional integrity, and modernity, in order to aid sports entities. Thus, the development of sports entities could improve management, professionalization, and innovation. Based on the aforementioned, this article aims to demonstrate whether the principles of governance found in the literature are contemplated in Brazilian sports confederations, pointing to the possibility of finding distinct characteristics among the confederations, and the confederation with the highest index for Brazilian sports. The methodology is a longitudinal discursive analysis. The results use data from 2015 to 2022 from the Sou do Esporte Governance Awards and the analysis is based on five governance principles; transparency, equity, accountability, institutional integrity, and modernity. The confederations were found to have adopted the principles of governance to improve, professionalize, and optimize their sports management. The results suggest that the use of governance can enhance the confederations and improve the management, legitimacy, and development of sports in Brazil. The authors consider the nuances reported in the study as imperative to improve the progress of Brazilian sports, and the contribution made could generate other discussions in different contexts and countries.