Books and Teaching Materials

Socio-environmental Action in the Amazon: Education, health and production in communities

The book Ação Socioambiental na Amazônia: Educação, saúde e produção em comunidades” (external link) was written by Prof. Silvio Eduardo Alvarez Candido and co-authored by Professor Diógenes Valdanha Neto, from the Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro (UFTM), and Program graduates, Fernanda Veríssimo Soulé and Eduardo Michalichen Garcia. The book, launched in 2020, was developed as part of a partnership with NAPRA – the Organisation for the Support and Development of the Riverside Communities in the Amazon Forest (external link), a private non-profit organisation that promotes the training of students and professionals to develop actions in the context of traditional communities in the Brazilian Amazon forest. This organisation maintains a training program in which approximately 60 students and professionals attend annually, mainly from the state of São Paulo, and that addresses four major dimensions of the reality of traditional communities in the Amazon: Territory and Environment; Education; Health; and Production. This program also involves the development of socio-environmental projects carried out in the Baixo Rio Madeira region, in Porto Velho, Rondônia, during July (external link). NAPRA has served more than 500 students and professionals, many of whom now work in NGOs, in the state and in companies. The book's proposal was to systematise reference material for its training program. As the main organiser of the material, the Program faculty member, together with the UFTM co-organiser, worked in cooperation with the organisation and with 17 authors of the 13 chapters of the work. These authors were from different parts of the country and had a solid academic background and also accumulated experience in socio-environmental projects in the Amazon region. Among them, two were Program students during the period to which this monograph refers, namely student Fernando Veríssimo Soulé, from the Doctoral program, who wrote a chapter entitled Organisation and production technologies in Amazonian communities, and student Eduardo Michalichen Garcia, who is co-author of the chapter called Agriculture Models in the Brazilian Amazon forest. The book has already been used as the main reference of the NAPRA Training Program and is an important contribution in educating academics and more qualified professionals to deal with the reconciliation of improving the quality of life of the communities in the Amazon and the conservation of the forest, a critical issue for Brazil and the world in a context marked by growing social inequalities and serious environmental problems, such as climate change and accelerated loss of biodiversity. In addition to its more general impacts, in the production area, the material can boost the development of Amazonian product chains such as Brazil nuts and açaí. It is expected that in the coming years the book will help train hundreds of professionals from NAPRA and also from other organisations, since it was made available free of charge in digital format, thanks to the support of NAPRA itself and the Dean of Extension at UFSCar.  It is available at:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342501033_Acao_Socioambiental_na_Amazonia_Educacao_Saude_e_Producao_em_Comunidades

Production and Operations Management: Integrated Approach

This book “Gestão da Produção e Operações: uma abordagem integrada” (external link) is the result of the recent collective effort of Industrial Engineering Department at UFSCar. Coordinated by Prof. Mário Otávio Batalha, this editorial work represents the history and excellence of teaching, research and extension at the Industrial Engineering Department in the country. The book has 29 authors, of which 22 are faculty members or former faculty members from Program. The book consists of 15 chapters that address the main areas of industrial engineering. 

Agroindustrial Management

The book Gestão Agroindustrial” (external link) is in its fourth edition, having sold thousands of copies in Brazil and abroad. It is a collective work coordinated by Prof. Mário Otávio Batalha and written by 27 researchers from Brazil and abroad. This is a reference work for undergraduate and graduate courses aimed at teaching and research in agribusiness. The book's content has trained thousands of professionals in various productive segments (agriculture, industry and distribution) in agri-industrial chains. In its latest edition, its 14 chapters and around 900 pages are dedicated to exploring the application of Industrial Engineering to the problems of agri-industrial production systems.