The traditional bonfires for St. John’s Day, which is also celebrated intensely in Barcelona, served as a reminder that a small part of northeastern Brazil was represented in that Spanish city. On that date, June 23, which is a holiday in Spain (Public Service Day), the Program for the Integrated and Sustainable Development of the Mosaic of Environmental Protection Areas in the Southern Bahia Lowlands (PDIS) received the 2010 United Nations Award for Public Service. Created by the Odebrecht Foundation, the PDIS was the only initiative from Latin America and the Caribbean among the 21 winners from 15 countries. It won first place in the “Improving civic participation in public decisionmaking processes through innovative mechanisms” category. The President of the Pratigi Environmental Protection Area (APA) Stewardship Association, José Carlos Santos, and young Pedrina do Rosário, one of the program’s beneficiaries, accepted the award from Sha Zukang, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. Also present were the Executive President of the Odebrecht Foundation, Maurício Medeiros, the Mayor of Ibirapitanga, Bahia, Antônio Conceição Almeida, and the Bahia State Secretary of Administration, Manoel Vitório. “This symbolizes our will to succeed. We will multiply this accolade and make the award won by the Southern Lowlands, Bahia and Brazil bear further fruits,” says José Carlos Santos. Mayor Antônio Conceição Almeida observed: “Our responsibility has redoubled. It’s time to work even harder.” According to Maurício Medeiros, the award is a good sign for the PDIS. “What sets this program apart is its innovative system of participatory governance, which creates a synergistic, collaborative space for the construction of social initiatives, and benefits everyone involved. It bolsters social capital while governments, civil society and businesses have the opportunity to work together and help further integrated and sustainable development with a focus on the family-unit in order to achieve social inclusion and the eighth millennium goal: ‘Everyone working for sustainable development.’

Foz do Brasil was the only Brazilian company invited to participate in the Global Water Summit 2010, one of the most important events in the global water industry. Bringing together companies from several countries, the conference took place in Paris on April 26 and 27. Fernando Santos-Reis, Entrepreneurial Leader (CEO) of Foz do Brasil, was one of the speakers. He took part in the panel debate on Private Operators, which also included executives from American Water, the largest private-sector company in that field in the United States, Saur of France, and Essbio, Chile’s leading water utility. “For Foz do Brasil, it was an honor to be the only company from Brazil to participate in an event of this magnitude. It was an opportunity to show how Odebrecht is structured to tackle the challenges of finding solutions to the issue of sustainable water use,” said Fernando Santos-Reis. The other panels discussed topics such as Water and Power, Recycled Water and Project Finance. The conference, whose theme was “Transforming the World of Water,” was organized by Global Water Intelligence (GWI) magazine and the International Desalination Association (IDA), which is devoted to water desalination and recycling. The Global Water Summit is held annually. Its sponsors include the International Federation of Private Water Operators (AquaFed), which Foz do Brasil joined in 2008.

The Brazilian Navy on June 10 honored the Odebrecht Infraestrutura team with the Medal of Naval merit, presented to Benedicto Barbosa da Silva Junior, the company’s Entrepreneurial Leader (CEO), and João Borba, the company’s Business Development Director. They received the award at a ceremony held at the Naval Academy in Rio de Janeiro during the celebrations of the 145th anniversary of Brazil’s victory in the Battle of Riachuelo. The medal is given to military people and civilians who have provided important services to the Brazilian Navy. The Order of Naval Merit Council proposes the recipients, who are then approved by the President of Brazil. Speeches at the ceremony mentioned the importance of the National Defense Program, particularly the construction of conventional and nuclear submarines through the transfer of French technology, which will carry out a project the Navy began more than 30 years ago. The Odebrecht Organization is participating in this project through two subsidiaries, Odebrecht Infraestrutura and Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial, which are responsible for the construction of the shipyard and naval base, as well as for building the submarines in partnership with DCNS (Direction des Constructions Navales et Services) of France. The Battle of Riachuelo is the most important commemorative date on the Navy’s calendar, as it was one of the most significant episodes of the Triple Alliance War, when Brazilian sailors won a crucial victory to keep Paraguay from annexing parts of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

The Board of Directors of Odebrecht S.A. on May 21 visited the site of the Santo Antônio hydropower plant construction project in the Brazilian city of Porto Velho. According to Renato Baiardi, the most striking thing about this project for the group was the benefits it is providing in that region. “It is clearly boosting local development through the establishment of facilities such as cement plants, as well as professional training programs like Acreditar,” he said. Victor Gradin observed that the visit symbolized “the harmony, communication and commitment of the Odebrecht teams that are devoted to building a highly significant project for Brazil with dedication and enthusiasm.” Regarding the Ongoing Professional Education Program (Acreditar), Victor Gradin observed: “It is an exemplary model of education for work and education through work, two pillars of TEO (the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology). At a time in our history when Brazil is reducing unemployment, Acreditar has become a model for educating and training new workers so they will be able to engage in economic activities and gain formal employment.”

Elos – Ligações de Alta Velocidade S.A., a concession company whose partners include Bento Pedroso Construções (BPC), and the Government of Portugal in May signed the PPP1 Concession Agreement for a section of the high-speed railway that will run between Lisbon and Madrid. A 167-km section of the railway, PPP1 will link Poceirão, on the south bank of the Tagus River, in the Lisbon metropolitan region, with Caia on the Spanish border. Trains on the Lisbon-Madrid line will run at speeds of up to 350 km/hour, reducing travel time between those cities to 2 hours and 45 minutes. The 40-year PPP1 concession includes engineering, construction, financing and maintenance of the Poceirão-Caia High-Speed section, the conventional railway line between Évora and Caia, for cargo, and the new Évora station. In addition to BPC, Elos’s partners include the Portuguese companies Brisa, Soares da Costa, Lena, Edifer and Zagope, two banks, Caixa Geral de Depósitos and Banco Millennium BCP, and Iridium of Spain, an ACS group company. The project will involve a total investment of 1,650 million euros (including expropriation and interest on loans) and is slated for completion by the end of 2013. A 1,400-euro contract to build the bullet-train, including engineering and construction, was signed with a joint venture of BPC, Soares da Costa, Lena, Zagope, Edifer and Dragados.

A different sort of event spiced up the routine of 35 people working on the Oil Tanker Pier project in Ipojuca, Pernambuco, on July 3. With the help of Consórcio Pier Petroleiro, the joint venture responsible for implementing the project, they had the chance to officialize their unions with their partners at a mass wedding, complete with a marriage ceremony and a cocktail party for 400 guests. Held at the SESI’s headquarters in Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Pernambuco, the event was an initiative of the joint aventure for the benefit of workers who lived with their partners, but had not officialized their marital status, in most cases because of financial constraints. All told, the joint venture invested about BRL 60,000 in a buffet, clothing rentals for brides and grooms, wedding rings and transportation so the couples could to try on their clothes and get to the ceremony on time. "I’d often thought about getting married, and sometimes saved up for it, but other things came up and I had to spend what I’d saved. I wanted to fulfill that dream together with my partner, who has been with me for 11 years,” said Klébio Gean Lima da Silva, a water tanker truck driver. He married Ludmila Alves da Silva, with whom he has three children. “I think that, as a man, I’m also setting an example for my children.” Odebrecht Infraestrutura is building the Oil Tanker Pier as a joint venture with OAS and Andrade Gutierrez. The result of investments by the State of Pernambuco and Petrobras, the project will be completed by September 2010.

“In the process of acquiring and disseminating knowledge, training and activating a network of people is key,” said Mauro Rehm, the leader of the Odebrecht Procurement and Logistics Knowledge Community, at their first meeting, held on June 21 and 22 in Rio de Janeiro. Knowledge Communities, which since 2001 have formed the Odebrecht Knowledge Network, are part of the Organization’s efforts to enable and encourage the constant exchange and dissemination of knowledge, lessons learned and best practices among its teams. The meeting, which was attended by 138 people from 14 countries and all the Organization’s subsidiaries, included statements from members and partners about procurement and logistics management. Mauro Rehm emphasized the importance of forming the new community and highlighted the transversality of procurement and logistics management at all the Organization’s companies. "It’s an activity that permeates all Odebrecht businesses. Nothing is more natural and essential than getting the people involved in those activities at our companies to interact synergistically, thereby contributing to the development of the Organization as a whole,” he observed. Paulo Lacerda de Melo, Vice President of Engineering and Construction Operations, noted that the Procurement and Logistics Knowledge Community is the first to bring together representatives of all the companies in the Organization. "This will enrich the exchange of knowledge to meet the requirements of Odebrecht’s growth,” he said. All the presentations given at the meeting are available on the Procurement and Logistics Community’s web page on the (Odebrecht Portal).

Since June 30, residents of the Cantagalo and Pavão-Pavãozinho communities in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro have been using the Rubem Braga Complex for quick access to the Ipanema/General Osório Metro Station. The Governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral, Mayor Eduardo Paes and Secretary of Transportation Sebastião Rodrigues attended the opening ceremony for the complex, named after the late journalist and writer Rubem Braga, who lived near the Ipanema Metro. Built by Odebrecht Infraestrutura, the facility consists of a 260-m tunnel carved through rock that connects General Osório Station with two towers (62m and 26m in height) containing elevators that can carry up to 100 persons per trip. Atop the highest tower, a belvedere overlooks the beaches of Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon, Dois Irmãos and Corcovado mountains and Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon. The complex also includes a 640-sq.m structure built next to the tunnel entrance, where a unit of Rio Poupa Tempo (Rio Timesaver) will be installed to provide various public services. This new project will benefit about 10,000 people and facilitate the urban redevelopment of the area surrounding the station.

Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial has signed a partnership agreement with EADS Defense & Security to operate in the public defense and security technology markets in Brazil and other countries. The aim is to form a joint venture based in São Paulo that will provide products, integrated systems and services for the military, government and businesses. According to Roberto Simões, who is responsible for the program, the goal of this partnership is to enhance Odebrecht’s public defense and security operations. “Partnering up with a world leader in the industry will allow us to serve our clients with full capacity to absorb and develop advanced technologies.” EADS Defense & Security provides system solutions for military and civilian security worldwide. Its portfolio ranges from sensors and secure networks to missiles, aircraft and drones, as well as security services. The company is a division of EADS (European Aeronautic, Defense and Space Company), a group of European origin that also controls Airbus (planes), Eurocopter (a leading global manufacturer of helicopters) and EADS Astrium (manned and unmanned space travel systems).

Gilberto Ururahy, Odebrecht’s Medical Coordinator in Rio de Janeiro, gave a talk to students, teachers, scientists and businesspersons at MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the United States in April. The subject was "Globalization and Health in Today’s Nomadic World.” According to Gilberto, business executives are modern-day nomads in the global marketplace. Subject to the rules of the business world, they have almost no personal life. “They live at work and sleep on planes,” he said. This lifestyle encourages the development of chronic stress. According to studies involving 50,000 executives conducted at his private clinic, 70% experience high levels of stress. In the long term, hormones produced by stress (adrenaline and cortisol) lead to chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. In his presentation at MIT, Gilberto, who has been with the Organization for 34 years, discussed his study of 380 strategic Odebrecht professionals active in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa, conducted through the Individual Health Management Program. "Everybody has an annual check-up at the site of their choice and sends us the test results. Throughout the year, we visit them and present them with a health promotion program tailored to each individual’s cardiovascular and metabolic profile and lifestyle. The involvement of Entrepreneurial Leaders (CEOs) is essential to the program’s success,” said Gilberto. Odebrecht executives’ stress levels are 55% below the rate found in the overall study. Gilberto’s talk was part of the Thirteenth Latin American Conference at MIT. While in Boston, he also visited Massachusetts General Hospital, one of the finest hospitals in the United States. According to Gilberto, it “might provide health care support in the United States in the future.”