Sesc SP

The ‘Brazil Cost’ – With less than 15% of its highways paved, insufficient railroads, underused waterways, and deficient ports and airports, Brazil is facing serious logistic problems, as the infrastructure required to meet the needs of the farming countryside and the manufacturing industry has failed to receive adequate funding over the last decades.

Gastronomy – Multicolored, well equipped and ecologically sustainable, little by little food trucks are mushrooming in Brazilian cities, a repeat of a phenomenon that started in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis in the U.S. and Europe, led mostly by unemployed youths with no job prospects.

Agriculture – A meal without rice and beans in Brazil, especially on working days, is like a salad without dressing or pizza without mozzarella. This suffices to explain why Brazil is the largest producer of rice on the American continent and one of the largest bean producers worldwide.

Cities – Strategically located on the border of Argentina and Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul’s municipality of Uruguaiana (pop. just over 135,000) has become the gateway to the Mercosur, the common •market of the Southern Cone nations, plus Venezuela. No wonder some 10% of the workforce is employed in the comings and goings of international trade.

Culture – Brazilians, especially young adults, are more and more interested in contemporary art. Art collectors of different profiles go to exhibitions, at home and abroad, and are increasingly acquiring works and helping to change the still prevailing image that the art market is only for experts and the elite.

Literature
• A company publishing books on a number of fields of knowledge, yet with an emphasis on arts and human sciences – this is Edições Sesc SP, a major source of content generation, in association with a sociocultural program, focused on arts and leisure, that caters to the 34 units of the Social Service of Commerce (Sesc) spread throughout the capital and the state of São Paulo.
• Its structure comprising the National Service for Commercial Apprenticeship (Senac) units in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Ceará, plus the Federal District and the National Department, which is based in the city of Rio de Janeiro, publishing company Senac Editoras is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2015, having become in this short period of time one of the country’s most prestigious and impressive publishing brands. Specializing in books in the fields of culture and knowledge, Senac Editoras caters not only to the market as a whole, but also to the 1.6 million students enrolled in the 4,600 municipalities serviced by the entity throughout the country. In São Paulo alone, Senac Editoras has already sold 11.5 million copies.

Urbanization – Unmistakable for the black and white waves on its halfway-to-the-sea sidewalk, Copacabana, in the city of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil’s most famous beach, still holds huge fascination on tourists. Behind this postcard lies a neighborhood that is the very essence of Rio de Janeiro life and that still holds a special place in the imaginary of Brazilians and foreigners alike.

Health – Anxiety is a normal feeling, a physiological response to certain situations, one that, at times, can play a beneficial role for most people. The problem, however, is when it becomes intense, constant, and disproportionate to the problem.

Interview – Brazilian franchising figures are impressive. In 2014, its revenues reached R$ 127 billion, with business expected to grow by 7.5% in 2015. Nationwide, according to Cristina Franco, president of the Brazilian Franchising Association (ABF), over 125,000 stores are operating that represent some 3,000 brands.

Music – Fifty years ago, singer Roberto Carlos was going up on the stage of TV channel Record’s auditorium, in the city of São Paulo, sided by his friend Erasmo Esteves, a.k.a. Erasmo Carlos, to host program Jovem Guarda. Thus began a musical movement that would boost Brazil’s rock and roll, iê-iê-iê, as dubbed at the time.

Memory – A genius, Grande Otelo was born to such utterly poor circumstances that he was never able to find out his date of birth, yet he rose to stardom as one of the country’s greatest actors, in addition to being a singer, showman, and composer. At the time of his death, on November 26, 1993, aged 78, Grande Otelo had left a legacy of hundreds of appearances in clubs, movies, and theaters, 42 vinyl recordings, plus a number of radio and TV appearances.

Books – To discover how to create the future, as well as the inevitable stages with which we are faced in doing that, is the goal of Sincronicidade [Synchronicity] by Joseph Jaworski (São Paulo, Senac Editoras, 345 pages), a work in which the author invites each of us to look inside ourselves and seek to understand one’s own mission in this existence. A roadmap to developing our full potential, and the leadership type required to face the complexities of our time.

Thematic panel – Economist Cláudio Contador discussed with the members of the Economics, Sociology and Politics Council of the São Paulo State Federation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism, of Sesc and of Senac the country’s economic and financial situation, which, in his opinion, can be likened to the nutsy plot described in the Samba do Crioulo Doido, a musical creation immortalized by journalist Stanislaw Ponte Preta.