This dissertation deals with the empowerment of traditional extractivist peoples and communities through their social participation in a set of actions involved in the consolidation of the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve (Resex Chico Mendes), in Acre. The objectives of the research were to record the trajectory of social participation of extractivists in Acre state and analyze the main elements of empowerment that are related to extractive participation and environmental governance. The methodology adopted consisted of identifying and analyzing milestones that occurred in the conceptual, social, environmental and political fields due to the operationalization of the National Council of Extractive Populations (CNS) and Extractive Reserves (RESEX); assessment of empowerment in the socio-environmental trajectory of local actors and their governance structure. Furthermore, questions were raised about the evaluation practice of extractive participation. The development of the research was carried out through an extensive bibliographical survey; analyzed through a Systematic Literature Review, notably used with the purpose of linking scientific models to participatory methodologies aimed at empowerment; and through the use of secondary data from main organizations and research institutions, as well as the analysis of the public policy in question. The results indicate the existence of technical, political and epistemological empowerment of these communities, mainly in the historical analysis of milestones associated with their social struggle. However, when analyzing and categorizing these “signs of emancipation”, we suggest that they may indicate necessary elements for discussion about the coherence of the State's position in relation to environmental governance and beneficial aspects for the ecological improvement of social participation. The conclusion generates elements for a discussion on the importance of consolidating the federal government's position on the issue of natural resource management, technical and epistemological training of traditional communities and their integration with participatory mechanisms.

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Ibama's environmental sanctioning process is the instrument through which the fines imposed due to administrative infractions to the environment are constituted, which lend themselves to add to the system of triple constitutional responsibility (art. 225, § 3), so that the community enjoys a healthy quality of life and an ecologically balanced environment. Despite this importance as an instrument of command and control of environmental policy, this process was strongly weakened in the period between 2020 and 2022, to the point of registering a significant drop in the number of fines drawn up and infraction notices judged. In order to understand the reasons that led to the weakening of Ibama's sanctioning instrument, the research was first based on an empirical and documentary evaluation of a series of measures adopted by the federal government at the time, in the normative, structural, institutional, management and ideological fields, which were the object of reflection at the level of a virtual focus group, to improve propositions about the main events that contributed to the dismantling of this instrument. Based on this reflection, questionnaires were applied to civil servants who work with environmental inspection and activities of instruction and judgment of sanctions, which allowed the establishment of categories of investigation, based on the application of the semantic criterion of Laurence Bardin's content analysis, which served to construct chapters and subchapters of the empirical evaluation of the research. It was sought to clarify whether the pandemic of the new coronavirus and the change in the legal understanding on the investigation of environmental infractions, which occurred in the same period delimited as the research, would have contributed significantly to cause the reduction in the results of the environmental sanctioning process, and it was found that these events did not have greater repercussions than the measures adopted by the governmental sphere. It was found that the situation experienced in the context of Ibama's environmental sanctioning process was intended to annihilate this instrument, making the sanctions applied and those pending constitution negligible, extrapolating the dismantling hypotheses known to political science (capture, dismantle, sabotage or reform). It was proposed the affirmation of rules and guidelines of the environmental sanctioning process in law, as an alternative to strengthen this instrument, placing it at the level of public policy of the State to be less susceptible to the drastic effects of the measures of dismantling the protection of the environment, aiming to encourage other studies not to limit themselves to describing and enumerating the various faces of dismantling, but to advance in the indication of solutions that can contribute to the stability of institutions and good public policies.

Solid waste is currently one of humanity's most obvious problems, especially in the context of large urban centers, involving economic, social and environmental issues. Large volumes are produced every day, driven by the new times of exacerbated consumption, the origin of which is based on the linear economic model. In this scenario, the Circular Economy (CE) has emerged as an interesting and viable alternative. Through its principles, it is possible to increase public awareness; optimize consumption; encourage reduction, reuse, repair and recycling; develop innovative products; generate value in production chains and reduce environmental impacts. This is the context in which this thesis was written. Its aim was to analyze whether CE can improve the urban solid waste management system in the Federal District (FD) based on the perception of social actors. The work began with the formation of a theoretical basis and revealed that the current linear system drives the formation of solid waste by the way it works: extract, produce, distribute, consume and dispose. In contrast, the CE emerges that seeks to stimulate reduction, reuse, repair and recycling, in other words, it follows the opposite path. As for methodological aspects, a search was initially carried out on the scientific databases Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) and the results were processed using R Language, along with the Bibliometrix and Shiny packages. Quantitative and qualitative research was also carried out on laws 12.305/2010 and 5.418/2014, comparing their articles with the principles of CE. To do this, NVivo 11 software and a correspondence matrix were used. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with social actors divided into three categories: public authorities, the business sector and civil society. The questions were based on three aspects (challenges, opportunities and strategies) of the current waste management model and the application of CE principles in its operating structure. Finally, a circular theoretical model of solid waste management was proposed for the FD, inspired by Elinor Ostrom's IAD Framework. The analysis showed that it is possible to adapt the proposal presented in this thesis to the context of the Federal District, based on the information collected from social actors and the urgency that society has in relation to new approaches to solid waste. In order to do this, it would be necessary to get these social actors strongly involved so as to encourage the adoption of circular principles through cooperation around common goals.

This qualitative and quantitative applied research aims to evaluate the sustainability of the construction and demolition waste management (CDWM) in the Federal District of Brazil by approaching the hierarchy of CDWM (3Rs) - namely reduce, reuse and recycle strategies - and if this reflects the existing solid waste policies in the Federal District and in Brazil, implemented from 2010, considering that CDW is the main and most critical waste generated in society. Despite this, civil construction is potentially the sector that presents the most possibilities for recovering and incorporating waste into new materials. Primarily, the research carried out a historical analysis of the experience of the CDWM in the last twelve years, through documentary research and interviews conducted with government agencies responsible for the CDWM in the Federal District and construction industry actors. Subsequently, the analysis of the collected data makes it possible to assess the sustainability of the CDWM in the Federal District – after the implementation of the National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS), in force since 2010 – and to investigate and understand the role and potential of construction source in reducing CDW generation and in the sustainability the CDWM. The results demonstrate that the management of CDW carried out in the Federal District is one of the most sustainable in Brazil, and the focal stages that most require attention and priority actions to be taken for the improvement of the CDWM - with the reduction of generation and landfilling rates and the increase in the diversion rate – are the segregation of CDW at construction sites and the strategic measures for restraining illegal dumping, which still represents about 40% of the total CDW collected in the DF, which is directly destinated to landfilling, without intermediate treatment. Based on the results, considerations and suggestions made may help in the decision-making by public agents responsible for CDWM in the Federal District.

The present work aims to understand how indigenous people understand themselves and are understood within the context of participation within a development agenda. To do so, use the Dedicated Grant Mechanism for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Brazil (DGM) project as a case study, given the wealth of actors that make up its design - World Bank, Non-Governmental Organizations, federal public administration bodies, Traditional Peoples and Communities, Quilombolas and Indigenous Peoples.

Methodological development of a documentary analysis of the project and implementation of semi-structured interviews with representatives of Traditional Peoples and Communities, Quilombolas and Indigenous Peoples on two milestones of participation in the DGM: carrying out free, prior and exciting consultations for project design and the project management through the National Steering Committee. An analysis of what is said about the mediate narrative of the joint literature with the main one about participation in development projects and differentiated ethno-cultural groups.

From the analyzed data, it can be understood that such groups do not understand themselves as homogeneous, even though they share similar demands and historical contingencies. Participation for them is better when carried out in contexts of free and self-organization of times and spaces, with the execution speed of both frameworks and technical languages limiting the understanding and effective participation of the segments.

The decision-making power is considered important, even if they include the limitations imposed by the financers and trustees, realizing the existence of power disputes both between the different segments of the project, and between these and the financers and trustees. Finally, the data also indicate that participation in the DGM was considered enriching in terms of training political agents, but that the distance between the results of the consultations and the actual performance weakened the segments in relation to their organizations.

Deforestation is a problem that causes harmful effects in various dimensions and its particularly significant in the Amazon region. Among these effects, it causes changes in hydrological regimes, biodiversity loss, ecosystems imbalance, loss in farming productivity and harms to human health. It is also connected to the illegal occupation of public land and to violence in rural areas. Beyond that, it is the main source of greenhouse gases emissions that cause climate change. Deforestation is a complex phenomenon that has several different sources. There are economic factors, such as the price of commodities, like soybean, beef and timber. The development of public works in the region also enables its rise. It is also influenced by a third group of factors, so called institutional factors, connected to the governmental arrangements in place to control it. The research question is how the changes in the institutional arrangements in the policy for controlling deforestation in the Amazon region promoted by the Bolsonaro Government contributed to the deforestation rates´ acceleration in the region. The institutional factors chosen were the changes in the federal entities in charge of controlling deforestation in the Amazon region and the changes in the planning instruments for that policy. The research is basically qualitative and the method used is the Process Tracing, that is an in-depht case study method that explores a causal mechanism that connects one of more causal factors to an outcome. The hypothesized causal mechanism has three parts, that comprises aspects like cohesion, centralization, state capacities and dismantling of public policies. In order to test the mechanism, the main sources used were the regulations related to the theme, documents produced by the responsible entities (like meeting minutes, reports, informative notes), reports of public and third-sector institutions involved with the subject, information obtained through interviews and budget data. The empirical results collected confirm the causal mechanism hypothesized initially. The changes introduced by the Bolsonaro Government in the federal entities in charge of controlling deforestation in the Amazon region and in the planning instruments for that policy caused, respectively, a lack of cohesion in the state response to deal with the problem and a centralization of that policy. In turn, the lack of cohesion and the centralization fragilized the state capacities to control deforestation, which generated the dismantling of that policy, in its “command and control” component. All these elements indicate the influence of the studied institutional factors in the deforestation rates´ acceleration in the region.

In the Cerrado, family farming has the characteristic of constituting a system of extractive

agriculture. The produce can be varied and is, therefore, referred to as the ensemble of different productive

activities of the family in its property. In the federal state of Goiás, in the area now recognized by the

government of Goiás as a Kalunga Historical and Cultural Heritage Site (SHPCK) and by the UN as the

first Territory and Area Conserved by Indigenous and Local Communities (TICCA) in Brazil, the Kalunga

people make use of the resources provided by the biome for self-consumption and commercialization. Due

to their isolation, they have developed a strong bond with the biome and the conditions of their survival.

Thus, the residents of the Kalunga community Vão de Almas are farmers, extractivists and some maintain

the tradition of fishing. Extractivism not only generates income, it provides products for consumption and

for the manufacture of utensils and tools. The extractive practice is, therefore, more than an activity that

allows a financial return for those who exercise it. It is part of the tradition of these people. Using the

LUME method, a tool capable of absorbing the relationships between the social, economic and ecological

areas within the extractive agricultural system, the general objective of this work is to analyze the function

of extractivism of Cerrado fruits in Kalunga productive systems and to understand how these ensure the

minimum conditions for the social reproduction of families. With the specific objectives, it is desired: i) to

characterize the extractive agricultural system; ii) to identify and to map the flows of inputs, products,

monetary and non-monetary income of the extractive agricultural system; iii) to describe the social division

of labor within the extractive agricultural system. The results showed that extractive activity is the

responsibility of women; as a rule, extractivism is always associated with some other source of income and

does not cover the main expenses, but it is an important income for the social reproduction of families;

Agricultural production and animal husbandry translate into the community's self-sufficiency and

encompass an income strategy for families. The strength that exists in this people-territory relationship

translates into the resistance of a people and the guarantee that they will not erase the history of the

Kalunga. There is a clear need for a social organization that contemplates the residents of the entire

territory, that promotes equal distribution of the opportunities that arrive and that overcomes the existing

personal conflicts, aiming at the strengthening of the community.

The traditional practices of fire use by Quilombola communities are poorly documented in the literature. In this study, we aim

to describe the fire-use practices among the Kalunga Quilombola communities. We seek to document the timing of fire use for 

slash-and-burn agriculture and cattle grazing and also identify, based on Kalunga perceptions, the main external factors 

influencing controlled burns, such as climate changes and changes in land use in the Cerrado region. The study was conductedin four regions within the Kalunga Quilombola Territory (TQK), namely Vão de Almas, Vão do Moleque, Prata, and Engenho. For field data collection, in-depth interviews were conducted with residents who use fire in their traditional practices and some Prevfogo/Ibama firefighters operating in the Territory. Additionally, guided tours were conducted to identify and describe productive areas. Among the interviewees, all use fire in their productive practices, but there are changes in the timing of controlled burns for productive purposes. The Kalunga people have noticed changes in vegetation and alterations in the hydrological cycle, which influence the use of fire for productive practices. The changes in rainfall seasons perceived by the interviewees were corroborated with climatic data from the region. When describing the reasons for changes in vegetation, there are variations in responses, so it is not clear to all Kalunga what factors truly cause these changes; however, large monoculture plantations in the Cerrado have been impacting the flow of groundwater and surface water in a way that can bring alterations to native vegetation. This research contributes by emphasizing the importance of incorporating local perceptions into territorial management, as well as taking a closer look at the use of fire as a land management tool and exploring the potential impacts of changes over time on traditional fire-use practices.

The National Policy on Agroecology and Organic Production (PNAPO) was established by Decree No. 7,794 in 2012, with the aim of integrating, articulating and adapting policies, programs and actions that induce the agroecological transition and organic and agroecological-based production (BRAZIL, 2012). Despite the existence of works that addressed the analysis of the conception, results, impacts and, more recently, the dismantling of this public policy, after 10 years of its publication, there are still gaps about (i) what impacts the recent institutional changes (2016-2020) provoked in the governance structure of the policy within the scope of the Federal Government; and, ii) means of leveraging the PNAPO as a coordinated institutional arrangement. Considering the convergence between PNAPO's objectives and the integrating potential inherent in the Nexus WEF (water-energy-food) conceptual approach, this rationale was operationalized in guidelines and analytical tools. To explore the identified knowledge gaps, a review of the scientific literature on the WEF Nexus approach was conducted. It was proposed to categorize the main WEF Nexus approaches into a set of analysis perspectives and combining them with social networking tools, they were used as a guide to analyze the impacts of recent institutional changes (2016-2020) on the governance structure of the PNAPO in the Federal Government. The research results show that the interministerial network responsible for the governance of PNAPO's socio-environmental security agenda is weakened, formally disjointed and that 80% of initiatives related to the socio-environmental security agenda are contradictorily sectoralized in MAPA and in related entities (Anater, Embrapa and Incra). In order to identify ways to leverage the execution of PNAPO in the Government as a coordinated arrangement, three tools inspired by WEF Nexus were developed and applied with managers and former managers of PNAPO in the public sector: the Matrix of synergies and trade offs, the MSTO; the summary measures of precedence, dependence and codependency; and the intersectoral cooperation networks. From the triangulation of the inputs of the analysis section with the feedbacks of the tools, the research concludes that the MMA, INCRA, Anater and Embrapa, central sectors of the governance network of the socio-environmental security agenda of PNAPO, do not have, in the political and current federal government (2019-2022), institutional capacity to coordinate the maintenance of the policy in the central government. Finally, it is recommended, through structural adjustments, that the informal governance in practice by MAPA's Organic Production Coordination should be the main inspiration for managing the maintenance of the policy in government. In the governance model proposed to manage the PNAPO in the Federal Government, it is identified the need to create a technical panel chaired by the MMA and with attributions and functions of control and support for decision-making. An inter-ministerial institutional arrangement is discussed that serves both to minimize losses in the current political context and to promote a more effective resumption in an eventual policy shift that brings movements more aligned with the agenda of sustainable family farming. Complementarily, the thesis research proposes a roadmap for applying the WEF Nexus approach for analysis and integration of governance of intersectoral policies.

This work is part of a discussion on the integration of a gender perspective into Sustainable Development, considering that the issue of Sustainable Development and debates on gender and development are part of a global governance process. When treated in this way, international agreements interfere with national/local public policies and, consequently, impact people's lives. The Sustainable Development proposal is that development needs to be fair and inclusive, therefore the real demands of women need to be heard and considered so that they are actually included as actors in new development models. The central objective of this thesis is to understand the demands of rural women workers in the semi-arid region in order to rescue their contributions to the integration of the gender perspective to sustainability and to value the protagonism of these women. For that, an empirical study was carried out in the Cariri Oeste region, in the interior of Ceará, Northeast Brazil. 32 women were interviewed using the oral life history method. Women from the Semiarid region play a very important role in the continuity of this territory, as they have remained in this space even in adverse situations and have taken on socioeconomic and cultural activities during long periods of drought. The results show that the debates on gender and development have gone through some phases since the 1950s, but there have been few recent changes within the creation of a strategy focused on the discussion of gender and sustainable development. The international agendas for Sustainable Development have repeated elements that generate the maintenance of women's invisibility and their distance from political participation and decision-making activities. These demands can be perceived in the empirical study. The interviewed women presented needs related to the recognition of their performance in agricultural activities more adapted to the climatic conditions of the Semiarid region, reconfiguration of women's autonomy in family relationships, mainly in decision-making capacity, and greater conditions for political participation. The conclusions show that the demands of rural women workers in the Semiarid region are not only different from the focus of international agendas for Sustainable Development, but sometimes the actions that these women are carrying out still need to be considered within the scope of these agendas.

O objetivo desta tese foi analisar o processo de invasão e apropriação de terra nos territórios indígenas da Reserva da Biosfera Bosawas, como fenômeno histórico, através dos mecanismos políticos de despossessão de terras comunais indígenas, implementados ou promovidos pelo e desde o Estado da Nicarágua. Foi realizada uma revisão documental e foram entrevistados dezesseis atores-chave para analisar os processos históricos de controle da terra e dos recursos –apropriação para acumulação de capital–, e a despossessão de terras comunais na Nicarágua. Esse processo de despossessão tem sido uma política promovida pelo Estado, produto do contubérnio das elites políticas e econômicas para a inserção do país no mercado global, e por uma visão racista e de desprezo pelo que é indígena. O Estado da Nicarágua sempre procurou mecanismos para uma reapropriação e controle sistemático das terras e recursos nas mãos das comunidades indígenas. A criação da Reserva da Biosfera Bosawas gerou uma sobreposição de proprietários, os territórios passaram para o controle do Estado, mas são territórios tradicionalmente ocupados pelas comunidades indígenas Misquitas e Mayangnas. Com o governo Ortega (2007-2026) formou-se um novo ciclo de apropriação de terras, com grandes transferências de terras no contexto do boom das commodities e das múltiplas crises, aprofundando o modelo agroexportador, concentração fundiária e colonização de territórios indígenas. Neste período houve uma aparente contradição em suas políticas fundiárias nas comunidades indígenas do Caribe.Vinte e três territórios indígenas foram titulados, reivindicando seus direitos de propriedade e controle de recursos. Mas, ao mesmo tempo, aumentou a exploração dos recursos naturais e a violência, e há inação diante da colonização e do conflito pela terra, alimentando o conflito inter-étnico entre os mestiços e as comunidades indígenas que defendem e reivindicam o saneamento de seus territórios ancestrais. Além disso, nenhum outro governo tinha conseguido minar as organizações comunitárias, com a criação de governos paralelos quando as comunidades resistem à espoliação e às concessões de seus territórios.

At both local and global levels, rangelands are critical due to their diverse strategic functions from an environmental, social and economic perspective. They cover almost a third of the Earth's surface, often in dry, cold or humid areas, or on non-arable land valorised through grazing (DONG et al., 2016). In these areas, farming is not only central to the management of the landscape: it is also an essential component of heritage, tradition and local knowledge (TOURRAND et al., 2015). While pastures and extensive agricultural production contribute to the production of ecosystem services (BLANFORT et al., 2015), temperate rangelands are the most degraded, most threatened and least protected biome on the planet. In Brazil, natural rangelands and farming and livestock production are being confronted with agricultural expansion (mainly of soy, rice and eucalyptus), leading to the irreversible destruction of natural ecosystems. In recent decades, this phenomenon has been amplified by the rural exodus, which leads to the aging of families and the concentration of land by agribusiness. Faced with the massive exodus of rural youth to the cities, what are the motivations of the youth staying or leaving the countryside and the farming activity? What are the perceptions of young farmers' sons and daughters about the valorisation of rural youth and family succession? Our research combines field surveys and online questionnaires (due to the covid-19 pandemic) in contrasting regions of South America: Pampa and Serra Gaúcha in Rio Grande do Sul, and natural rangelands of Marajó Island. Our research shows that the majority of the interviewees aspire to live in the countryside. Access to education is given as the primary reason for leaving rural areas, and the desire to remain in the countryside is greater in areas where access to education is better assessed. The central role of road maintenance and school transportation also stands out, reinforced by the current trend of decreasing the number of rural schools and creating hub schools. In addition to education, our results suggest that better access to health would encourage the permanence of the youth in rural areas. Regarding the role of public policies, our results show that most of the youths' farms have never benefited from technical assistance from the government. The youth interviewed deplore the bureaucracy of procedures for obtaining financing and technical assistance, as well as the difficulty in accessing information. Finally, our results show that current public policies for financing agricultural and livestock production tend to be sporadic and do not offer a long-term follow-up.

The global energy matrix has gone through two major periods of change that accompanied the industrial revolutions. The first period refers to the change in the predominance of the use of firewood as a source of energy to natural coal, during the first industrial revolution (s. XVIII/XIX). The second period was marked by the transition from coal to oil, during the second industrial revolution (19th/20th century). In the 21st century, the global energy matrix is undergoing a third transition since 2008, the year in which oil reached its highest prices per barrel. The ongoing transition expands the share of lower cost, accessible and clean energies in greenhouse gas emissions. As countries expand their opportunities for access, security and energy efficiency, international organizations encourage, based on environmental sustainability actions, the movement that encourages the decarbonization of the global matrix. In this context, Brazil occupies a prominent and contradictory place, which represents a challenge, with more than 48% of its energy matrix composed of renewable energies, at the same time that it is the ninth largest oil producer in the world and with great potential for expansion with the pre-salt fields. On the other hand, it has great potential to expand the production of clean energy, through sources: wind, solar, biofuels, green hydrogen and others. The challenge for Brazil lies in how to expand the share of renewable energies in a country rich in fossil fuels, as well as in maintaining exports of these commodities. This work was concerned with analyzing which path Brazil can follow, based on the construction of scenarios for the 2040 horizon. Four scenarios were constructed based on the vision of specialists in the energy sector, and can be reflection narratives for planners and decision makers for a better competitive insertion of organizations and the country in the current energy transition. The scenarios involve uncertainties about the speed of the transition and the impact of economic development and technological innovations. For Brazil, the price of oil, the cost of new energy, regulation, public policies and pressure for environmental sustainability are the key factors to be monitored in the country. The result of the work points to a gradual transition in Brazil until 2040.

This thesis contributes to the formulation, in dispute, of the theoretical, methodological, and empirical body of Political Agroecology applicable and linked to territories. There is a field-arena around Political Agroecology. For this reason, there is a great need to identify the actors and agents involved, and what types of actions are undertaken by these actors (which can be people and institutions) that manifest rights-claiming relationships, struggles and disputes in different spaces and times. The debate around Political Agroecology is quite contemporary, in dispute and reconstruction. The theoretical-analytical contribution proposed with this thesis to the literature of Political Agroecology, particularly, is to update the debate and conceptual, methodological, and analytical gaps with new questions not posed centrally, to investigate the challenges surrounding agroecological transition and transformation in territories. An analysis of the dimensions of sovereignty is provoked; security and autonomy in the agrarian-food perspective to think about the necessary conditions for the sociopolitical construction of Agroecology. Territory is the terrain of social reproduction and materialization of life, reciprocally affected by different power relations. The dialectical complementarity between the processes of transition and agroecological transformation is the first key to reading that this thesis raises. There is no duality and polarity between these two dimensions, nor should they be understood as synonymous, so as not to run the risk of making the debate and sociopolitical construction of agroecological transition and transformation in agroecosystems and territories superficial. The second reading key that this thesis raises is that individual, collective, and public actions for agroecological transition and transformation do not require material conditions of sovereignty, security and autonomy in the agrarian and food dimensions. By agrarian-food sovereignty we understand the conditions of governance in the realization of the right to land and food in the territories, and consequently, the conditions of permanence on the land, for the production and access to ecologically correct, economically viable, socially fair food and culturally diverse. Agrarian-food security complements this notion of sovereignty but is directly related to the notion of access to public policies to achieve security (food-nutritional; land, water; energy, etc.) in quantity; quality and regularity in agroecosystems. Agrarian-food autonomy, in turn, is a less systematized concept and implies recognition and analysis of decision-making in the context of domestic family relationships. These conceptions do not intend to be watertight and universal definitions, they seek to provoke and offer some analyzes that are still little explored and the importance of the interaction between these three dimensions. The field-arena of Agroecology is in constant expansion and contraction, as it articulates heterogeneous agents, individuals and/or institutions that are established in different space-times of daily struggles and disputes. The specific objectives of this thesis are: i) to characterize the theoretical-analytical and methodological dimensions of Political Agroecology; ii) analyze the actors, agents, institutions and types of actions that exist for agroecological transition and transformation in the territories; iii) understand the interactions and the relationship between the material conditions of sovereignty; security and autonomy in the agrarian and food dimensions for agroecological transition and transformation. The conclusion shows the relevance of the research carried out, both in theoretical and methodological terms, and presents suggestions for future studies.

The United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda is composed of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 2 aims to achieve Food and Nutrition Security (FNS), while SDG 5 aims to achieve gender equality and female empowerment. The Agenda was designed so that the application of the 17 SDGs could be carried out in an integrated manner, as the objectives are related to each other. In this sense, some lines of research use the Nexus approach to observe the interactions between the different SDGs. This work contributed to the analysis of the interactions between SDGs 2 and 5, through a case study. The research aimed to verify if the implementation of SAN promotion actions, carried out in the DF through the II District SAN Plan (PDSAN), influenced the empowerment of nine female farmers from two agricultural communities in the Federal District (DF), the pre-settlement Chapadinha and the Pequeno William settlement, in 2021. Therefore, bibliographic research, legislation and official documents were carried out; consultations with the agencies responsible for the implementation of institutional procurement programs, through government platforms; and open interviews with nine female farmers. The interviews were analyzed using the hermeneutic method. The main SAN actions for family farming found in the analysis of the II PDSAN were: Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (TARE) policies, actions warranty of water access; increase in institutional procurement programs; incentive to collective organizations; and land regularization. The interviews showed a history of difficult access to land and water, which limits the production of some of the female farmers, and prevents them from providing for institutional purchase programs. It was possible to conclude that the FNS actions analyzed here potentiated the empowerment of the women interviewed. However, such actions could be more effective if they were accompanied by water security guarantee policies.

Brazil is among the countries suffering the most from the loss of native vegetation in the world. Despite this reality, there are representatives of the productive sector and government who sustain a narrative that Brazil is a leader in forest protection. In parallel, there is an understanding that the Brazilian Forestry Code legislation is exceptionally strict in comparison with other countries. This is corroborated by studies concluding that the Brazilian laws are stricter, especially when considering the protection of native vegetation in private properties in the form of "Permanent Preservation Areas" and "Legal Reserves". These narratives incite conclusions that are not quite coherent with each other. If on the one hand they echo an applauding discourse used to exalt the idea of sustainable agricultural and cattle raising production, on the other they are used to lower environmental protection standards. This was the case of the 1965 Forestry Code amendment, which generated broad amnesty to those who had illegally deforested. Given the repercussions that have already led to a relaxation of environmental standards, this paper's core objective is to identify the studies concluding that the Brazilian forest legislation stands out as one of the strictest in the world, as well as to understand upon which methodology these studies were based. To achieve this, we identify the principal methods and methodological guidelines existing in the field of comparative law. We go on to verify whether the methodological approach of these studies was guided by the methods and guidelines of this field. Finally, we present possible methodological resources for comparative research on rules setting limitations on ownership rights regarding the use and conversion of native vegetation on private properties.

The urbanization process has led to changes in the natural characteristics of urban sites and to population growth in cities. This contributed to the growth of various problems and the emergence of socio-environmental risks in these spaces. In this sense, urban infrastructure works constituted the main way of dealing with this issue, since it is considered that the absence of these works is the main responsible for the risks present in the territory. Therefore, the possibility that these interventions corroborate new risks in space is disregarded. In this sense, this research seeks to understand how infrastructure works influence the occurrence of risks on waterfronts. To do so, it used the city of Macapá as an object of study in order to analyze how the risks present today on the waterfront were built under the influence of urban interventions carried out after 1950.The methodological procedures included the use of several methodological tools (literature review, direct observation, photographic survey, risk mapping, documentary research) to answer the research question. The results allowed us to understand that there is a relationship between the urban interventions carried out (landfills, drainage, suppression of vegetation) and the risks present on the edge of Macapá. In addition, it was also verified that the removal policies of families residing in spontaneous occupations on the edge of Macapá were carried out mainly in areas currently occupied by wealthier families. It was also found that the interventions aimed at improving waterfront sanitation were not successful, since the rates of these services are precarious. Finally, it is concluded that the recent urban interventions implemented and the projects proposed for the waterfront repeat the same problems of the interventions carried out in the past.

The spatial dimension is a ubiquitous dimension in all social-ecological systems, however, it is not very explicit in the literature on commons, and when it is, it is hardly treated as an object of analysis in itself. In this thesis, we analyze the co-management of the crab fishing carried out in the mangroves of the Amazon coastal zone, in Pará - Brazil, considering the spatial dimension of fishing practices and their congruence (or incongruence) with the limits defined by the state, through the creation of the Marine Extractive Reserves.

We chose this region because it is the largest continuous strip of mangrove forests in the world, which has led to the creation of Marine Extractive Reserves (RESEX) to reconcile environmental protection and use by the local population for their subsistence and income generation.

The thesis is organized around three central questions:

What are the factors that influence the way in which crabbing communities use space?

Are the formal spatial boundaries from the creation of the Marine Extractive Reserves (RESEX) congruent or not with customary use?

How do the organization of space and the users of the resource influence the levels of biomass of a resource with spatial characteristics of a transboundary common resource?

The data collected in the course of this research were obtained by combining qualitative and quantitative methods during a fieldwork developed between September 2019 and January 2020 and the main results are in the form of scientific articles.

In article one, "Where are we going to fish today? mangrove use and factors influencing crab fishermen's decisions on fishing grounds choices", we focus on understanding the use of space by crab fishermen communities and the factors associated with it and show that there is a spatial pattern in the use of mangroves by crab fishermen that are explained by economic, social, technological, and cultural factors.

In article two, "The challenges of transboundary coastal commons: incongruencies between costumary and official limits of crab fisheries in the Marine Extractive reserves in Brazilian Amazon mangroves", we analyze the formal and informal institutions that regulate the use of space and resource to understand whether or not the formal spatial boundaries of the RESEX were congruent with the customary use of the communities and show that there are incongruences between the formal spatial boundaries from the RESEX and the informal boundaries established with customary use.

In article three - "Transboundary commons and the crab fishery: analysis of the influence of communication and socio-spatial organization from an agent-based model", we built an agent-based model to simulate scenarios with different socio-spatial configurations and tested the effects of the different configurations on the biomass levels of an ecological resource with spatial characteristics of a transboundary commons and showed that in a scenario where there is communication about the fishing locations, and where the resource use space is shared among the communities, the biomass levels of the resource decreased faster.

The contributions of each paper articulate with each other and bring insights for the management of marine protected areas. A better distinction between what is considered invasion and what is considered customary use is recommended; the objectives of the Marine Extractive Reserves, as an institution for regulating the use of space and its resources, do not seem to have had the desired effects in relation to exclusivity of use and conflict resolution. The formal spatial limits are incongruous with customary use, and the conflicts arising from overlapping use between communities remain without an instance of resolution, leaving the onus on the communities themselves to defend their fishing territories. There is little communication between communities around the collective management of the resource. Collaboration in this case could be encouraged through improved communication channels between crab fishermen who use common fishing grounds. In this case an action strategy aimed at reducing use conflicts could be initiated with the communities that have more shared fishing grounds. An unfolding of what has been done so far could be to transform the agent-based model into a serious game (role playing game) to be played with the crabbing communities and then test with them different forms of socio-spatial organization and coordination.

This thesis aims to analyze how interactions between the State, users and other interested actors in the face of current
governance rules and strategies explain the lack of sustainability of Inland Waterway Transport in the Brazilian Amazon. For
this, the following strategies were used: building a taxonomy of environmental and socioeconomic issues present in the
scientific literature; investigating the effects of interactions between governance mechanisms and public budget execution in
managing waterway transport infrastructure projects in Brazil; applying the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD)
framework to understand how institutional configurations could facilitate sustainability in the Brazilian Amazon waterway
system and systematizing perceptions of the different actors interested in IWT, in order to discover what are the obstacles and
the facilitators for waterway development in the Amazon, using the Tocantins River as a case study. Sustainable IWT the one in
which freight increase meets lower environmental and economic costs in waterway developing works and operations, while
being resilient to climate change and promoting social equity. The comparison between budgets and waterway investments
rejected the notion that budgetary insufficiency is a major obstacle. Instead, over seven years, DNIT failed to invest 111% of an
average annual budget. The application of the IAD structure showed the necessity to consolidate interactions between state
and non-state actors so that decision-making is efficient. The use of the Q-method allowed to find four different social
perspectives on THI sustainability issues. The main point of divergence is the socio-environmental aspects related to the Pedral
do Lourenço. Environmental advantages over other modes of transport are not strong arguments to increase waterway use in
Brazil. Furthermore, communication and integration between different actors is a challenge. A new governance arrangement
would be necessary to incorporate diverse views, mainly from social movements and affected populations, in the decision-

making process. This thesis proposes to recreate discussion arenas to increase participation in the decision-making process to
maximize and democratize social, environmental and economic benefits from Amazon waterways.