Held for the first time in 2007, the Ethanol Summit was conceived as a platform for in-depth discussions on the present and future of biofuels in Brazil and the world, with special focus on the most widely used biofuel of all, both globally and in Brazil: ethanol. The event returns to the Sheraton World Trade Center Hotel in São Paulo, once again featuring specialists, researchers, leading business executives and government officials from around the world in plenary sessions and panel discussions, designed to contribute constructively to the debate on biofuels that is so dominant on the global energy agenda.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution will present the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service to His Excellency Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, at a dinner to be held on September 21, 2009, at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City. Rex W. Tillerson, chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil and Eike F. Batista, chairman and CEO of the Brazilian EBX Group will serve as the dinner co-chairs for this prestigious event. "President Lula personifies the attributes we seek to honor at the Woodrow Wilson Center. He is a political leader who contributed decisively to bringing about the end of military rule and reopening the road to democracy in his country. This award is a tribute to a statesman who has strengthened Brazil immensely domestically and elevated its global standing," said Lee H. Hamilton, president and director of the Woodrow Wilson Center.

This report provides analysis of Lula's term in office and predictions on Brazil's October 1st Presidential Elections.

A joint report published by the Brazil Institute and the Comparative Urban Studies Project (CUSP). Written by Daniel Nogueira Budny, former program assistant for the Brazil Institute, the report focuses on how participatory requirements in Brazil's City Statute has reshaped the way urban policy is formulated.