(Excerto editorial) Voltamos à vossa presença com mais uma publicação da nossa revista “Neutro-à-Terra”. Ao fim de 16 anos continuamos a intervir, semestralmente, na área científica da Engenharia Eletrotécnica, com a publicação de vários artigos técnicos e científicos que procuram ser uma mais valia na resolução de problemas nesta vertente da Engenharia, mas também uma forma de apoio aos estudantes e a todos os profissionais de Engenharia Eletrotécnica.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “good health depends on clean air, a stable climate, and a preserved natural environment, as well as access to adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene. It also requires protection from harmful radiation, unsafe chemical management, and unhealthy working conditions. A healthy environment could prevent nearly a quarter of the global disease burden”. In line with this, environmental health is defined as the science that “addresses all the physical, chemical, and biological factors external to a person, and all the related factors impacting behaviors. It encompasses the assessment and control of those environmental factors that can potentially affect health. It is targeted towards preventing disease and creating health-supportive environments”.

This special section on Recent Advances in Graphics and Interaction features the papers submitted to Computers & Graphics and presented at the 2023 edition of the International Conference on Graphics and Interaction (ICGI’2023), which was held on November 2 and 3, 2023 at Tomar, as a joint organization between the Polytechnic University of Tomar and the Eurographics Portuguese Chapter (GPCG). The ICGI conference focuses on novel ideas in the areas of Computer Graphics, Image Processing, Computer Vision, Information Visualization, and Human-Computer Interaction, as well as related fields such as Virtual and Augmented Reality, Modelling, Rendering, Digital Arts, and Information Visualisation. The conference further aims to bring together and inspire collaboration among practitioners, users, and researchers. This special issue of Computers & Graphics received sixteen submissions, nine of which were accepted for publication after they had been fully peer-reviewed by at least three experts, according to the standards of Computers & Graphics.

Agriculture accounts for approximately 70% of global water usage [1,2]. Although the use of water in agriculture yields considerable gains in productivity, thereby contributing significantly to food production and security, the agricultural sector is increasingly required to justify its use of water and is under growing scrutiny [3,4,5]. To address water governance and ensure fair access to water across sectors and scales, efficient water management, and environmental protection, it is critical to safeguard the sustainability of irrigation agriculture [6,7]. In the last few decades, considerable efforts have been made to improve water-use efficiency (WUE) across different sectors. According to a recent publication by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) [8], there was an increase of 23% in WUE (expressed in USD m−3) between 2015 and 2022, indicating a positive outcome under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 6.4.1—Change in WUE over time. Gains in agricultural water productivity have been achieved thanks to agronomic technological advancements, like higher efficiency irrigation methods, remote-sensing integration, or smart irrigation systems [9,10,11]. As stated by the FAO (2025) [1] “Future gains must come from smarter—not just increased—food production, by closing yield gaps, diversifying the selection of suitable and resilient crops, and applying locally adapted, resource-efficient practices suited to land, soil and water conditions. There is no single pathway—no one-size-fits-all solution.” Currently, the issue of sustainable irrigation involves making optimal decisions amid uncertainty. Climate change, resource degradation and availability, the water–energy–food–environment (WEFE) nexus, and institutional and political issues often constrain the advancement of agricultural systems [12,13,14]. The second edition of the Special Issue (SI) “Agricultural practices to improve irrigation sustainability”, published in Water in 2025, builds upon the first edition published in 2024 [3] and expands the scope in irrigation research from classic studies at the field or agricultural plot scale to research on the most effective tools to support decision-making under uncertainty. To achieve these advances, decision-making must be supported by reliable data and tools that are simple enough for stakeholders to interpret and can effectively inform their decisions. The contributions for this SI highlight this shift in research, comprising articles that address best practices at the plot level, with a focus on increasing efficiency; refocus agricultural decision-making on data and model analysis; and expose and reflect on trade-offs and governance related to the WEFE nexus.

Agriculture accounts for approximately 70% of global water usage [1,2]. Although the use of water in agriculture yields considerable gains in productivity, thereby contributing significantly to food production and security, the agricultural sector is increasingly required to justify its use of water and is under growing scrutiny [3,4,5]. To address water governance and ensure fair access to water across sectors and scales, efficient water management, and environmental protection, it is critical to safeguard the sustainability of irrigation agriculture [6,7]. In the last few decades, considerable efforts have been made to improve water-use efficiency (WUE) across different sectors. According to a recent publication by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) [8], there was an increase of 23% in WUE (expressed in USD m−3) between 2015 and 2022, indicating a positive outcome under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 6.4.1—Change in WUE over time. Gains in agricultural water productivity have been achieved thanks to agronomic technological advancements, like higher efficiency irrigation methods, remote-sensing integration, or smart irrigation systems [9,10,11]. As stated by the FAO (2025) [1] “Future gains must come from smarter—not just increased—food production, by closing yield gaps, diversifying the selection of suitable and resilient crops, and applying locally adapted, resource-efficient practices suited to land, soil and water conditions. There is no single pathway—no one-size-fits-all solution.” Currently, the issue of sustainable irrigation involves making optimal decisions amid uncertainty. Climate change, resource degradation and availability, the water–energy–food–environment (WEFE) nexus, and institutional and political issues often constrain the advancement of agricultural systems [12,13,14]. The second edition of the Special Issue (SI) “Agricultural practices to improve irrigation sustainability”, published in Water in 2025, builds upon the first edition published in 2024 [3] and expands the scope in irrigation research from classic studies at the field or agricultural plot scale to research on the most effective tools to support decision-making under uncertainty. To achieve these advances, decision-making must be supported by reliable data and tools that are simple enough for stakeholders to interpret and can effectively inform their decisions. The contributions for this SI highlight this shift in research, comprising articles that address best practices at the plot level, with a focus on increasing efficiency; refocus agricultural decision-making on data and model analysis; and expose and reflect on trade-offs and governance related to the WEFE nexus.