Indigenous Youth as Critical Agents of Biocultural Survivance - Education and Employment in Response to the Challenges of Global Heating and Climate Disruption

abstract: These are unprecedented times. Like never before, humans, having separated themselves from the web of life through the skillful use of their opposable thumbs, have invented the means of extinction and have systematized it for the benefit of the few at the expense of all else. Yet humans are also designing fixes and alternatives that will soon overcome the straight line trajectory to ugliness and loss that the current order would lead the rest of humanity through. The works in this dissertation are connected by two themes: (1) those humans who happen to be closely connected to the lands, waters and wildlife, through millennia of adaptation and inventive association, have a great deal to share with the rest, who, through history have become distanced from the lands and waters and wildlife they came from; and (2) as the inheritors of all the insults that the current disrespectful and wasteful system is heaping upon all true sensibilities, young people, who are Indigenous, and who are the critical generation for biocultural survival, have an immense role to play - for their cultures, and for all of the rest. The survivance of autochthonous culture through intergenerational conduct of cultural practice and spirituality is profoundly affected by fundamental physical factors of resilience related to food, water, and energy security, and the intergenerational participation of youth. So this work is not so much an indictment of the system as it is an attempt to reveal at least two ways that the work of these young Indigenous people can be expedited: through the transformation of their education so that more of their time as youths is spent focusing on the wonderful attributes of their cultural associations with the lands, waters, and wildlife; and through the creation of a self-sustaining youth owned and operated enterprise that provides needed services to communities so they can adapt to and mitigate the increasingly variable, unpredictable, and dangerous effects and impacts of global heating and climate disruption.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Justice Studies 201

Re-connecting landscape : roles for spatial planning

The thesis sets out the candidate’s contribution to the field of landscape planning in relation to themes such as sustainability, multifunctionality and resilience. It contextualises the candidate’s work in terms of the literature linking spatial planning, natural resource management and sustainable development, and shows how these have, most recently, led to a concern for ‘re-connection’. It then considers more specifically the influence of ten published outputs concerning interventions on behalf of the cultural landscape. Substantially, the candidate’s contribution is viewed as a way of ‘designing with nature’, within the legacy of Ian McHarg. The first part of the thesis explains how the candidate contributed broadly to a gradual acceptance of natural resource management as a legitimate concern for spatial planning, and how this was subsequently re-interpreted within a discourse of sustainable development. A set of ten published outputs is then critically reviewed in terms of: a synoptic overview; a contribution to the theory of landscape planning; an exploration of aspects of practical implementation; and a consideration of future prospects for promoting social-environmental resilience through the medium of multifunctional landscape. The thesis concludes by anticipating further development of the themes of multifunctionality, sustainability, resilience and re-connection within a ‘Neo-McHargian’ context

Undoing Colorblind Ecologies: Redlining and Just Green Enough in the Urban Forest of Boston\u27s Franklin Park

Urban political ecology research increasingly engages multi-disciplinary methodologies to clarify the role that the botanic plays in creating, maintaining, or subverting ecological geographies of power. Fredrick Law Olmsted intended the forest within Franklin Park to heal the physical degeneration and social disunity he believed resulted from urban living conditions but instead the forest within Franklin Park has grown in contexts of increasingly complex environmental and racial difference. I examine how the urban forest in Boston’s Franklin Park has ecologically manifested racialized power relations through distinct periods of elite nature-making and segregated grassroots stewardship. I utilized archival research, forest surveys, and semi-structured interviews to trace the influence of race on forest socio-successional processes and its implication for future forests. I found that periods of racialized land management have formed ecological signatures in the forest strata and shifted forest succession, leaving the forest vulnerable to being inscribed into the processes of green gentrification through forest revitalization. Furthermore, these forest processes create a unique and place-based socio-ecology that reflects the racial tensions in Boston since Franklin Park’s establishment. This research complicates the alleged political neutrality of historical and ecological forest restoration. Utilizing a “just green enough” approach, I caution against urban greening initiatives for climate resilience remaking place-based natures and discuss the ways spontaneous vegetation can become collaborators in ecologies of resistance

Fabrication of a biosimulated nerve repair device for guided axon regeneration and controlled release of bioactives for the treatment of peripheral nerve injury

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Johannesburg, 2017.The constant challenges imposed by the clinical procedures in obtaining adequate nerve repair and return of functional recovery to the injured site has buoyed the pursuit for artificial alternatives instead of the utilization of donor tissue grafts for surgical repair. Transected nerve injuries, having tremendous potential to cause permanent paralysis, neuropathies and chronic pain, requires the collective involvement of tissue-engineering and advanced drug delivery applications in combating the perceived challenges associated with its repair. Modern peripheral nerve repair strategies employ the use of polymeric-engineered nerve conduits incorporated with components of a delivery system. This allows for the controlled and sustained release of neurotrophic growth factors and other bioactives for improvements in the innate regenerative capacity of neural tissues. Although currently available synthetic hollow nerve conduits available for clinical use, as an alternative to the nerve autografts, have proven to be successful in the bridging and regeneration of primarily short nerve gap injuries, recent developments entail advancement of nerve conduits to be able to simulate the effectiveness of the autograft which includes, in particular, the ability to deliver growth factors and mimic peripheral nerve structure. A critical factor influencing the level of success of peripheral nerve repair and regeneration is the development of appropriate sustained drug delivery systems for the release of neurotrophic factors and other small molecular weight drugs in addition to the provision of a mechanically stable, biocompatible and preferably biodegradable repair scaffold. This study, therefore, aimed to investigate and establish the proposed concept of pristine polymer particle intercalation as a novel strategy for achieving controlled and sustained release of bioactives from polymeric implants. An initial study involving an investigation into the drug release mechanisms of indomethacin from swellable sodium tripolyphosphatecrosslinked chitospheres laden with pristine pH-responsive polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) nanoparticles sought to prove the concept of particle intercalation as a modulator for drug release. Swelling and erosion studies, in conjunction with textural profiling, provided an understanding of the dominant and underlying drug release mechanisms of the chitospheres loaded with the pristine PMMA particles. Drug release studies showed that the pristine particle-intercalated chitospheres extended the release of indomethacin over 144 hours in a first-order compared to the 72 hours release achieved with the control. The study further revealed that in situ porogen leaching leading to porous network and polyelectrolyte complex formation were major mechanisms governing drug release from the chitospheres. Having successfully proved the concept of pristine polymer particle intercalation, this technique was consequentially applied to the development of a nerve conduit for the dual and controlledrelease of proteins and small-molecule drugs. The design and fabrication of a hollow nerve conduit comprised a physically crosslinked interpenetrating network of a gellan-xanthan hydrogel matrix intercalated with pristine PMMA particles for provision sustained and concurrent release of two model compounds: bovine serum albumin (BSA) and diclofenac sodium. Analysis of a Box-Behnken experimental design demonstrated a near zero-order release of BSA and diclofenac sodium over 20 and 30 days, respectively, modulated via a combination of pH-responsive (pH 7.4) dissolution of the intercalated pristine polymer particles and the unique gelling and erosion properties imparted by the graded addition of xanthan gum to the hydrogel blend. Moreover, the concentration-dependent intercalation of PMMA enhanced matrix resilience while alterations in the gellan-xanthan proportions yielded a means for customizing the mechanical characteristics, particularly matrix rigidity and flexibility, for the attainment of neuro-durable conduits. Optimization of the hydrogel conduit provided an effective means for the sustained delivery of the essential but costly neurotrophic growth factor, Nerve Growth Factor (NGF), over 30 days whilst maintaining its bioactivity. Further advancement of the hollow-lumen gellan-xanthan conduits involved implementation of intraluminal guidance scaffolds in an endeavour for simulating the native structural features of peripheral nerve tissue. An array of electrospun aligned nano-fibrous scaffolds formulated for the inclusion of physical, chemical and therapeutic guidance cues was achieved through the blending and incorporation of polyhydroxy butyric-co-valeric acid base polymer with magnesium-oleate and Nacetylcysteine as potential neuro-active agents as indicated by the enhanced proliferation of PC12 neuronal cells. Integration of the two components, the hydrogel conduit and the nanofibrous scaffold, heralded the assembly of the final Biosimulated Nerve Repair Device (BNRD) which proved proficient in an in vivo rat sciatic nerve model in promoting nerve regeneration and re-establishment of functional recovery compared to the autograft gold standard repair as determined by behavioural assessments and morphometric and histological analysis of muscle and nerve tissues. The devised BNRD system for the surgical repair and therapeutic treatment of transected peripheral nerve injuries was successful in providing a long-term neuro-durable scaffold with release kinetics appropriate for the adequate promotion of tissue regeneration and healing bringing about restoration of functional recovery through emulating the positive characteristics of the autograft. The results obtained show promise for the rather challenging repair of peripheral nerves.LG201

An Ethnographic Examination of Belonging and Hype in Web3 Communities

Advocates of the Web3 movement want the next stage of the internet’s evolution to be characterized by the decentralization of virtual assets and the democratization of digital participation via possibilities afforded by blockchain technology. In this ethnography, the researcher contrasts the ideologies and material practices of individuals and communities composing said Web3 schema, including enthusiasts of the emergent metaverse, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and blockchain-based institutions called decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) that rely on a blend of human and algorithmic governance to operate. Based on fieldwork in London, England during the summer of 2022, this thesis uncovers patterns of hype making and hype ambivalence that inform belonging within Web3 spaces and conversely establish parameters for exclusion. The auratic qualities of NFTs the researcher acquired at Proof of People, a three-day NFT and metaverse festival hosted in London’s Fabric nightclub, are also investigated. With data compiled from a mix of in-person and virtual settings, the claims presented in this thesis arrive at a critical moment for crypto. Universal devaluation of blockchain assets following a market freefall in 2021 has battered the decentralized movement, but the Web3 informants featured herein remain optimistic about the vitality of a digital paradigm in its alleged nascency

Modelling and Simulation of Human-Environment Interactions

Computational models provide intelligent environmental decision support systems to understand how human decisions are shaped by, and contribute to changes in, the environment. These models provide essential tools to tackle the important issues raised by climate change, including migrations and conflicts due to resource scarcity (e.g., water resources), while accounting for the necessity of co-managing ecosystems across a population of stakeholders with diverse goals. Such socio-environmental systems are characterized by their complexity, which is reflected by an abundance of open questions. This book explores several of these open questions, based on the contributions from over 50 authors. While several books account for methodological developments in modeling socio-environmental systems, our book is unique in combining case studies, methodological innovations, and a holistic approach to training the next generation of modelers. One chapter covers the ontological, epistemological, and ethical issues raised at the intersection of sustainability research and social simulation. In another chapter, we show that the benefits of simulations are not limited to managing complex eco-systems, as they can also serve an educational mission in teaching essential rules and thus improve systems thinking competencies in the broader population

COMING TO THE SURFACE: THE ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH, AND CULTURE IN BUTTE, MONTANA

Butte is a small town in southwest Montana that was profoundly shaped by over a century of mining and smelting activities. Today, Butte is a post-industrial city that is the focal point of America\u27s largest Superfund site as well as the nation\u27s largest National Historic District. There are two types of remediation occurring in Butte: environmental and cultural. Environmental remediation occurs throughout the city, most notably at the operable units of the Butte Superfund sites. This remediation does not restore the environment to its original state but instead reclaims it to a level of risk deemed acceptable by the EPA. Much like environmental remediation, community members practice acts of reclaiming history, landscape, and community. These are acts of cultural reclamation. To understand the current interrelationship between the environment, health, and culture in Butte, it is first necessary to understand the cultural foundations. Butte is a mining town that practices mining culture. A mining culture has several characteristics: physical and/or cultural isolation; pride in resilience, toughness, and craftsmanship; strong sense of community and kin networks; distrust of institutions, politics, and positions of power; historic pride and romanticizing the past; and gender division. These cultural values are at the core of Butte\u27s culture and heritage. These values are a basis for historic preservationists who oppose environmental remediation and promote the preservation of the historic mining landscape. This is in sharp contrast to the environmental groups that promote environmental remediation and cite elevated risk levels and potential health effects in their reasoning. Debate about risk levels and the consequences of living in a toxic landscape do not provide answers regarding health issues, however. The community does not track disease rates and has never performed a longitudinal epidemiology study. By remaining unaware of disease rates, the community and those in positions of power are left with only opinions. As a remedy, this study set out to investigate mortality rates in Butte and compare them to the state of Montana and the United States. This study showed that the majority of the mortality rates in Butte are greater than the state of Montana and United States rates for all disease groups, and that mortality rates fluctuate over time but are consistently elevated. It also showed that mortality rates correlate with the target systems of concern. It did not show a clear reduction in mortality rates after remediation. Several diseases, such as neurological disease, did decrease after remediation, and this potentially correlates to the extensive lead abatement program in the city

CERNAS – Current Evolution and Research Novelty in Agricultural Sustainability

This book addresses original studies and reviews focused on the current evolution and research novelty in agricultural sustainability. New developments are discussed on issues related with quality of soil, natural fertilizers or the sustainable use of land and water. Also crop protection techniques are pivotal for the sustainable food production under the challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, allied to innovative weed control methodologies, as a way to reduce the utilization of pesticides. The role of precision and smart agriculture is becoming more pertinent as the communication technologies improve at a high rate. Waste management, reuse of agro industrial residues, extension of shelf life and use of new technologies are ways to reduce food waste, all contributing to a higher sustainability of the food supply chains, leading to a more rational use of natural resources. The unquestionable role of bees as pollinators and contributors for biodiversity is subjacent to the work of characterization of beekeeping activities, which in turn contribute, together with the valorization of endemic varieties of plant foods, for the development of local communities. Finally, the short circuits and local food markets have a decisive role in the preservation and enhancement of rural economies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

CERNAS: Current Evolution and Research Novelty in Agricultural Sustainability

Climate changes pose overwhelming impacts on primary production and, consequently, on agricultural and animal farming. Additionally, at present, agriculture still depends strongly on fossil fuels both for energy and production factors ,such as synthetized inorganic fertilizers and harmful chemicals such as pesticides. The need to feed the growing world population poses many challenges. The need to reduce environmental impacts to a minimum, maintain healthy ecosystems, and improve soil microbiota are central to ensuring a promising future for coming generations. Livestock production under cover crop systems helps to alleviate compaction so that oxygen and water can sufficiently flow in the soil, add organic matter, and help hold soil in place, reducing crusting and protecting against erosion. The use of organic plant production practices allied to the control of substances used in agriculture also decisively contributes to alleviating the pressure on ecosystems. Some of the goals of this new decade are to use enhanced sustainable production methodologies to improve the input/output ratios of primary production, reduce environmental impacts, and rely on new innovative technologies. This reprint addresses original studies and reviews focused on the current evolution and research novelty in agricultural sustainability. New developments are discussed on issues related to quality of soil, natural fertilizers, or the sustainable use of land and water. Also, crop protection techniques are pivotal for sustainable food production under the challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, allied to innovative weed control methodologies as a way to reduce the utilization of pesticides. The role of precision and smart agriculture is becoming more pertinent as communication technologies improve at a rapid rate. Waste management, reuse of agro-industrial residues, extension of shelf life, and use of new technologies are ways to reduce food waste, all contributing to higher sustainability in food supply chains, leading to a more rational use of natural resources. The unquestionable role of bees as pollinators and contributors to biodiversity is adjacent to characterizing beekeeping activities, which in turn contributes, together with the valorization of endemic varieties of plant foods, to the development of local communities. Finally, the short circuits and local food markets have a decisive role in the preservation and enhancement of rural economies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Soil Health Improvement Technologies to Enhance Drought and Nutrient Resilience in Urban Agroecosystems in Zimbabwe

Soil degradation which is linked to poor soil organic matter management remains a significant barrier to sustained crop production in smallholder urban agriculture (UA) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). While organic nutrient resources are often used in UA to complement inorganic fertilisers in soil fertility management, they are usually scarce and of poor quality to provide optimum nutrients for crop uptake. Alternative soil nutrient management options are required. Aluminium-water treatment residual (Al-WTR), a by-product of the drinking water treatment process is an alternative organo-mineral resource that can be used to complement mineral and organic nutrient resources in urban agroecosystems. Although previous research has revealed the transformative effects of Al-WTR on soil physicochemical properties, there is still some inconsistency about the effects of Al-WTR on relations between plant yield and nutrients, particularly phosphorus (P). The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of co-applying Al-WTR in combination with other organic nutrient resources (compost, cattle manure and maize stover) as ‘co-amendments’ on soil physical, biological, and chemical properties, P sorption and maize productivity in UA in Zimbabwe. The study employed field, greenhouse, and laboratory approaches to test different Al-WTR-based options for improved soil health. The main treatments included single amendments of Al-WTR, compost (C), cattle manure (CM), maize stover (MS) or their co-amendments as Al-WTR + CM, Al-WTR + MS or Al-WTR + C; an unamended control and standard NPK. A field experiment to determine the influence of Al-WTR co-amendments on soil organic carbon (SOC) and selected soil physical properties showed higher accumulation of SOC and lower soil bulk density; higher soil structural stability, water holding capacity and higher maize grain yields in the co-amendments compared to the unamended soils. The co-amendment of Al-WTR and cattle manure (Al-WTR + CM) accumulated higher (4.96 g. kg-1) concentration of SOC and the lowest (1.30 g cm-3) bulk density, whilst the unamended control recorded the least (4.55 g. kg-1) in SOC and the highest (1.35 g. cm-3) bulk density. The co-amendment, Al-WTR + CM also exhibited greater soil structural stability, recording an average of 121.64 g. kg-1 water-stable aggregates (WSA) and 0.17 mm in mean weighted diameter (MWD), equating to an increase of 393% (WSA) and 141% (MWD), relative to the unamended control. The co-amendment, Al-WTR + CM also resulted in increments of at least 0.02 cm3 cm-3 in readily available water, whilst also retaining > 10% more water at field capacity relative to the control. Both co-amendments, Al-WTR + CM and Al-WTR and maize stover (Al-WTR + MS) in turn yielded four times more maize grain yield compared to the unamended control. Results also showed a higher biological activity in the co-amendments, suggestive of a high turnover potential of the co-amendments in restoring soil health. The co-amendment of Al-WTR + CM attained the highest microbial biomass carbon (190 ± 1.14 mg C kg-1) and microbial biomass nitrogen (35.80 ± 0.51 mg N kg-1) at 6 weeks after planting maize, whereas the least (120 ± 1.58 mg C kg- 1 and 18.72 ± 0.35 mg N kg-1) were recorded for the unamended control. Soil basal respiration (CO2-C emission) was higher in Al-WTR + MS, which gave the highest CO2-C emission of 167 ± 3.44 mg CO2-C kg-1 soil. The unamended control on the other hand recorded a higher metabolic quotient, releasing > 0.10 mg CO2-C microbial C day-1 more, compared to the co-amendments, suggesting more available carbon in the co-amendments and therefore less microbial strain compared to the unamended soil. Results of a short-term greenhouse experiment to evaluate the benefits of applying Al-WTR in combination with compost and inorganic P fertiliser, on soil chemical properties, and maize (Zea mays L.) productivity and nutrient uptake showed higher (3.92 ± 0.16 g) maize shoot biomass at 5 weeks after emergence in the co-amendment of 10% C + 10% Al-WTR, significantly (p <0.05) out-yielding the unamended control which yielded 1.33 ± 0.17 g. The addition of inorganic P fertiliser to the co-amendment (10% C + 10% Al-WTR + P) further increased maize shoot yield by about six-fold (7.23 ± 0.07 g), showing the important role of inorganic P fertilisers in crop production. The co-amendment, 10% Al-WTR + 10% C + P increased maize uptake of the micronutrients Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu) and Manganese (Mn) by 13.63-, 1.08- and 0.79- mg kg-1, respectively, compared with the single amendment of 10% C + P. The enhanced micronutrient uptake can potentially improve maize grain quality and subsequently human nutrition for the urban population in SSA. A laboratory experiment to understand P sorption characteristics of a sandy soil co-amended with different ratios of Al-WTR and compost under varying levels of pH, particle size and P concentration showed higher maximum P sorption in the single amendment of Al-WTR compared to the co-amendments. The co-amendments in turn showed a reduction in crop inorganic P fertiliser requirements by ranges of 30 - 70% in the co-amendments compared to the single amendment of Al-WTR. Overall, results from this study showed that Al-WTR co-amendments can be used to re-build soil heath, enhance maize productivity, and improve human nutrition in smallholder urban agro-systems of Southern Africa and partly contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) linked to both soil and human health