Traditional knowledge for climate change adaptation in Mesoamerica : a systematic review

This research was carried out during the first author's postdoctoral research (CVU number 292956 ) funded by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT) Mexico.Indigenous and rural peoples have developed close connections with land and nature for millennia. Traditional and local knowledge resulting from such human-environment interactions is embedded in ethnic, linguistic, and cultural contexts, and may assist local communities in adapting to global issues such as climate change. However, the extent to which traditional knowledge supports adaptation to local manifestations of severe socio-environmental changes, the traditional knowledge techniques that play an effective role in adaptation, and the dynamic yet integral aspect of traditional knowledge for indigenous and mestizo cultures remain unclear. Despite an extensive literature on climate change, adaptation, and traditional knowledge in the Global South, Mesoamerican countries are underrepresented. The aims of this systematic review were to address the main manifestations of climate change in Mesoamerican countries, to critically analyze relationships between traditional knowledge and contemporary climate change adaptation and to make recommendations regarding knowledge conservation, production, and exchange for climate change adaptation in the region. We systematically identified, reviewed, and coded 77 relevant papers. Our results show that: 1) most papers do not distinguish between local, traditional, and indigenous knowledge; 2) rainfall variability, droughts, and weather unpredictability are the most frequently expressed experiences of climate change; 3) the main adaptations undertaken by smallholders are changes to the agricultural calendar and crops cultivated, a shift to more sustainable agriculture, and labour diversification to generate off-farm income; and 4) many more articles are published on Mexico than the other Mesoamerican countries, and predominantly by authors from outside Mesoamerica. Local traditional knowledge makes important contributions to climate change actions and policy by observing changing climates, adapting to impacts, and contributing to global mitigation efforts. As a response to increasing climate change challenges, smallholders create new hybrid knowledge by combining traditional and western perspectives. This knowledge evolution will support greater resilience to climate change but may hasten cultural erosion and exacerbate social inequalities in the region unless efforts are taken to maintain cultural integrity.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Development and implementation of a vehicle-pedestrian conflict analysis method: Adaptation of a vehicle-vehicle technique

This paper examines the development, use, and evaluation of a new traffic conflict analysis technique that specifically addresses pedestrian-vehicle conflicts with the intention of being applicable to shared-space environments. The method is based on an existing, well-established, and widely used vehicle-vehicle conflict analysis technique, but is adapted to consider the movement of pedestrians, which differs significantly from that of vehicles. The new method is then implemented on the Exhibition Road site of West London with the use of video data collected from locations with a potentially high concentration of vehicle-pedestrian conflicts, and the results of the analysis are presented. Finally, the results are compared with those obtained by other conflict analysis techniques and also against accident data to assess not only the accuracy but also the functionality of the new technique

Disparities in rheumatoid arthritis disease activity according to gross domestic product in 25 countries in the QUEST–RA database

OBJECTIVE: To analyse associations between the clinical status of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the gross domestic product (GDP) of their resident country. METHODS: The Quantitative Standard Monitoring of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (QUEST-RA) cohort includes clinical and questionnaire data from 6004 patients who were seen in usual care at 70 rheumatology clinics in 25 countries as of April 2008, including 18 European countries. Demographic variables, clinical characteristics, RA disease activity measures, including the disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28), and treatment-related variables were analysed according to GDP per capita, including 14 "high GDP" countries with GDP per capita greater than US$24,000 and 11 "low GDP" countries with GDP per capita less than US$11,000. RESULTS: Disease activity DAS28 ranged between 3.1 and 6.0 among the 25 countries and was significantly associated with GDP (r = -0.78, 95% CI -0.56 to -0.90, r(2) = 61%). Disease activity levels differed substantially between "high GDP" and "low GDP" countries at much greater levels than according to whether patients were currently taking or not taking methotrexate, prednisone and/or biological agents. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical status of patients with RA was correlated significantly with GDP among 25 mostly European countries according to all disease measures, associated only modestly with the current use of antirheumatic medications. The burden of arthritis appears substantially greater in "low GDP" than in "high GDP" countries. These findings may alert healthcare professionals and designers of health policy towards improving the clinical status of patients with RA in all countries

Brazilian Economic Growth, 1900-2000: Lessons and Policy Implications

This paper examines Brazilian economic growth as part of the project "Explaining Economic Growth Performance" launched by the Global Development Network (GDN), the purpose of which is to explain economic growth performances across seven regions of the world. According to the author of this study, a better understanding of Brazil's paradoxical growth pattern during the 20th century may not only improve policy formulation but also help generate political support for its implementation. Any proposal for deepening the reform process in Brazil will not win wide acceptance if it is not perceived to respond to a credible account of how policies that are "wrong" in 2001 appeared "right," for half of the last century. With this context in mind, this paper addresses three overarching questions. First, how did Brazil manage to grow so rapidly from 1930 to 1980 while following so many "wrong" policies? Second, why did Brazil then perform so poorly in the final two decades of the century? And third, considering developments in both the domestic and international arenas, how should current public policy priorities be set to maximize Brazil's potential sustainable growth rate? Analysis will look at the aggregate performance of the Brazilian economy in 1930-2000, it will examine micro evidence from firms and households, respectively, and determine whether these patterns are consistent with the macroeconomic observations noted in our initial analysis. The study also provides an evaluation on how should current public policy priorities be set to maximize Brazil's potential sustainable growth rate