Analyzing influencing factors to scale up agroforestry systems in Colombia: A comparative ex-ante assessment of cacao farming and cattle ranching in two regions

Agroforestry systems (AFS) are proved to enhance sustainable land management. Thus, there is increasing demand for effective ways to scale up AFS so that more people can benefit. Consequently, this study assesses the scaling-up potential of agroforestry systems (AFS) using cacao farming and cattle ranching in Caqueta and Cesar, Colombia, as examples. An ex-ante assessment using the ScalA tool is conducted through interviews with AFS experts from institutions promoting AFS. Using a comparative approach, results reveal that AFS have different scaling-up potential depending on the type of farming system and location characteristics. In our case, it is slightly higher for cacao farming than for cattle ranching in both regions and it is higher in Caqueta than in Cesar for both systems. Factors hindering the scaling-up potential for both regions are economic conditions at the local and regional levels since there is a lack of stable and differentiated markets to absorb AFS products. In contrast, the scaling-up potential in both regions is increased by the factors related to the capacity of the organizations that promote AFS and the attitudes of local communities toward them. The study generates information about factors that may hinder or foster AFS scaling-up, including not just the capacities and mechanisms to promote them but also the enabling conditions. This contributes to prioritizing AFS interventions and better allocating their resources to increase their chances of successful scaling-up

Upscaling agroforestry in the tropics through actor-networks: a comparative case study of cacao farming systems in two regions of Colombia

Agroforestry systems (AFS) upscaling has the potential to integrate sustainability and resilience objectives into agriculture. However, this is a daunting task requiring multi-actor collaboration across public and private sectors at multiple governance levels, coupled with innovative approaches to jointly managing AFS knowledge. Understanding such multi-actor interactions from a network perspective may help to unravel how social structures, created by relational patterns enhance or hinder AFS upscaling. Our paper aims to comparatively explore the role of regional actor-networks on AFS upscaling for a selected farming system. By conducting semi-structured interviews, we collected information about the ties of 86 actors supporting cacao agroforestry systems (CAFS) across two regions of Colombia. We use social network analysis (SNA) to comparatively visualize and understand the general structure of these networks, find relational patterns between the diverse categories of actors involved, and identify a set of key players bridging the majority of the actors within these networks. We find highly centralized networks that connect multiple actors by a low number of mostly non-reciprocal ties. Within these networks, we identify a predominance of bridging ties over bonding ties, homophily patterns among research and education institutions, and heterophily configurations among farmer-based organizations. We also find that the composition of the sets of key actors and the platforms where they converge varies substantially from region to region due to decentralized agricultural policies and differing characteristics across regions. Our approach provides key entry points for promoting multi-actor coalitions that can effectively expand the benefits of AFS in tropical agricultural systems

The risk of unintended deforestation from scaling sustainable livestock production systems

Silvopastoral systems (SPS)-production systems integrating trees, forages, and livestock within the same land area-are recognized as critical for reducing tropical deforestation and improving livelihoods, ecosystem services, and carbon sinks. Yet, research on how scaling SPS influences forest cover changes at large geographical scales is scant. Our study delves deeper into the interlinkages between scaling SPS and deforestation. In two surveys conducted among 144 Colombian Amazon livestock producers with traditional or SPS farms, we assessed changes in herd composition between 2016 and 2020. Results showed a change in herd composition, with fewer males and more cows/heifers, suggesting a shift toward specializing in milk production, which, with the appropriate environmental incentives and safeguards, would unlikely broaden deforestation. However, interlinkages between the dairy and beef value chains suggest that extra male cattle from SPS intensification would be moved for fattening as a source of beef to new pastures at the forest border. If SPS scaling interventions in the Colombian Amazon are to be truly deforestation-free, they need to be designed based on a clear understanding of the interlinkages between food and land systems. Therefore, policies advancing the livestock and land-use agenda must create mechanisms that support deforestation-free livestock intensification, based on biophysical and socioeconomic evaluations

How analysis shapes phenomena

Loehr D, Duncan S, Rohlfing K. How analysis shapes phenomena. In: Symposium at the Congress of International Society for Gesture Studies Interacting Bodies 2005. Lyon, France; 2005

Agroecology as a grassroots approach for environmental peacebuilding: Strengthening social cohesion and resilience in post-conflict settings with community-based natural resource management

In the Colombian Andes, farming communities face complex challenges involving conflict, climate change, peacebuilding and rural reconstruction. Organized around agroecology, farmers generate associativity processes, self-managed extension work and popular education pedagogies. This strengthens the social fabric of these communities and enhances their adaptive capacities, enabling them to persist in the context of adversity. This study investigates the potential of community-based agroecology in post-war scenarios for fostering social cohesion and community resilience; considered to be two key components of peacebuilding. Based on a systematization of experiences, we analyze the work of seven farmer-led educational initiatives, so-called Agroecology Peasant Schools (Spanish: Escuelas Campesinas de Agroecología, ECAs), in three different regions of the Colombian Andes ‐ Cauca, Valle del Cauca, and Coffee Axis. Using interviews and focus groups, we integrate the perceptions of 82 stakeholders from regional agroecology networks. The results illustrate the contexts in which ECAs emerge and demonstrate how the associative processes they advance strengthen the social fabric, enhance the capacities of farmers in agroecological management and support the socio-economic recovery of rural areas. Based on our results, we maintain that, by fostering shared identities and collective capabilities of farmers, ECAs strengthen social cohesion and community resilience and thereby contribute to the building of “positive peace” from a grassroots level. By scrutinizing local initiatives, this study generates insights for guiding contextualized peacebuilding programs, based on local needs and aspirations

Handout for practical instructors to accompany practical study phases

Die Basis der gegenwärtigen und zukünftigen pflegerischen Entwicklung wurzelt im fortlaufenden Prozess der Aktion und Reflexion. Der Dialog zwischen „Praxis“ und „Theorie“ als Fundament der Begegnung mit anderen und sich selbst, mit denen täglich auf implizite, intuitive und tazide Wissensbestände zurückgegriffen wird, in der die Kunst darin besteht, sich reflektierend Wissens- und Erfahrungsbeständen anzunähern. In einer Pflegewelt, in denen Praxisanleiter_innen im WIR-DU-ICH sich unserer Verantwortung bewusst sind, in denen Du die pflegerischen Situationen einschätzt und ich als Praxisanleiter_in mit dem Team pädagogische Prozesse mit ausgestalte, als mein gesellschaftlicher pflegerischer Auftrag, mit dem Ziel Menschen in den jeweiligen Lebensphasen begleiten zu können. Praxisanleiter_innen reflektieren „Selbstverständliches“ während ihrer pflegerischen Beziehungsgestaltung mit dem zu Pflegenden, so dass die angehenden Pflegenden, Anhaltspunkte in konkreten pflegerischen Situationen für die Entscheidungsprozesse erhalten. Mit dem zugrundeliegenden Subjektverständnis einer demokratischen Bildungsarbeit verstehen sich alle Beteiligten als sich stetig entwickelnd. Exemplarische Grundlage der Bildungsarbeit bieten die 10-jährigen Erfahrungsbestände in der Bildungspraxis an einer brandenburgischen Hochschule, die illustriert wie sich bspw. die Studierenden, die Praxisbegleiter_innen und die Praxisanleiter_innen auf den Lernort „Praxis“ vorbereiten, so dass Kompetenzen gefördert und gestärkt werden. Mit einer Vision der Zukunft schließt der gegenwärtige Entwicklungsprozess aller Beteiligten mit der Handreichung für Praxisanleiter_innen zur Begleitung berufspraktischer Studienphasen ab. Das Schreiben ist formell abgeschlossen, aber der informelle Dialog wird fortgesetzt, um die aktuelle Situation aufrechtzuerhalten.The foundation of nursing development lies in the process of action and reflection. The dialogue between praxis and theory builds the basis for encounters with others and oneself. People often rely on implicit, intuitive, and tacit knowledge. The art of approaching involves reflecting on these bodies of knowledge and experience. The nursing profession acknowledges its responsibility to assess nursing situations objectively. As a practical instructor, I collaborate with the team to design educational processes that align with our social nursing mission. Our mission is to accompany individuals through the various phases of life. As practical instructor, we reflect on what is self-evident during the nursing relationship with the person being cared for. These reflections provide a solution for prospective nurses, offering reference points for decision-making in complex situations. Participating in a subject-based dialogue contributes to ongoing democratic education. An Example: This text describes the ten years of education at a university in Brandenburg and the experiences of students, nursing practice instructors, and nursing practice companions. It demonstrates how participants can be prepared before visiting the nursing practice, promoting and strengthening their skills. The vision for the future involves concluding current developments and creating guidelines for nursing practice instructors as a tool to support practical work during the study phase. The writing has been formally completed, but informal dialogue continues to keep the current situation alive

Comparison of multimodal annotation tools: Workshop report

Rohlfing K, Loehr D, Duncan S, et al. Comparison of multimodal annotation tools: Workshop report. Gesprächsforschung. 2006;7

Anaplastic astrocytoma with piloid features, a novel molecular class of IDH wildtype glioma with recurrent MAPK pathway, CDKN2A/B and ATRX alterations.

Tumors with histological features of pilocytic astrocytoma (PA), but with increased mitotic activity and additional high-grade features (particularly microvascular proliferation and palisading necrosis) have often been designated anaplastic pilocytic astrocytomas. The status of these tumors as a separate entity has not yet been conclusively demonstrated and molecular features have only been partially characterized. We performed DNA methylation profiling of 102 histologically defined anaplastic pilocytic astrocytomas. T-distributed stochastic neighbor-embedding (t-SNE) and hierarchical clustering analysis of these 102 cases against 158 reference cases from 12 glioma reference classes revealed that a subset of 83 of these tumors share a common DNA methylation profile that is distinct from the reference classes. These 83 tumors were thus denominated DNA methylation class anaplastic astrocytoma with piloid features (MC AAP). The 19 remaining tumors were distributed amongst the reference classes, with additional testing confirming the molecular diagnosis in most cases. Median age of patients with MC AAP was 41.5 years. The most frequent localization was the posterior fossa (74%). Deletions of CDKN2A/B (66/83, 80%), MAPK pathway gene alterations (49/65, 75%, most frequently affecting NF1, followed by BRAF and FGFR1) and mutations of ATRX or loss of ATRX expression (33/74, 45%) were the most common molecular alterations. All tumors were IDH1/2 wildtype. The MGMT promoter was methylated in 38/83 tumors (45%). Outcome analysis confirmed an unfavorable clinical course in comparison to PA, but better than IDH wildtype glioblastoma. In conclusion, we show that a subset of histologically defined anaplastic pilocytic astrocytomas forms a separate DNA methylation cluster, harbors recurrent alterations in MAPK pathway genes in combination with alterations of CDKN2A/B and ATRX, affects patients who are on average older than those diagnosed with PA and has an intermediate clinical outcome

Anaplastic astrocytoma with piloid features, a novel molecular class of IDH wildtype glioma with recurrent MAPK pathway, CDKN2A/B and ATRX alterations.

Tumors with histological features of pilocytic astrocytoma (PA), but with increased mitotic activity and additional high-grade features (particularly microvascular proliferation and palisading necrosis) have often been designated anaplastic pilocytic astrocytomas. The status of these tumors as a separate entity has not yet been conclusively demonstrated and molecular features have only been partially characterized. We performed DNA methylation profiling of 102 histologically defined anaplastic pilocytic astrocytomas. T-distributed stochastic neighbor-embedding (t-SNE) and hierarchical clustering analysis of these 102 cases against 158 reference cases from 12 glioma reference classes revealed that a subset of 83 of these tumors share a common DNA methylation profile that is distinct from the reference classes. These 83 tumors were thus denominated DNA methylation class anaplastic astrocytoma with piloid features (MC AAP). The 19 remaining tumors were distributed amongst the reference classes, with additional testing confirming the molecular diagnosis in most cases. Median age of patients with MC AAP was 41.5 years. The most frequent localization was the posterior fossa (74%). Deletions of CDKN2A/B (66/83, 80%), MAPK pathway gene alterations (49/65, 75%, most frequently affecting NF1, followed by BRAF and FGFR1) and mutations of ATRX or loss of ATRX expression (33/74, 45%) were the most common molecular alterations. All tumors were IDH1/2 wildtype. The MGMT promoter was methylated in 38/83 tumors (45%). Outcome analysis confirmed an unfavorable clinical course in comparison to PA, but better than IDH wildtype glioblastoma. In conclusion, we show that a subset of histologically defined anaplastic pilocytic astrocytomas forms a separate DNA methylation cluster, harbors recurrent alterations in MAPK pathway genes in combination with alterations of CDKN2A/B and ATRX, affects patients who are on average older than those diagnosed with PA and has an intermediate clinical outcome