Apropiación de la naturaleza por una Comunidad Maya Yucateca : un análisis económico-ecológico

A partir de un modelo económico-ecológico de apropiación de la naturaleza, en este artículo analizamos como una comunidad de mayas yucatecos, situados al noreste de la península de Yucatán, incorporó el ecoturismo a su estrategia de manejo de los recursos naturales. Utilizando información proveniente de 63 entrevistas a nivel de hogar, describimos, cuantificamos y analizamos las diferentes actividades productivas desarrolladas con el fin de mostrar las condiciones sociales, económicas y ecológicas en las que basan su estrategia de uso múltiple de los recursos naturales. Los resultados muestran que los hogares manejan hasta 5 unidades paisajísticas: milpas, huertos familiares, selvas secundarias, selvas maduras y sistemas acuáticos, en las cuales llevan a cabo un total de 13 actividades económicas. Dado que la región se ha convertido en un destino turístico importante y el ecoturismo está reemplazando algunas de las actividades tradicionales, discutimos la importancia de que exista un balance entre actividades económicas tradicionales y alternativas.Using an ecological-economic approach to ecosystems appropriation, in this paper we analyze the adaptive openness of contemporary Yucatec Maya multiple use management of natural resources to ecotourism activities. Using data obtained from 63 household interviews in three Yucatec Maya communities located in the northeastern portion of the Yucatan Peninsula, we describe, quantify and analyze the communities' productive activities in order to reveal the ecological, economic and social conditions under which their productive strategies are developed. Results show that households from these communities implement a strategy based on the management of 5 land use units: milpa; homegardens; secondary forest; aquatic systems; and old-growth forest, in which they implement 15 different economic activities. Since the region is quickly becoming an important tourist destination and ecotourism is replacing many traditional activities, we discuss the need for a balance between traditional and alternative economic activities

Manuel Sacristán at the Onset of Ecological Marxism after Stalinism

Thirty-one years ago, in 1985, Manuel Sacristán died in Barcelona at the age of 59. After the publication in 2014 of a volume with some of his writings translated into English (Llorente 2014), it is time to help non-Spanish-speaking readers to know more about him. Yet it is not easy to explain to generations born after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 that Manuel Sacristán was a most important Marxist philosopher and at the same time one of the few pioneers introducing political ecology and antinuclear peace movement during the last quarter of the 20th century in Spain. Many people believe that Marxism, environmentalism and pacifism are views that exclude each other. Most of what has been said and done on behalf of Marxism since Stalin took over the leadership of the Communist Party of the USSR in the 1930s, up to its dissolution in 1991, contributes to sustaining this belief. The fast industrialization of the Old Russian Empire undertaken by the Soviet State was nowhere near taking into account ecological sustainability. Its socio-environmental impact turned out to be comparable or even worse than the ones caused by capitalist industrialization

A learning tool to develop sustainable projects

This paper presents a tool developed to help engineers to design and develop sustainable projects. The tool has been designed to introduce and evaluate the sustainability of engineering projects in general, but here we show its application to assess the final project of an engineering degree. This tool is a guide for students to introduce and estimate the sustainability of their projects, but it also helps teachers to assess them. The tool is based on the Socratic Methodology and consists of a matrix where each cell contains several questions that students must consider during the project development and which they must answer in their project report. A positive or negative mark is assigned to every cell, and the sum of all marks states the project sustainability. However, the result is not as simplistic as a final number, but a descriptive sustainability analysis where questions are answered and every mark justified. A pilot test with some students has obtained good results, but the first Final Degree Project using this methodology will be read in July 2016.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

A methodology to introduce sustainability into the Final Year Project to foster sustainable engineering projects

The introduction of sustainability skills into higher education curricula is a natural effect of the increasing importance of sustainability in our daily lives. Topics like green computing, sustainable design or environmental engineering have become part of the knowledge required by today’s engineers. Furthermore, we strongly believe that the introduction of this skill will eventually enable future engineers to develop sustainable products, services and projects. The Final Year Project is the last academic stage facing students and a step towards their future professional engineering projects. As such, it constitutes a rehearsal for their professional future and an ideal opportunity for reflecting on whether their Final Year Project is sustainable or not, and to what extent. It also provides a good tool for reviewing the lessons learned about sustainability during the degree course and for applying them in a holistic and integrated way. In this paper, we present a guide that allows both students and advisors to think carefully about the sustainability of engineering projects, in particular the Final Year Project.Postprint (author’s final draft

Source apportionment of submicron organic aerosol at an urban background and a road site in Barcelona (Spain) during SAPUSS

This study investigates the contribution of potential sources to the submicron (PM₁) organic aerosol (OA) simultaneously detected at an urban background (UB) and a road site (RS) in Barcelona during the 30 days of the intensive field campaign of SAPUSS (Solving Aerosol Problems by Using Synergistic Strategies, September–October 2010). A total of 103 filters at 12 h sampling time resolution were collected at both sites. Thirty-six neutral and polar organic compounds of known emission sources and photo-chemical transformation processes were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The concentrations of the trace chemical compounds analyzed are herein presented and discussed. <br><br> Additionally, OA source apportionment was performed by multivariate curve resolution–alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) and six OA components were identified at both sites: two were of primary anthropogenic OA origin and three of secondary OA origin, while a sixth one was not clearly defined. Primary organics from emissions of local anthropogenic activities (urban primary organic aerosol, or POA Urban), mainly traffic emissions but also cigarette smoke, contributed 43% (1.5 μg OC m^&minus;3) and 18% (0.4 μg OC m^&minus;3) to OA at RS and UB, respectively. A secondary primary source – biomass burning (BBOA) – was found in all the samples (average values 7% RS; 12% UB; 0.3 μg OC m^&minus;3), but this component was substantially contributing to OA only when the sampling sites were under influence of regional air mass circulation (REG.). Three secondary organic aerosol (SOA) components (describing overall 60% of the variance) were observed in the urban ambient PM₁. Products of isoprene oxidation (SOA ISO) – i.e. 2-methylglyceric acid, C₅ alkene triols and 2-methyltetrols – showed the highest abundance at both sites when the city was under influence of inland air masses. The overall concentrations of SOA ISO were similar at both sites (0.4 and 0.3 μg m⁻³, or 16% and 7%, at UB and RS, respectively). By contrast, a SOA biogenic component attributed to &alpha;-pinene oxidation (SOA BIO PIN) presented average concentrations of 0.5 μg m⁻³ at UB (24% of OA) and 0.2 μg m^&minus;3 at RS (7%), respectively, suggesting that this SOA component did not impact the two monitoring sites at the same level. A clear anti-correlation was observed between SOA ISO and SOA PIN during nucleation days, surprisingly suggesting that some of the growth of urban freshly nucleating particles may be driven by biogenic α-pinene oxidation products but inhibited by isoprene organic compounds. A third SOA component was formed by a mixture of aged anthropogenic and biogenic secondary organic compounds (SOA Aged) that accumulated under stagnant atmospheric conditions, contributing for 12% to OA at RS (0.4 μg OC m^&minus;3) and for 18% at UB (0.4 μg OC m^&minus;3). <br><br> A sixth component, formed by C₇–C₉ dicarboxylic acids and detected especially during daytime, was called "urban oxygenated organic aerosol" (OOA Urban) due to its high abundance at urban RS (23%; 0.8 μg OCm^&minus;3) vs. UB (10%; 0.2 μg OCm^&minus;3), with a well-defined daytime maximum. This temporal trend and geographical differentiation suggests that local anthropogenic sources were determining this component. However, the changes of these organic molecules were also influenced by the air mass trajectories, indicating that atmospheric conditions have an influence on this component, although the specific origin on this component remains unclear. It points to a secondary organic component driven by primary urban sources including cooking and traffic (mainly gasoline) activities

Preguntas para guiar el Trabajo de Fin de Grado

Los Trabajos de Fin de Grado (TFG) deben ser evaluados en términos de competencias. Durante sus estudios de grado, el alumno habrá trabajado las competencias técnicas relacionadas con la carrera que estudia y un conjunto de competencias transversales. Algunas de estas competencias serán evaluadas en el TFG. Todos los TFG son diferentes y es difícil, por no decir imposible, establecer un modelo único de evaluación de competencias que sirva para todos. Además, se corre el riesgo de que si se establece un modelo el alumno tienda a seguirlo a rajatabla, sin plantearse que es sólo un modelo y que tal vez su TFG debería tener un planteamiento distinto. En este trabajo se propone una forma de afrontar este problema. En lugar de definir un modelo de TFG, se propone establecer un conjunto de preguntas que inviten al estudiante a reflexionar sobre la forma de afrontar el trabajo. Contestar a estas preguntas fomenta la iniciativa del estudiante y le impulsa a tomar decisiones importantes, de forma crítica y meditada, sobre la propia organización del TFG y la forma de abordarlo, guiándole durante la realización del proyecto. Con esta táctica se aumenta la capacidad crítica del estudiante y se consigue que los TFG se adapten mejor a las necesidades del problema definido, huyendo de estándares establecidos. Este trabajo ha sido desarrollado por miembros del grupo RIMA-VISCA de la UPCBarcelonaTECH en el contexto de un proyecto para definir cómo debe ser el informe de sostenibilidad de un TFG.SUMMARY -- The Bachelor Degree Project of an Engineering Degree should be evaluated in terms of skills. Throughout the academic period, the student will develop the technical skills related to the professional field of his or her degree as well as a set of professional skills. Some of these skills will be evaluated in the final degree project. All projects are different and, therefore, it is difficult, if not impossible, to establish a unique model of skills assessment that fits all types of project. In addition, there is a risk that, if a project model was proposed, the student would probably tend to follow strictly the pattern, without considering that perhaps the project should have a different approach. In this work, we propose a way to tackle this problem. Instead of defining a project model, we provide a series of questions that encourages the student to think about how to deal with it. Answering to these questions fosters the student initiative and helps him to take major decisions, critically and thoughtful, about how to approach and organize the project, and guides the student during its implementation. This strategy increases the critical thinking of the student and ensures that projects suit better into the requirements of the defined problem, escaping from the restrictive standards. This work has been developed by members of the UPC-BarcelonaTECH RIMA-VISCA group in the context of a project to define the sustainability report in a Bachelor Degree Project.Peer Reviewe

Evaluation and assessment of professional skills in the Final Year Project

In this paper, we present a methodology for Final Year Project (FYP) monitoring and assessment that considers the inclusion of the professional skills required in the particular engineering degree. This proper monitoring and clear evaluation framework provides the student with valuable support for the project implementation as well as for improving the quality of the projects, thereby reducing the academic drop-out rate. The proposed methodology has been implemented at the Barcelona School of Informatics at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech. The FYP is structured around three milestones: project definition, project monitoring and project completion. Skills are assigned to each milestone according to the tasks required in that phase, and a list of indicators is defined for each phase. The evaluation criteria for each indicator at each phase are specified in a rubric, and are made public both to students and teachers. Thus, the FYP includes an exhaustive evaluation method distributed throughout the whole project implementation, thereby facilitating project organization for the student as well as providing a clear and homogeneous assessment framework. The methodology for the FYP organization, assessment and evaluation was launched and piloted over two semesters. We believe the experience to be general in the sense that it has been conducted as part of an ICT engineering degree, but may easily be extended to any other engineering degree.Postprint (author’s final draft

De la teoría a la práctica: cinco años después de la integración de la competencia genérica de sostenibilidad en el Grado en Ingeniería Informática

La sostenibilidad es una de las competencias transversales básicas que todo ingeniero debería adquirir durante su formación. De hecho, seguir desarrollando ciencia y tecnología de espaldas a la sostenibilidad provocaría en poco tiempo un colapso de nuestro planeta. La puesta en marcha del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) ha propiciado una oportunidad única para replantearse diferentes aspectos educativos, entre los cuales destaca la inclusión de esta competencia en los planes de estudio. Existe literatura abundante sobre estrategias y propuestas teóricas para incluir esta competencia en las ingenierías. Sin embargo, pocos trabajos han sido llevados a cabo desde una perspectiva más práctica. La Facultat de Informàtica de Barcelona (FIB) posee amplia experiencia en el diseño de titulaciones adaptadas al EEES y ha integrado la sostenibilidad en su plan de estudios de Grado en Ingeniería Informática. En este trabajo se revisa el proceso de diseño del plan de estudios de Grado en Ingeniería Informática de la FIB, aprobado en el año 2009, y se analiza la experiencia de integración de la sostenibilidad tras cinco años de funcionamiento del grado. Se comentan los mecanismos de organización y coordinación entre las asignaturas implicadas y, finalmente, se extraen las lecciones aprendidas.SUMMARY -- Sustainability is one of the basic professional skills that every engineer should incorporate during their training. In fact, developing science and technology without sustainability criteria would collapse our planet. The launching of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has provided a unique opportunity to rethink different educational aspects, including the integration of this skill into the curriculum. Abundant literature exists on strategies and theoretical proposals to include this skill into engineering. However, few studies have been done from a more practical perspective. The Barcelona School of Informatics (FIB) has wide experience in the design of degrees according to the EHEA, and has integrated sustainability into the Informatics Engineering degree. This paper reviews the process of the design of the FIB’s Informatics Engineering degree curriculum, approved in 2009, and analyses the experience of sustainability integration after five years. The organizational and coordination mechanisms between the subjects are discussed, and finally the lessons learnt are extracted