A typology of elementary forms of human-nature relations: a contribution to the valuation debate

This article aims to contribute to the debate about the role of relational values in environmental decision making, by putting forward a typology of human-nature relational models . We argue that human-nature relational models, which stress the notion of cognitive frameworks, can be useful to understand core drivers of individual and social behavior that underlie environmental change and socio-environmental conflicts. A relational models approach calls for taking into consideration the diversity of cognitive frameworks conditioning our interaction with nature, with the ultimate goal of avoiding, mitigating, transforming and resolving socio-environmental conflicts and achieving a wiser relationship with the natural environment. © 2018 Elsevier B.V

From principles to practice in paying for nature

Payments for Environmental Services (PES) constitute an innovative economic intervention to counteract the global loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functions. In theory, some appealing features should enable PES to perform well in achieving conservation and welfare goals. In practice, outcomes depend on the interplay between context, design and implementation. Inspecting a new global dataset, we find that some PES design principles pre-identified in the social-science literature as desirable, such as spatial targeting and payment differentiation, are only partially being applied in practice. More importantly, the PES-defining principle of conditionality-monitoring compliance and sanctioning detected non-compliance-is seldom being implemented. Administrative ease, multiple non-environmental side objectives and social equity concerns may jointly help explain the reluctance to adopt more sophisticated, theoretically informed practices. However, by taking simplifying shortcuts in design and implementation, PES programmes may become less environmentally effective and efficient as economic incentives, thus underperforming their conservation potential. © 2018 The Author(s).This work resulted from workshops held at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Basque Centre for Climate Change (Bilbao) in 2015. We appreciate the assistance provided by C. Caro with the maps, and funding from CGIAR’s Forest, Trees and Agroforestry programme, the European Commission (SINCERE, H2020 GA 773702), the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation, the Basque Foundation for Science, Ikerbasque and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche. S.E. is the recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship in Environmental Economics. U.P. acknowledges research grants PI_2015_1_103 from the Education Department of the Basque Government and CSO2015-71243-R from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitivenes

From principles to practice in paying for nature

Payments for Environmental Services (PES) constitute an innovative economic intervention to counteract the global loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functions. In theory, some appealing features should enable PES to perform well in achieving conservation and welfare goals. In practice, outcomes depend on the interplay between context, design and implementation. Inspecting a new global dataset, we find that some PES design principles pre-identified in the social-science literature as desirable, such as spatial targeting and payment differentiation, are only partially being applied in practice. More importantly, the PES-defining principle of conditionality-monitoring compliance and sanctioning detected non-compliance-is seldom being implemented. Administrative ease, multiple non-environmental side objectives and social equity concerns may jointly help explain the reluctance to adopt more sophisticated, theoretically informed practices. However, by taking simplifying shortcuts in design and implementation, PES programmes may become less environmentally effective and efficient as economic incentives, thus underperforming their conservation potential. © 2018 The Author(s).This work resulted from workshops held at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Basque Centre for Climate Change (Bilbao) in 2015. We appreciate the assistance provided by C. Caro with the maps, and funding from CGIAR’s Forest, Trees and Agroforestry programme, the European Commission (SINCERE, H2020 GA 773702), the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation, the Basque Foundation for Science, Ikerbasque and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche. S.E. is the recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship in Environmental Economics. U.P. acknowledges research grants PI_2015_1_103 from the Education Department of the Basque Government and CSO2015-71243-R from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitivenes

A Godel-Friedman cosmology?

Based on the mathematical similarity between the Friedman open metric and Godel's metric in the case of nearby distances, we investigate a new scenario for the Universe's evolution, where the present Friedman universe originates from a primordial Godel universe by a phase transition during which the cosmological constant vanishes. Using Hubble's constant and the present matter density as input, we show that the radius and density of the primordial Godel universe are close, in order of magnitude, to the present values, and that the time of expansion coincides with the age of the Universe in the standard Friedman model. In addition, the conservation of angular momentum provides, in this context, a possible origin for the rotation of galaxies, leading to a relation between the masses and spins corroborated by observational data.Comment: Extended version, accepted for publication in Physical Review

Construyendo Cadenas de Valor Incluyentes: una comparación de dos casos de biocomercio en Suramérica

Este artículo analiza la configuración de redes de innovación en dos casos de cadenas de valor de biocomercio en Suramérica: producción de salsas de ajíes con frutas amazónicas en Colombia y producción de perfumes en Brasil a partir de aceites esenciales provenientes de Ecuador. Por medio de la integración de dos perspectivas teóricas, los autores resaltan tanto los aspectos económicos como socioculturales que influencian la configuración de estas redes. Esto permite considerar las tensiones, sinergias y contradicciones entre las lógicas del mercado y las prácticas, significados y valores socioculturales locales. Sacando lecciones aprendidas de los estudios de caso, el artículo contribuye a la discusión teórica sobre cómo las cadenas de valor (incluyentes) son social y económicamente construidas, y cómo su desempeño está relacionado con las redes de innovación

The Problem of Competition Among Domestic Trunk Airlines - Part I

Cet article propose une analyse des processus d’émergence et de diffusion des paiements pour services environnementaux (PSE) au Cambodge à partir de la théorie du changement institutionnel de John R. Commons. Nous montrons que dans un contexte de conflits d’intérêts autour de l’utilisation des ressources, la mise en place ou le blocage de certains projets PSE correspondent à des stratégies mises en oeuvre par les organisations non gouvernementales de conservation et le Gouvernement pour orienter la définition des règles encadrant la gestion des écosystèmes. Au final, le développement des PSE au Cambodge n’a pas permis une modification profonde de ces règles, le déséquilibre des rapports de force entre les différents acteurs impliqués ayant conduit au maintien du statu quo, au détriment des communautés locales

Застосування ультразвукової навігації в хірургічному лікуванні вогнепальних ран

Мета. Поліпшення результатів лікування постраждалих з вогнепальними осколковими і кульовими пораненнями шляхом широкого використання комплексу ультразвукової та рентгенологічної навігації. Матеріали і методи. Наведено досвід лікування 198 постраждалих із сліпими кульовими й осколковими пораненнями м’яких тканин на II рівні надання медичної допомоги в умовах АТО на базі 61, 65 і 66 військово–мобільних госпіталів. У діагностиці і видаленні чужорідних тіл (куль і осколків) під час хірургічної обробки ран використана рентгенологічна й ультразвукова навігація. Переважали пацієнти з множинними осколковими пораненнями. Результати. Застосування сонографії дозволило лоціювати і видалити сторонні тіла у 95,4% поранених, знизити частоту повторних операцій і скоротити терміни лікування. Висновки. Перевагами методу сонографії є: мобільність, висока інформативність щодо структурних порушень м’яких тканин і верифікації чужорідних тіл, особливо не металевих. Видалення сторонніх тіл під контролем ультразвуку дозволяє проводити операцію в режимі реального часу без променевого навантаження на пацієнта і медичний персонал

Scaling Relations for Collision-less Dark Matter Turbulence

Many scaling relations are observed for self-gravitating systems in the universe. We explore the consistent understanding of them from a simple principle based on the proposal that the collision-less dark matter fluid terns into a turbulent state, i.e. dark turbulence, after crossing the caustic surface in the non-linear stage. The dark turbulence will not eddy dominant reflecting the collision-less property. After deriving Kolmogorov scaling laws from Navier-Stokes equation by the method similar to the one for Smoluchowski coagulation equation, we apply this to several observations such as the scale-dependent velocity dispersion, mass-luminosity ratio, magnetic fields, and mass-angular momentum relation, power spectrum of density fluctuations. They all point the concordant value for the constant energy flow per mass: $0.3 cm^2/sec^3$, which may be understood as the speed of the hierarchical coalescence process in the cosmic structure formation.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figure