The water flows toward the tourist

La creciente demanda de agua potable para abastecer la industria hotelera en la costa pacífica costarricense ha llevado al sector turismo a buscar fuentes cada vez más alejadas, ocasionando tensión e incertidumbre en las comunidades locales por una futura escasez. Bajo un marco teórico de Ecología Política y Justicia Ambiental, este artículo caracteriza tres conflictos suscitados por el turismo residencial e inmobiliario en la provincia de Guanacaste, Costa Rica: Lorena (1998), Sardinal (2006) y Potrero (2014). En los tres casos, las comunidades utilizan la judicialización del conflicto como estrategia para asegurar su derecho al agua potable y a un ambiente sano. Se concluye que si bien hay un aparente éxito, los escenarios de conflictividad continúan latentes y se recomienda una revisión profunda del modelo turístico que se está implementando. Las revisiones propuestas incluyen: la participación de las comunidades locales en la toma de decisiones relacionadas al agua, información libre y previa con los actores locales y una clasificación sobre los usos del agua con criterios y prioridades. Increasing levels of tourism in Northern Pacific Costa Rica have led to a shortage in potable water that is disproportionately affecting local communities and straining ever distant hydrological resources. This results in three environmental conflicts: Lorena (1998), Sardinal (2006) and Potrero (2014). In response, the permanent habitants of Guanacaste have turned to political and judicial activism in order to assure their right to water and a healthy environment. Despite the apparent success, Political Ecology based analysis of these issues reveals latent conflicts that call for further revision of the tourism focused policies in the province. Suggested revisions include: participation of the local communities in the decision making related to water, free and previous information with local people and a rank of the water uses with priorities criteria.

The role of working-class communities and the slow violence of toxic pollution in environmental health conflicts : A global perspective

Acord transformatiu CRUE-CSICUnidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MAnalysing a sample of 3,033 environmental conflicts around the globe, we compared conflicts reporting no human health impacts to those reporting health impacts linked to toxic pollution. Our study suggests four main findings. First, health impacts are a key concern for working-class communities. Second, the long-term effects of toxic pollution undermine communities' ability to act preventively. Third, industrial activities, waste management and nuclear energy conflicts are more likely to report health impacts than other economic activities. Last, mobilising groups are reluctant to consider the closure of a polluting project a successful outcome because of the persistence of toxic pollution across time. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of what we have termed 'environmental health conflicts' (EHCs)

Gendered geographies of violence: a multiple case study analysis of murdered women environmental defenders

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MAltres ajuts: "La Caixa" Foundation (ID 100010434). The fellowship code is LCF/BQ/DI19/11730049This study illustrates how, despite the diversity of women environmental defenders and their movements around the world, there are near-universal patterns of violence threatening their survival. Violence against women environmental defenders, often perpetrated by government-backed corporations, remains overlooked. Research on this issue importantly contributes to discussions about environmental justice because women defenders make up a large proportion of those at the frontlines of ecological distribution conflicts. Through comparative political ecology, this research analyzes cases from the Environmental Justice Atlas, an online open-access inventory of environmental distribution conflicts, in which one or more women were assassinated while fighting a diverse array of extractive and polluting projects. Although the stories showcase a breadth of places, conflicts, social-class backgrounds, and other circumstances between women defenders, most cases featured multinational large-scale extractive companies supported by governments violently targeting women defenders with impunity.Cette étude illustre comment, malgré la diversité des femmes défenseurs de l'environnement et de leurs mouvements à travers le monde, il existe des schémas de violence quasi universels qui menacent leur survie. La violence contre les femmes défenseurs de l'environnement, souvent perpétrée par des entreprises soutenues par le gouvernement, reste relativement invisible. Une telle question c'est une contribution importante aux discussions sur la justice environnementale car les femmes défenseurs représentent une grande partie tous ceux qui sont en première ligne de conflits de distribution environnementale. Parmit l'ecologie politique comparative cette recherche analyse des cas de l'Atlas de la Justice Environnementale, un inventaire en ligne à accès libre des conflits de distribution environnementale, dans lequel une ou plusieurs femmes ont été assassinées en combattant une variété de projets extractifs et polluants. Bien que les histoires mettent en évidence une multitude de lieux, de conflits, de classe sociale et d'autres circonstances entre les femmes défenseurs, la plupart des cas montrent des entreprises multinationales d'extraction soutenues par le gouvernement qui ciblent violemment des femmes dirigeantes en toute impunité.Este estudio ilustra cómo, a pesar de la diversidad de las defensoras del medio ambiente y sus movimientos alrededor mundo, hay patrones universales de violencia que amenazan su supervivencia. La violencia contra las defensoras del medio ambiente por empresas extractivas, en colaboración con los gobiernos, sigue siendo relativamente invisible. Este tema contribuye importantemente a las discusiones sobre el extractivismo porque las activistas constituyen una gran proporción de las personas que están en la primera línea de los conflictos de distribución ecológica. Esta investigación analiza casos del Atlas de Justicia Ambiental, un inventario en línea de acceso abierto de conflictos de distribución ecológica, en el que una o más mujeres fueron asesinadas mientras luchaban contra diversos proyectos extractivos y contaminantes. Aunque las historias muestran una gran variedad de lugares, conflictos, clase social y otras circunstancias entre defensoras, la mayoría de los casos presentan conflictos creados por compañías multinacionales, respaldados por los gobiernos para imponer la extracción a gran escala y ejercer violencia contra mujeres defensoras en total impunidad

Slow justice and other unexpected consequences of litigation in environmental conflicts

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MMovements are increasingly taking companies to court for environmental and social harms. Yet little is known about the consequences this strategy has for movements and their struggles. Through a cross-country comparison of three environmental litigation cases in Argentina, Nicaragua, and Spain, we find that local groups encounter three interrelated consequences: i) 'slow justice', a strategy generally driven by companies to delay proceedings and demobilize movements; ii) courts reduce complex impacts to simplified, scientifically verifiable and legally punishable damages, thus invisibilizing certain harms, victims, narratives and demands; and iii) local groups lose control of the resistance process as judges and lawyers become key decision-makers. These dynamics interact with the specific features of environmental conflicts -uncertainty, slow violence and marginalized affected parties- to deepen power inequalities in litigation processes. Our findings are contextualized within the literatures on legal mobilization and the judicialization of politics. We conclude that social movements, when looking for a fair and just solution through the judicial system, encounter different but highly hierarchical power structures. And even if they win in the courts, companies can avoid complying with the judicial orders

Violence in environmental conflicts : the need for a multidimensional approach

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552Although studies on environmental conflicts have engaged with the subject of violence, a multidimensional approach has been lacking. Using data from 95 environmental conflicts in Central America, we show how different forms of violence appear and overlap. We focus on direct, structural, cultural, slow, and ecological forms of violence. Results suggest that the common understanding of violence in environmental conflicts as a direct event in time and space is only the tip of the iceberg and that violence can reach not only environmental defenders, but also communities, nature, and the sustainability of their relations

Socio-ecological distribution conflicts in the mining sector in Guatemala (2005-2013) : deep rooted injustice and weak environmental governance

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552This study characterizes ecological distribution conflicts (EDC) related to the mining industry and derives a series of political implications for Guatemala. The characterization includes a placement in the context of Central America, regional location, intensity of the EDC and the trends in social and environmental consequences, with special emphasis on the groups of social actors affected and the degree to which the institutional framework does not provide effective means of participatory environmental governance. The time period covers 2005 to 2013. In order to understand trends in actor behavior and diverse moments of high intensity we introduce the use of action and response timelines as a methodology for EDC analysis. We propose the notions of embedded conflicts to describe their relation with the structural social conditions prevailing in the country and swarms of conflicts to describe their escalation through time. We conclude that conflictivity is inherent to the unsustainable characteristics of metallic mining and is aggravated by Guatemalás history of social inequality and power concentration. The attempts to reduce "conflictivity" through CSR have been insufficient in addressing these structural conditions. EDCs may have helped create a positive environment for creative forces to seek sustainability and justice in Guatemalás development model

Environmental conflicts and defenders: A global overview

Recent research and policies recognize the importance of environmental defenders for global sustainability and emphasize their need for protection against violence and repression. However, effective support may benefit from a more systematic understanding of the underlying environmental conflicts, as well as from better knowledge on the factors that enable environmental defenders to mobilize successfully. We have created the global Environmental Justice Atlas to address this knowledge gap. Here we present a large-n analysis of 2743 cases that sheds light on the characteristics of environmental conflicts and the environmental defenders involved, as well as on successful mobilization strategies. We find that bottom-up mobilizations for more sustainable and socially just uses of the environment occur worldwide across all income groups, testifying to the global existence of various forms of grassroots environmentalism as a promising force for sustainability. Environmental defenders are frequently members of vulnerable groups who employ largely non-violent protest forms. In 11% of cases globally, they contributed to halt environmentally destructive and socially conflictive projects, defending the environment and livelihoods. Combining strategies of preventive mobilization, protest diversification and litigation can increase this success rate significantly to up to 27%. However, defenders face globally also high rates of criminalization (20% of cases), physical violence (18%), and assassinations (13%), which significantly increase when Indigenous people are involved. Our results call for targeted actions to enhance the conditions enabling successful mobilizations, and for specific support for Indigenous environmental defenders

Global impacts of extractive and industrial development projects on Indigenous Peoples' lifeways, lands, and rights

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MTo what extent do extractive and industrial development pressures affect Indigenous Peoples' lifeways, lands, and rights globally? We analyze 3081 environmental conflicts over development projects to quantify Indigenous Peoples' exposure to 11 reported social-environmental impacts jeopardizing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples are affected in at least 34% of all documented environmental conflicts worldwide. More than three-fourths of these conflicts are caused by mining, fossil fuels, dam projects, and the agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and livestock (AFFL) sector. Landscape loss (56% of cases), livelihood loss (52%), and land dispossession (50%) are reported to occur globally most often and are significantly more frequent in the AFFL sector. The resulting burdens jeopardize Indigenous rights and impede the realization of global environmental justice

Responding to the need of postgraduate education for Planetary Health : Development of an online Master's Degree

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MAltres ajuts: CERCA Programme/Generalitat de CatalunyaPlanetary Health has emerged as a new approach to respond to the existential risks that the clime and global environmental crises pose to human societies. As stated by various stakeholders, the challenges involved in Planetary Health are of such magnitude that education must be at the forefront to obtain a meaningful response. Universities and higher education institutions have been specifically called to embed the concept of planetary stewardship in all curricula and train the next generation of researchers and change makers as a matter of urgency. As a response to this call, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) developed the first online and asynchronous Master in Science (MSc) in Planetary Health. The aim of the programme is to train a new generation of academics and professionals who understand the challenges of Planetary Health and have tools to tackle them. This article describes the development of the curriculum of this MSc, presents the main characteristics of the programme and discusses some of the challenges encountered in the development of the programme and its implementation. The design of this MSc was based on: the alignment of the programme with the principles for Planetary Health education with a focus on human health; a multi-, inter-, and trans-disciplinary approach; the urgency to respond to the Anthropocene challenges; and the commitment to the 2030 Agenda. The MSc was recognized as an official degree by the Agency for Quality of the Catalan University System, included in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education, and the Spanish National Academic Coordination body in April 2021 and launched in October 2021. There are currently more than 50 students enrolled in the program coming from a broad range of disciplines and geographic locations. The information presented in this article and the discussion on challenges encountered in developing and implementing the programme can be useful for those working in the development of similar programs

Responding to the need of postgraduate education for Planetary Health: development of an online Master's Degree

The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) have developed an online and asynchronous Master in Science (MSc) in Planetary Health. The aim of the programme is to train a new generation of academics and professionals who understand the challenges of Planetary Health and have tools to tackle them. The design of this MSc was based on: the alignment of the programme with the principles for Planetary Health education with a focus on human health; a multi-, inter-, and trans-disciplinary approach; the urgency to respond to the Anthropocene challenges; and the commitment to the 2030 Agenda. The MSc was recognized as an official degree by the Spanish academic system on April 2021 and launched in October 2021. There are currently more than 50 students enrolled in the program coming from a broad range of disciplines and geographic locations. This article describes the development of the curriculum of this MSc, presents the main characteristics of the programme and discusses some of the challenges encountered in the development of the programme and its implementation