La dimensión perdida : la deshumanización del gigantismo

UT Librarie

Methodology to identify and prioritise the social aspects to be considered in the design of more sustainable residential buildings - Application to a developing country

The priorities in the design of more sustainable buildings are quite dependent on the specific social context. In developing countries, the sustainability concept and priorities in the residential buildings sector are quite different from the ones of the developed countries, since there are still basic needs to answer. Therefore, this research is aimed at contributing to a better understanding of the concept of social sustainability in the residential building sector of the developing countries. A methodology to define and prioritise the social sustainability indicators is proposed and applied in the context of Palestine. The presented methodology is based on the sustainability indicators of international standards, on the most well know building sustainability assessment methods and in the analysis of their application to a specific context. It includes a methodology to prioritise the list of social indicators, by considering the expectations of two groups of building stakeholders: designers and building users. At the end, this research proposes a framework of social aspects to consider in the design of more sustainable residential buildings in West Bank, Palestine that is composed of twenty-one indicators, distributed among six sustainability categories and ranked according to their weight in the overall of sustainability level.The authors would like to acknowledge the support granted by the Erasmus Mundus Peace II Programme Scholarship that was fundamental for the development of this study. Special thank is also addressed to the respondents of the online survey and interviewees.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Community action for sustainable housing: Building a low-carbon future

This paper presents a new analytical framework of 'grassroots innovations' which views community-led initiatives for sustainable development as strategic green niches with the potential for wider transformation of mainstream society. This framework is applied to a low-carbon, low-impact, community-based sustainable housing initiative in the USA that pioneers straw bale housing techniques within a strong community-building ethos. The project is evaluated according to New Economics criteria of sustainable consumption, and is found to be successful at localising the construction supply chain, reducing ecological footprints, community-building, enabling collective action and building new institutions and systems of provision around housebuilding. However, viewing it as a strategic niche with aim to influence wider society, it is clear that it faces significant challenges in diffusing its ideas and practices beyond the niche. Its model is not necessarily suitable for scaling up or widespread replication; however, the scope for niche lessons to be adopted by mainstream builders is greater, given a supportive policy environment. Recognising the innovative nature of green niches at the policy level could lead to new approaches to governance of bottom-up community action for sustainable development

Sustainable clothing: challenges, barriers and interventions for encouraging more sustainable consumer behaviour

Research with consumers has revealed limited awareness of the sustainability impact of clothing (Goworek et al., 2012). Semi-structured interviews conducted with a range of experts in sustainable clothing to increase understanding of the challenges for sustainable clothing revealed that a focus on sustainability alone will not drive the necessary changes in consumers’ clothing purchase, care and disposal behaviour for three reasons: (i) clothing sustainability is too complex; (ii) consumers are too diverse in their ethical concerns; and (iii) clothing is not an altruistic purchase. The findings identify the challenges that need to be addressed and the associated barriers for sustainable clothing. Interventions targeting consumers, suppliers, buyers and retailers are proposed that encourage more sustainable clothing production, purchase, care and disposal behaviour. These interventions range from normalising the design of sustainable clothing and increasing the ease of purchase, to shifting clothes washing norms and increasing upcycling, recycling and repair

Investigating the feasibility of using transcranial direct current stimulation to enhance fluency in people who stutter

Developmental stuttering is a disorder of speech fluency affecting 1% of the adult population. Long-term reductions in stuttering are difficult for adults to achieve with behavioural therapies. We investigated whether a single session of transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) could improve fluency in people who stutter (PWS). In separate sessions, either anodal TDCS (1 mA for 20 min) or sham stimulation was applied over the left inferior frontal cortex while PWS read sentences aloud. Fluency was induced during the stimulation period by using choral speech, that is, participants read in unison with another speaker. Stuttering frequency during sentence reading, paragraph reading and conversation was measured at baseline and at two outcome time points: immediately after the stimulation period and 1 h later. Stuttering was reduced significantly at both outcome time points for the sentence-reading task, presumably due to practice, but not during the paragraph reading or conversation tasks. None of the outcome measures were significantly modulated by anodal TDCS. Although the results of this single-session study showed no significant TDCS-induced improvements in fluency, there were some indications that further research is warranted. We discuss factors that we believe may have obscured the expected positive effects of TDCS on fluency, such as heterogeneity in stuttering severity for the sample and variations across sessions. Consideration of such factors may inform future studies aimed at determining the potential of TDCS in the treatment of developmental stuttering

Competitiveness dogma concerning the sustainability utopia: critical analysis of the developmentalist and economistic ethos

A través del análisis de discursos y la dialéctica, este artículo tiene como objetivo argumentar de manera crítica el ethos que orienta la apuesta por la competitividad. Se encuentra que como dogma, fruto de una sociedad mercantilizada y de una visión economizada del mundo y de la vida, la competitividad desconoce las bases epistemológicas de la economía, pone todas las apuestas bajo la óptica de la maximización del beneficio y el aumento de la rentabilidad, no tiene en cuenta la ética, confunde valor con precio, y se ha extendido a todas las áreas de la sociedad poniendo en peligro de diversidad biológica y cultural. En contraste al dogma, se presentan alternativas emergentes a la competitividad, como la cooperación y la colaboración, enmarcadas dentro de los nuevos caminos más allá del desarrollo, como el buen vivir las epistemologías del Sur, el poscapitalismo y la sustentabilidad.By analyzing discourses and dialects, this article aims to argue, in a critical manner the ethos that orients the bet on competitiveness. A dogma is found as fruit of a merchant society and, in a economized vision of the world and of life, competitiveness in not aware of the epistemological bases of the economy, sets all the bets under the profit maximization scope and profit increase, doesn´t bare in mind ethics, confuses value with price, has extended to all areas of society jeopardizing biological and cultural diversity. In contrast to the dogma, emerging strategies arise that challenge competitiveness, such as cooperation and collaboration, framed within the new paths that go further than development. For good-living, epistemologies from the south, post capitalism and sustainability.Através da análise de discursos e a dialética, este artigo tem como objetivo argumentar de maneira crítica o ethos que orienta a aposta pela competitividade. Se encontra que como dogma fruto de uma sociedade mercantilizada e, de uma visão economizada do mundo e da vida, a competitividade desconhece as bases epistemológicas da economia, põe todas as apostas sob a ótica da maximização do beneficio e o aumento da rentabilidade, não tem em conta a ética, confunde valor com preço, se há estendido a todas as áreas da sociedade pondo em perigo de diversidade biológica e cultural. Em contraste ao dogma, se apresentam alternativas emergentes à competitividade, como a cooperação e a colaboração, demarcadas dentro dos novos caminhos mais além do desenvolvimento, como o bom viver as epistemologias do sul, o pós-capitalismo e a sustentabilidade

Alimentació

[p.4] Crisi? quina crisi?[p.8] El menjar com a mestre[p.17] Aprendre a desaprendre[p.21] Jo vull ser pagès[p.24] Per un canvi radical[p.32] Fam i obesitat, relacions i contradiccions[p.13] Alimentació i medicina[p.14] Educació del gust[p.20] Aprendre a l'hort?[p.27] "Quan mengis la fruita recorda't de qui la cultiva"[p.28] Universitats contra la fam[p.35] Diversitat alimentària a l'escola[p.36] Alimentació a escala humana[p.38] La dècada de l'educació per al desenvolupament sosteniblePeer Reviewe

The Occupational Wellbeing of People Experiencing Homelessness

This paper reports findings of a study that utilised an occupational perspective to explore how wellbeing was achieved and sustained by the occupations of people experiencing homelessness in Australia. Thirty three in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with homeless individuals in a regional city in Australia. Data from the interviews were thematically analysed to understand the relationship between wellbeing, as defined by the individual, and the occupations engaged in by people experiencing homelessness. The findings are reported here as three collective narratives that illustrate the experiences of diverse groups within the homelessness population explored in this study. The study demonstrates how occupations go beyond the individual experience and choice; to explore the social and cultural value of occupations as a means to wellbeing. The findings are discussed in relation to three key themes that emerged from the study: survival, self-identity and social connectedness. These three interconnected concepts complement the existing occupational science literature, and offer a preliminary framework for understanding and improving wellbeing for disadvantaged and marginalised people where occupations are restricted by societal forces. The findings support the urgent need to redirect services to support occupational opportunities that are socially and culturally valued and enhance survival, self-identity and connectedness of homeless people

Monitoring local well-being in environmental interventions: a consideration of practical trade-offs

Within the field of environmental management and conservation, the concept of well-being is starting to gain traction in monitoring the socio-economic and cultural impact of interventions on local people. Here we consider the practical trade-offs policy makers and practitioners must navigate when utilizing the concept of well-being in environmental interventions. We first review current concepts of well-being before considering the need to balance the complexity and practical applicability of the definition used and to consider both positive and negative components of well-being. A key determinant of how well-being is operationalized is the identity of the organization wishing to monitor it. We describe the trade-offs around the external and internal validity of different approaches to measuring well-being and the relative contributions of qualitative and quantitative information to understanding well-being. We explore how these trade-offs may be decided as a result of a power struggle between stakeholders. Well-being is a complex, multi-dimensional, dynamic concept that cannot be easily defined and measured. Local perspectives are often missed during the project design process as a result of the more powerful voices of national governments and international NGOs, so for equity and local relevance it is important to ensure these perspectives are represented at a high level in project design and implementation

Whose Power to Control? Some Reflections on Seed Systems and Food Security in a Changing World

Four key words are essential in understanding the changing global food system: power, control, risks and benefits. The interplay between state and private actors vying to influence the direction of change, and use whatever tools for control they can, is at the heart of the contention for the future control of food. It is one shaped by history and influenced by a changing geopolitics. This interplay has led to the creation of a range of global rules affecting food, agriculture and biodiversity in which those on ‘intellectual property’ or IP are central. These rules come from a system dominated by the interests of the biggest players. Also important are the changing understandings and nature of food security and the pathways to innovation in agri?food systems that are most likely to lead to a just, healthy and sustainable future for all. Developments in food and farming are central to this and are the context in which the political economy of cereal seed systems in Africa is grounded