El resplandor de Ignacio Sánchez Mejías : evocación

Ignacio Sánchez Mejías. Periodista y dramaturgo. Seminari

Opportunities and Limitations for Achieving Land Degradation-Neutrality through the Current Land-Use Policy Framework in Kenya

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) land degradation neutrality (LDN) scientific conceptual framework underscores that LDN planning and implementation should be integrated into existing planning processes and supported by an enabling policy environment. Land-use planning, which requires the integration of different policy goals across various sectors concerned with land-use, can be an effective mechanism through which decisions with respect to LDN can be coordinated. Using Kenya as a case study, we examined current policy instruments that directly or indirectly impact on the use of land in a rural context, to assess their potential to implement LDN objectives. The qualitative content analysis of these instruments indicated that they are rich with specific legal provisions and measures to address LDN, and that there are a number of relevant institutions and structures across governance levels. However, the main shortcoming is the disjointed approach that is scattered across policy areas. Key policy improvements needed to support effective implementation of LDN include: a national soil policy on the management and protection of soil and land; a systematic and coordinated data collection strategy on soils; mobilisation of adequate and sustained financial resources; streamlined responsibilities, and governance structures across national, regional and county levels.This work was funded by National Funds through FCT Foundation for Science and Technology under the Project UID/AGR/00115/2019

Stakeholder engagement for knowledge sharing across networks and beyond the project level

Calls for innovation have become increasingly frequent as people begin to recognize the need for change and transformation in the way human beings relate to each other and to the environment and the dramatic effects of climate change and environmental degradation, which is causing disasters in agriculture and human health, such as the current Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, innovation, particularly in agriculture and food systems is key to find viable, resilient and sustainable solutions to many of the world’s most complex problems. This extended abstract focuses on the growing phase of the co-innovation process, whereby the innovation and knowledge that has resulted from the co-creation process is embedded and disseminated outside the partnership to achieve greater impact and transformation. We use an innovation systems perspective as it provides an analytical framework to study transformation and change in agriculture as a process of actions and interactions among a diverse set of actors engaged in generating, exchanging, and using knowledge (Hall et al., 2003; Spielman et al., 2008). In fact, transformation occurs when some of the rules that govern the system change in response to a novelty (Watzlawick et al. 1974), hence spreading its impact. This transformation is a type of change that alters relationships at different scales (Moore and Wesley, 2011). Scaling refers to the adaptation, uptake and use of innovations such as practices, technologies, and market or policy arrangements across broader communities of actors and/or geographies (Eastwood et al., 2017; Glover et al., 2017). Rising popularity has contributed to the perception that “scaling” is something one can do and should aspire to when pursuing Sustainable Development Goals (Wigboldus et al., 2016; (Schut et al., 2020). The scaling of innovation, although often interpreted along the lines of adoption, diffusion or extension, refers to more sophisticated and holistic approaches and strategies whereby innovations contribute to and become embedded in broader processes of systemic change in society (Wigboldus et al., 2016; Schut et al., 2020). Through this extended abstract we support the fact that the process of scaling social innovations to achieve systemic impacts involves three different types of scaling—scaling out, scaling up, and scaling deep—and that in order to achieve large systems change (LSC)a combination of these types will most likely be required Moore et al., (2015). And that there are certain strategies that can be associated with each type of scaling process. The aim of this extended abstract is therefore to analyse the position and strategies of the different European multi-actor innovation partnerships towards scaling (up, out and deep) and generating impact and transformative change

El paso de la educación bidimensional a tridimensional a través de la enseñanza basada en conceptos

Tesis (Profesor de Educación General Básica, Licenciado en Educación)Actualmente en nuestro país no existe mayor conocimiento acerca del método educativo basado en conceptos, es por esto que la presente investigación tiene como objetivo implementar el método tridimensional de enseñanza en una unidad de Ciencias Sociales en un quinto año básico perteneciente a un colegio particular de la comuna de Las Condes, con el fin de generar un cambio en la manera de enseñar y, por consiguiente, de aprender de los estudiantes, a través de la implementación de clases planificadas a partir del método tridimensional basado en conceptos. En el establecimiento en cuestión se utiliza el método tradicional de educación, determinado por el Gobierno, por lo que se cree que los alumnos no potencian al máximo sus capacidades más profundas de pensamiento crítico y reflexivo, quedándose simplemente en los conocimientos fácticos y memorísticos. Por esta razón la hipótesis que se planteó fue que los estudiantes sometidos al método tridimensional de enseñanza basada en conceptos, obtendrían mejores resultados en la evaluación basada en dicho método, en comparación con aquellos a quienes se les enseñó utilizando el método bidimensional o tradicional propuesto por el Ministerio de Educación. Para cumplir con el objetivo mencionado, esta investigación se realizó dentro del diseño de investigación acción, ya que a través de ésta se pretende mejorar una práctica educativa, solucionando un problema en terreno. Metodológicamente se utilizaron como instrumentos de recolección de datos planificaciones y evaluación basadas en el método tridimensional, a lo largo de la Unidad de La Colonia en la asignatura de Ciencias Sociales a quintos básicos, utilizando un curso como grupo experimental y otro como grupo control, además de una entrevista de preguntas abiertas a una especialista en el tema, como respaldo para la investigación.At this moment in our country there is not enough knowledge about the educational method based on concepts. For this reason that our research has as a final objective, to implement the teaching of the tridimensional method in a social science unit on a fifth grade of a private school located in the Las Condes district. The idea is to generate a change on the way of teaching and the way of learning of the students, this will be achieved by implementing planned classes with the structure of the tridimensional method based on concepts. As for now the school uses the traditional teaching methods of education, determined by our government, and it is believed that the students don’t enhance their capacities to their maximum, specially of a critic and reflexive thinking, staying only with factual and memory based knowledge. For this reason the hypothesis that was proposed was that the students submitted to the tridimensional teaching methods based on concepts, will get better results on the evaluation based on such method in comparison with those that had the two dimensional or traditional method proposed by the minister of education. To fulfill the objective mentioned before, this investigation was made on the investigation action design, this way we pretend to improve an educational practice on the field. Methodologically we used as instruments, planned data recollection and evaluations based on the tridimensional method, we did this through the Colony unit in the social science class of fifth graders, using one class as the test subjects and the other as the control group, we also did an interview to a specialist in the subject as a backup for the investigation

Tres autores para un poeta

Contiene: Duque Gimeno, Aquilino. La risa periférica de Jose Luis Tejada. Muñoz Rojas, José Antonio. Tejada en La Casería del Conde. Luis, Leopoldo de. José Luis y España

Clinical Determinants of HIV-1B Between-Host Evolution and their Association with Drug Resistance in Pediatric Patients

Understanding the factors that modulate the evolution of virus populations is essential to design efficient control strategies. Mathematical models predict that factors affecting viral within-host evolution may also determine that at the between-host level. Although HIV-1 within-host evolution has been associated with clinical factors used to monitor AIDS progression, such as patient age, CD4 cells count, viral load, and antiretroviral experience, little is known about the role of these clinical factors in determining between-host HIV-1 evolution. Moreover, whether the relative importance of such factors in HIV-1 evolution vary in adult and children patients, in which the course of infection is different, has seldom been analysed. To address these questions, HIV-1 subtype B (HIV-1B) pol sequences of 163 infected children and 450 adults of Madrid, Spain, were used to estimate genetic diversity, rates of synonymous and non-synonymous mutations, selection pressures and frequency of drug-resistance mutations (DRMs). The role and relative importance of patient age, %CD4, CD4/mm3, viral load, and antiretroviral experience in HIV-1B evolution was analysed. In the pediatric HIV-1B population, three clinical factors were primary predictors of virus evolution: Higher HIV-1B genetic diversity was observed with increasing children age, decreasing CD4/mm3 and upon antiretroviral experience. This was mostly due to higher rates of non-synonymous mutations, which were associated with higher frequency of DRMs. Using this data, we have also constructed a simple multivariate model explaining between 55% and 66% of the variance in HIV-1B evolutionary parameters in pediatric populations. On the other hand, the analysed clinical factors had little effect in adult-infecting HIV-1B evolution. These findings highlight the different evolutionary dynamics of HIV-1B in children and adults, and contribute to understand the factors shaping HIV-1B evolution and the appearance of drug-resistance mutation in pediatric patients

The Portuguese <em>Montado</em>: A Complex System under Tension between Different Land Use Management Paradigms

The Montado is a silvopastoral system and the dominant land use in Alentejo (Portugal). Its functionalities expand beyond agricultural and forestry production. It is a system where a low-density and heterogeneous tree cover is complemented with livestock grazing and fodder production, resulting in its recognition as a high-nature-value farming system. However, for it to be effectively preserved, a balance between its many components needs to be secured. Despite the relevance and urgency of its conservation, the Montado has long suffered a constant decay. To better understand such decay, it is crucial to unravel why and how land use management decisions are made, and the interplay of drivers influencing such decisions. We applied discourse analysis to identify the various management paradigms that currently co-exist underpinning strategies by land managers and others. Our analysis is based on a review of the scientific literature, a media analysis, participant observations, and in-depth interviews with Montado farmers in Central Alentejo between 2014 and 2017, along with a survey with producers implemented during 2018. We conclude that existing strategies, and underpinning paradigms, are frequently incompatible, leading to the poor progress in halting the current decay of the system, and thus, also in securing its sustainability

FROM THE HUNTER-GATHERER SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES TO THE AGRICULTURAL NON-REVOLUTION: USING ENERGY REGIMES TO REFORM THE “STACK” OF CULTURAL PHASES

The TERRANOVA project aims to produce new knowledge to support policy makers and stakeholders cope with the transition towards low carbon societies. Improving existing knowledge of past land-use management strategies will allow TERRANOVA partners to gain a better understanding of long-term and complex landscape dynamics. Beginning in the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) onwards in NW Iberia, gradual softening of climate conditions allowed hunter-gatherer societies to broaden their natural resource exploitation strategies, based on a Guided Solar Energy Regime (ER1). As the mutually interconnected climate conditions and natural resources evolved with time, human subsistence strategies remained nonetheless static, only changing with the Neolithization process. The transition to a novel Devised Solar Energy Regime (ER2), largely based changes in food production approaches, would largely impact the landscapes. Human societies would soon need new sources of food and energy to sustain their coupled cultural and biological evolution processes, and more importantly, to deal with the consequences of their impact upon their own lived landscapes. A substantial archaeological database has been constructed, and spatial and temporal analysis has been conducted in order to identify and document and characterize ER1 and its transition to ER2. Unravelling the process of this transition will help archaeologists, paleontologists, paleo-geographers and earth and environmental scientists, amongst other specialists, better understand the time-bounded continuities and discontinuities in past societies. Focusing on energy regimes allows to identify the “time-loop” that defines transitions along different subsistence strategies, resulting from continuous new demands that arise by filling previous ones, in substitution of the classic understanding of a “stack” of cultural phases. Our current World is actually not exception to this loop. Unsustainable rates of fossil fuel consumption have solved many challenges whilst also triggering new ones. The transition towards green energies and allowing the environment to recover through more sustainable and resilient land and natural resource use strategies should thus become the next logic step in the loop