Las distintas motivaciones y la compleja causalidad en el Mekong

Muchas comunidades afectadas por el cambio climático ya han utilizado la migración como medio para adaptarse y enfrentarse a los problemas con sus medios de subsistencia y la seguridad. Reforzar los mecanismos de protección actuales para todos los migrantes sería claramente ventajoso en el contexto del cambio climático

Key Factors Supporting Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Management

This synthesis was designed to provide an evidence base on the success factors in small-scale coastal fisheries management in developing countries and, in turn, to assist the Rockefeller Foundation in developing its strategy for its Oceans and Fisheries Initiative. In doing so, it identifies and describes some 20 key factors believed to influence success in small-scale coastal fisheries management. The report was completed via a rapid review of key sources of knowledge from formal published literature, institutional literature, key informants and Internet searches. The focus was on key success factors in achieving a balance of social, economic and ecological benefits from the management of small-scale coastal fisheries. A summary of these success factors can also be explored via an interactive visualization that accompanies this report

When Packaged Food Pollutes our Body and Earth: Plastic Packaged Food Consumption and Waste Disposal Practices in the Himalayas

The purpose of our field study project is to examine current waste disposal practices and food preferences in rural Himalayan agricultural communities and to communicate the results, as well as our own outside research, to the villagers in Sikkim. We hope to promote safe disposal practices of packaged plastic, to offer responsible alternatives to packaged waste disposal, and to encourage the consumption of organic, homegrown food for all ages to benefit both human and environmental well-being

Intersectional Education

Education leads to higher future success, freedom, autonomy over one’s lifestyle, and an overall better quality of life. Unfortunately, women make up seventy percent of the world’s out-of-school youth. Additionally, minority groups are suffering from lack of access to educational resources, including native tongue instruction (Intel 2012). Not only are both groups suffering separately, but the intersection of female and minority groups are not achieving the same educational outcomes as majority or male groups. This brief explores this problem and examines how some governments are trying—or not trying—to address it

The importance of Ranunculus spp. for juvenile salmonids in lowland rivers

PhD ThesisMacrophytes could be integral to structuring lowland rivers and providing habitat for juvenile salmonids, but currently there is a lack of quantitative evidence evaluating this role. The aim of this thesis was to quantify the influence of a lowland macrophyte, Ranunculus, on juvenile salmonids and their environments in lowland rivers. A catchment-wide correlation study determined salmon and trout densities to be positively associated with Ranunculus cover, and velocity heterogeneity, respectively (Chapter 2). I subsequently implemented a spatially-and-temporally replicated Ranunculus manipulation experiment in a lowland river carrier. High Ranunculus cover supported higher abundances of salmon and trout throughout the summer feeding period. I also identified a strong influence of Ranunculus at the beginning of summer, when salmon abundances, site fidelity and increase in body length were highest (Chapter 3). Focusing on the beginning of summer, I then showed that higher total biomass of prey and a larger average size of prey were found in diets of salmon and trout captured in high Ranunculus cover, suggesting that Ranunculus was facilitating better foraging opportunities. Additionally, the dietary niche overlap between the two species was lowest in high cover, suggesting that abundance of Ranunculus reduced interspecific competition. There was a positive effect of Ranunculus on the growth rates of salmon, but an effect on trout growth was not detected (Chapter 4). Finally, I evaluated direct and indirect effects of Ranunculus on salmon abundance and growth rates (Chapter 5). I showed that salmon abundance was most influenced by the cover supplied by Ranunculus directly, but that this effect was mediated through negative influences of water depths and velocities. The positive influence of Ranunculus on salmon growth rates, however, was more intricately linked to changes in physical habitat and prey resources driven by Ranunculus, than to a direct source of cover. Together, these findings demonstrate a holistic role of Ranunculus in a lowland river, and its potential to improve the population viability of at-risk salmonid population

Ethical and Environmental Disclosures: an Analysis of the Oil and Gas Industry

This study investigates the similarities of ethical and environmental disclosures, as well as risk factors contained within annual reports for the reporting year 2009. The data were collected from Fortune 500 oil and gas company annual reports. Findings include: 1) an emphasis on environmental, financial, nonfinancial and ethical disclosures and 2) similar reported risks for all companies investigated. The findings illustrate that many of the studied oil and gas companies have similar disclosures but, on the other hand, are situation specific to particular company and location

Easier said than done? Involving citizens in the smart city

Much of the smart cities literature urges greater citizen participation in smart city innovation. However, there is often little consideration given to how citizens might be more meaningfully involved in the processes of governance around smart cities, what enables their involvement, or what might need to change in order to facilitate their participation. Taking an institutional perspective, this paper seeks to move this aspect of the smart city debate forward. Using Mexico City as an exemplar, it examines the broader institutions of urban governance within which citizen-oriented smart city activities operate, identifying those which help and hinder citizen participation. It then considers the extent to which unhelpful institutions are embedded, and to what extent they are amenable to change to allow successful smart city participation initiatives to flourish. Our argument is that when considering citizen participation in smart city activities we need to attend more closely to the institutions which represent their context and the extent to which those institutions can be changed, where necessary, to create a more conducive environment. Many institutions will be beyond the reach of local actors to change or to deinstitutionalise; thus involving citizens in the smart city is ‘easier said than done’.Economic and Social Research Council | Ref. ES/S006710/1Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologí

Cognitive Rehabilitation for Executive Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease: Application and Current Directions

Cognitive dysfunction in Parkinson's disease contributes to disability, caregiver strain, and diminished quality of life. Cognitive rehabilitation, a behavioral approach to improve cognitive skills, has potential as a treatment option to improve and maintain cognitive skills and increase quality of life for those with Parkinson's disease-related cognitive dysfunction. Four cognitive rehabilitation programs in individuals with PD are identified from the literature. Characteristics of the programs and outcomes are reviewed and critiqued. Current studies on cognitive rehabilitation in PD demonstrate feasibility and acceptability of a cognitive rehabilitation program for patients with PD, but are limited by their small sample size and data regarding generalization of effects over the long term. Because PD involves progressive heterogeneous physical, neurological, and affective difficulties, future cognitive rehabilitation programs should aim for flexibility and individualization, according to each patient's strengths and deficits

Exploring citizen participation in smart city development in Mexico city: an institutional logics approach

We explore smart city development, with a focus on the modalities of citizen participation, using an institutional logics approach. Taking Mexico City as our case study, we describe the presence and dynamics of several logics influencing smart city development. At an organizational level we identify the bureaucratic and technocratic logics underpinning the practices of the governmental agency leading smart city development. Characterized by centralization and the pursuit of efficiency, and framed by a discourse of austerity and financial control, these logics promote a modality of citizen participation that is limited and unidirectional in nature, with citizens positioned largely as users. At a supra-organizational level, we identify a logic of active citizen participation in urban governance that is formalized in city laws. However, this logic is itself entangled in a logic of clientelism and patronage, manifested through networks of power. These logics work synergistically to limit broader, inclusive citizen participation in, and realization of benefits from, smart city agendas. We conclude that a richer understanding of institutional logics enhances the analysis of the social construction of the smart city in particular, situated contexts.Economic and Social Research Council | Ref. ES/S006710/