Os Mediadores Pedagógicos e a Territorialização da Agroecologia

Com as mudanças do tempo, também deve mudar o conceito de educação popular, desenvolvido e realizado no caminho da mobilização popular e da luta social. Esta contribuição incide sobre a necessidade de superar dois obstáculos, a saber: primeiro, o lugar predominante dado à escola e à aprendizagem baseada na escola e, em segundo lugar, o entendimento da aprendizagem como um processo essencialmente individual. Usando uma construção teórica que combina abordagem histórico-cultural de Vygotsky com a concepção gramsciana da hegemonia e guerra de posições, argumento para um método de aprendizagem baseado na agroecologia coletiva e territorial do camponês. Para tanto, uso o caso do Corredor Agroecologico Farmworkers Association (ATC) da Nicarágua para identificar os mediadores de transição agroecológica para escalas individuais e sociais. Buscando vincular ensino e territórios mediadores, os movimentos sociais agroecológicos criam mosaicos de processos sócio-educativos interagindo em favor da soberania alimentar

Can the state take agroecology to scale? Public policy experiences in Latin American

In this article we discuss the experience of agroecology policies implemented in Cuba and in Latin American countries that made a shift to the left in the early years of the 21st century and are currently facing an emergence of right-wing political forces. Although the cases studied show that it is possible to open spaces and moments of rupture within the regimes of power, we believe that there is a risk when the efforts of social movements end up absorbed in collaborations with the State. Agroecology moves on the razor’s edge where there are risks on both sides. On the one hand, by participating in the institutionalization of agroecology, movements may be incorporated into the established rules of the game, having to move within a system whose purpose is the preservation of the interests of the dominant class. But on the other hand, not doing so could prevent the modification, even partially, of the raison d’état around agri-food policy, indirectly supporting the creation of even more obstacles to the territorialization of agroecology. At the heart of the matter is the political nature of agroecology: to continue to opt for reform or revolution.En este artículo discutimos la experiencia de las políticas a favor de la agroecología implementadas en Cuba y en los países latinoamericanos que dieron un giro a la izquierda en los primeros años del siglo XXI y que en la actualidad enfrentan un resurgimiento de las fuerzas políticas de derecha. Aunque los casos de estudio enseñan que es posible abrir espacios y momentos de ruptura en los regímenes de poder, existe un riesgo cuando los esfuerzos de los movimientos sociales terminan absorbidos en colaboraciones con el Estado. En realidad la agroecología se mueve al filo de la navaja en donde hay riesgos de ambos lados. Por una parte, al participar en la institucionalización de la agroecología, los movimientos pueden quedar incorporados a las reglas establecidas, teniendo que moverse en un sistema cuyo fin es preservar los intereses de la clase dominante. Y por otra, no hacerlo podría impedir que se modifique, aunque sea parcialmente, la razón de Estado en torno a la política agroalimentaria, apoyando de forma indirecta a la creación de más obstáculos para que la agroecología pueda territorializarse. En el fondo de la cuestión está en juego el carácter político de la agroecología: seguir apostando por la reforma o por la revolución

Agroecology and La Vía Campesina II. Peasant agroecology schools and the formation of a sociohistorical and political subject

Scaling up of peasant agroecology and building food sovereignty require major transformations that only a self-aware, critical, collective political subject can achieve. The global peasant movement La Vía Campesina (LVC), in its expression in Latin America, the Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo (CLOC), employs agroecology and political training or formation as a dispositive or device to facilitate the emergence of a sociohistorical and political subject: the agroecological peasantry, designed to be capable of transforming food systems across the globe. In this essay, we examine the pedagogical philosophies and practices used in the peasant agroecology schools and training processes of LVC and CLOC, and how they come together in territorial mediation as a dispositive for pedagogical-educational, agroecological reterritorialization.La masificación o escalamiento de la agroecología campesina y la construcción de la soberanía alimentaria requieren transformaciones profundas, que solo un sujeto político colectivo, crítico y consciente de sí mismo puede lograr. El movimiento campesino global La Vía Campesina (LVC), en su expresión en América Latina, la Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo (CLOC), emplea la formación política y agroecológica como un dispositivo que facilita la emergencia de un sujeto sociohistórico y político: el campesinado agroecológico, diseñado para la transformación de los sistemas alimentarios en todo el mundo. En este ensayo se examinan las prácticas pedagógicas y filosóficas utilizadas en las escuelas y los procesos de formación agroecológica campesina de LVC y la CLOC, así como la forma en que se conjugan como dispositivo para la mediación territorial y pedagógico-educativa para la reterritorialización agroecológica

Amplifying Agroecology in Vermont: Principles and Processes to Foster Food Systems Sustainability

Agroecology is grounded in principles that support transitions toward economic, social and ecological sustainability and proposes that real and lasting change will require a significant transformation of our agri-food systems. Evidence for agroecology’s potential continues to grow, both through word of mouth by farmers and social movements, and through recent scientific assessments of its performance. With endorsements from the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), national governments in both the global north and south, and social movements, it is developing the web of ‘thick legitimacy’ required for even broader adoption (Montenegro de Wit & Iles, 2016). “...Agroecology represents a system that works with nature instead of against it and offers an approach to food production that boosts biodiversity, creates ecological resilience, improves soils, cools the planet and reduces energy and resource use. It has been shown to be highly productive, to provide highly diverse dietary offerings and to support the process of community building and women’s empowerment” (Anderson et al., 2020, p. 3). However, agroecology is an approach that is not yet recognized as being actively practiced in Vermont and the USA, despite its significant potential for supporting transitions to sustainable food systems in different contexts. The University of Vermont is home to researchers and practitioners at the forefront of agroecological research and learning. The objectives of this white paper are to demonstrate the importance of agroecology for the future of sustainable food systems in Vermont, and as a framework to assess and advance transformations towards sustainability. In this paper we will: a) Demonstrate the global evidence base for agroecology and the potential of agroecology in the United States, and Vermont. b) Present the case for an agroecological principles-based approach to assess food and farming sustainability which can capture the multifunctional dynamics and benefits of agroecology to economic, social and ecological sustainability. c) Present examples based on our newly developed Agroecological Assessment for Sustainability framework to existing initiatives in Vermont that represent constituencies across a range of farm types and scales. d) Demonstrate the importance of participatory and transdisciplinary approaches for researc

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Spatial Organization and Molecular Correlation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Using Deep Learning on Pathology Images

Beyond sample curation and basic pathologic characterization, the digitized H&E-stained images of TCGA samples remain underutilized. To highlight this resource, we present mappings of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on H&E images from 13 TCGA tumor types. These TIL maps are derived through computational staining using a convolutional neural network trained to classify patches of images. Affinity propagation revealed local spatial structure in TIL patterns and correlation with overall survival. TIL map structural patterns were grouped using standard histopathological parameters. These patterns are enriched in particular T cell subpopulations derived from molecular measures. TIL densities and spatial structure were differentially enriched among tumor types, immune subtypes, and tumor molecular subtypes, implying that spatial infiltrate state could reflect particular tumor cell aberration states. Obtaining spatial lymphocytic patterns linked to the rich genomic characterization of TCGA samples demonstrates one use for the TCGA image archives with insights into the tumor-immune microenvironment

Integrated Genomic Analysis of the Ubiquitin Pathway across Cancer Types

Protein ubiquitination is a dynamic and reversibleprocess of adding single ubiquitin molecules orvarious ubiquitin chains to target proteins. Here,using multidimensional omic data of 9,125 tumorsamples across 33 cancer types from The CancerGenome Atlas, we perform comprehensive molecu-lar characterization of 929 ubiquitin-related genesand 95 deubiquitinase genes. Among them, we sys-tematically identify top somatic driver candidates,including mutatedFBXW7with cancer-type-specificpatterns and amplifiedMDM2showing a mutuallyexclusive pattern withBRAFmutations. Ubiquitinpathway genes tend to be upregulated in cancermediated by diverse mechanisms. By integratingpan-cancer multiomic data, we identify a group oftumor samples that exhibit worse prognosis. Thesesamples are consistently associated with the upre-gulation of cell-cycle and DNA repair pathways, char-acterized by mutatedTP53,MYC/TERTamplifica-tion, andAPC/PTENdeletion. Our analysishighlights the importance of the ubiquitin pathwayin cancer development and lays a foundation fordeveloping relevant therapeutic strategies