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Murals & Mother Nature: Urban environmental art in Lisbon reveals great concern and appreciation for the environment
Get PDFUrban art is a novel dimension of the environmental movement. Utilizing highly trafficked areas, urban art has the potential to spread environmental messages both because of the size of the audience and because of the contrast between nature-centered art and the urban context. The paper discusses 15 environmental urban artworks in Lisbon and conducts a visual and thematic analysis. The analysis revealed five themes present in Lisbon: the power and beauty of nature, connection with nature, environmental loss and degradation, waste management, and climate change. The most prevalent theme in Lisbon was the connection with nature, followed by a tie between power and beauty of nature and environmental loss and degradation. The presence of these works revealed concerns for the impacts of urbanization on the natural environment in a multiplicity of ways. The analysis in this paper serves as a framework for how cities and artists can use the urban setting in environmental activism
La Ciencia Deshumanizada: La relación humano-ambiental entre el CADIC-CONICET y la Antártida
No full textLas investigaciones científicas reconocen cada vez más que los humanos tienen una relación recíproca con la naturaleza, donde cambios rápidos en uno produce inestabilidad en el otro (Mace, 2014). Los humanos y la Antártida son particularmente interdependientes considerando la vulnerabilidad de los servicios ecosistémicos antárticos al cambio climático antropogénico. El Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC) en Ushuaia, Argentina, es una institución importante en la producción del conocimiento sobre el continente. Por lo tanto, cómo lxs científicxs del CADIC perciben la relación de los humanos con la Antártida pueden afectar la manera en que la Antártida es afectada, y, en turno, puede volver a impactar a los humanos en el futuro. Este reporte explora la pregunta: ¿Cuáles son las relaciones entre los humanos y la Antártida, tal como percibidxs por lxs científicxs del CADIC? Este reporte categoriza la gama de las relaciones encontradas de 11 científicxs. Usando el marco de Pálsson (2001), la relación de cada científicx fue designada como el orientalismo, comunalismo, o paternalismo basado en qué valores motivan sus investigaciones. Los resultados apoyaron la hipótesis que: mientras lxs científicxs del CADIC (54.5%) generalmente estuvieron de acuerdo que las sociedades humanas tienen una relación del comunalismo con la Antártida, lxs científicxs (54.5%) perciben una relación del orientalismo con ella. También, las relaciones variaron por especialidad; lxs ecologistas perciben el paternalismo, lxs biólogos oceanógrafos perciben el comunalismo y lxs geólogos y el director del CADIC perciben el orientalismo. Además, el 80% de lxs científicxs percibieron que el CADIC tiene una relación orientalista con la Antártida. El orientalismo tiene una capacidad limitada para abordar los caminos globales antropogénicos (Teel, 2018), lo que revela la necesidad de reconsiderar los valores que motivan las investigaciones científicas sobre la Antártida.
Scientific research increasingly acknowledges that humans have a reciprocal relationship with nature, where rapid changes to one result in instability in the other (Mace, 2014). Humans and Antarctica are particularly interdependent considering the vulnerability of Antarctic ecosystem services to anthropogenic climate change. El Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC) based in Ushuaia, Argentina, is an important institute generating knowledge about the continent. Thus, human’s relationship with Antarctica as perceived by these scientists can profoundly influence the way in which Antarctica is impacted and impacts humans in the future. This report asks: How do CADIC scientists perceive the relationship between humans and Antarctica? Using data from semi-structured interviews, it categorizes and analyzes the range of relationships encountered from 11 CADIC scientists from varying departments. Using the framework generated by Palssón (2001), each scientist’s relationship with Antarctica was designated as orientalism, paternalism, or communalism based on the values they prescribed to scientific research. The perceived impacts of individuals’ research and the institution were also recorded. The results supported the hypothesis that, while CADIC scientists generally agreed that humans have a relationship of communalism with nature (54.5%), the majority of interviewees (54.5%) reflected orientalism in their research. Relationships varied by specialty, with ecologists demonstrating paternalism, oceanographic biologists demonstrating communism, and geologists and the director of CADIC reflecting orientalism. Further, 80% of scientists perceived CADIC to have an orientalist relationship to Antarctica. Orientalism is limited in its ability to address anthropogenic global changes (Teel, 2018), revealing a need to reconsider the values motivating basic Antarctic research
Duelos incompletos: La situación actual del acceso a servicios de salud mental para los sobrevivientes del conflicto armado en Ayacucho
No full textLa salud mental es un asunto relativamente nuevo en el Perú. En la ciudad andina de Ayacucho en la provincia de Huamanga, el gobierno solamente empezó a financiar proyectos de salud mental accesibles a las comunidades campesinas en los últimos seis años, desde 2016. Considerando que la región de Ayacucho ha sufrido el número más alto de muertes y desaparecidos durante el conflicto armado interno de 1980 hasta 2000, es atroz que estas medidas han empezado tan tarde. Entretanto, mientras que las conversaciones avanzan sobre cómo seguir haciendo reparaciones de salud mental a los sobrevivientes del conflicto, ellos siguen con traumas escondidos y procesos de duelo incompleto por no poder encontrar a sus seres queridos desaparecidos hasta hoy día.
Los datos de esta investigación fueron colectados principalmente a través de entrevistas semi-estructuradas y observación en centros de salud mental en la ciudad de Ayacucho entre el 3 y el 10 de mayo de 2022. Entrevisté a ocho profesionales, seis de los cuales trabajan en centros de salud mental, y dos académicos quienes me proporcionaron más contexto histórico y actual sobre los sobrevivientes del conflicto armado interno. De estas personas, cuatro fueron mujeres, y cuatro fueron varones. Para suplementar estos datos nuevos, también hice una revisión de la literatura para apoyar lo que aprendí de mis entrevistas y vincularlo a patrones más generales en la salud mental y en la región de Ayacucho.
Este informe examinará el como los centros de salud mental han crecido en Ayacucho en los últimos seis años para averiguar que son los éxitos más grandes y que obstáculos existen todavía con respecto a la acesibilidad a estos servicios. Además de los recursos institucionales que existen, este ensayo discutirá otras medidas que tienen los sobrevivientes del conflicto armado interno para sanar dentro de sus comunidades, con actividades comunitarias, religion, y rituales seculares. Afrontaré también los temas del genero y la edad dentro de la búsqueda de recursos de bienestar mental, y indicaré algunos paralelismos entre la época del conflicto y el contexto actual de la pandémia de COVID-19
Restoring Dignity in the Gardens of eKhenana
Get PDFThis case study investigates the lived experiences of eKhenana, a shack settlement under the leadership of Abahlali baseMjondolo, as they attempt to navigate the increasingly unequal urban landscape. The research presented is focused on theories of urban marginality, food sovereignty, and dignity. I advocate that, in the margins, dignity can be restored through the implementation of a communal garden. Presented as a case study, this research centers the voices and experiences of the commune. The paper first depicts a brief timeline of eKhenana, and explains how they have created not just a place to live, but a community and a home. The next section interrogates the intersections between the communal garden and the politics of dignity. Lastly, I provide an analysis of the repression and violence facing the commune. This research finds that the communal garden plays an imperative role in both feeding the community and restoring dignity. At the core of this paper is the recognition that in restoring dignity, we have the potential to change everything
The Maps of Us: Generational Trauma, Community Building, and Creative Resistance in Amman, Jordan
Get PDFThis research study focuses on the intersections of generational trauma, community-building, and creative resistance to observe the impacts of intergenerational trauma on social-political processes, including the role of community spaces and creativity in building social movements in Amman, Jordan. Understanding the implications of generational trauma can help bring an understanding of its prevalence, what populations need to thrive in the face of generational trauma, organizing successful social movements, and the political implications of generational trauma in Jordanian society. By conducting interviews with local Palestinian families, psychologists, activists, community leaders, and creatives, the research study found that generational trauma plays a significant role in both motivating the need for political change and political action as a form of productive trauma release, yet feelings of fear, lack of resources, lowered resilience, community breakdown, mental/ physical health issues, and lowered communication skills as a result of the trauma pose as barriers to individual fulfillment, community organization, and resulting successful social-political change. Community and creative spaces can serve as places of open discussion, networks of care, resiliency, expression, self-preservation and solidarity for social change to combat the forces of generational trauma and advocate for the community’s demands
Sacred Scavengers: Vulture Conservation in Nepal
Get PDFIn the 1990s, a veterinary drug used to treat pain and disease in cattle nearly brought the nine vulture species of Nepal to extinction. In a span of 15 years, over 97% of vultures in Nepal perished. For the past 20 years, governments, organizations, and communities have been working together to save these vital scavengers from vanishing. From the lowlands to the Himalayas, vultures have been interacting with the environment and humans for millennia. This study explores the role that vultures play both ecologically and culturally in Nepal. It investigates vultures as a crucial ecological influence and how human action has damaged their relationship to their environment. By demonstrating the role of organizations, communities and individuals in vulture conservation, this paper strives to show what actions need to be taken to save this species from extinction
The Ethics and Philosophy of Outdoor Education: Hidden Lessons Within the LeikSkoli Curriculum in Isafjordur, Iceland
Get PDFThe Icelandic curriculum structures itself amongst six pillars: “literacy, sustainability, health, and welfare, democracy, and human rights, equality and creativity” (Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, 2014). The United States national standards for their state public schools focus on two central points: math and English language learning (Participant 6, personal communication, 2022). The way these structures are upheld reflect values, goals, and systems of knowledge. Depending on where a child is raised, the skills learned in the classroom will result in a completely different attitude toward environment, place, and success. In the United States, success seems to be defined by grading and test scores. Icelandic schools are rated based on how much outdoor time and play the children receive, along with how these six pillars are instructed. There is little testing amongst the younger school districts. This paper will aim to contrast the different ideologies behind these two curriculums, and uncover the deficits inherent in the United States educational system. I reveal that contrasting definitions of knowledge establish how one interprets values and perceives our natural world, and how this perpetuates into younger generations. As climate change intensifies, it is necessary to reveal these paradigms and educate young students on the ethics of coexistence within their changing environment
“Hadithi ya Matunda”: The Informal Fruit Economy on Unguja Island: A study of the livelihoods of smallholder producers, intermediaries, and sellers
Get PDFThis is the story of fruit on Unguja Island. It illuminates the livelihoods of farmers, intermediaries, and sellers and each of their roles in the island’s fruit commodity chain. Linkages between these actors are known to play increasingly important roles in agricultural economies across the world due to their ability to create “multiplier effects” through networks of non-farm income opportunities (Wineman, 2020). Through interviews with 19 Zanzibaris who work in this trade network, I learned about the intricacies of these networks. My data revealed that the fruit flow chain on Unguja creates a network of extensive backward and forward economic linkages, which start with smallholder farmers. This commodity chain is an informal system which relies upon formal systems in its operation. And finally, that the fruit commodity chain is built upon personal relationships between actors who have mutual trust. The fruit trade on Unguja does not adhere to any singular system of regulation or governance; it weaves itself into the cracks of the unspoken routines of everyday life in Zanzibar
What’s At “Steak”: The Drivers of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon and Potential Multilateral Solutions
Get PDFThis paper examines the contemporary drivers of deforestation in the Brazilian Legal Amazon and how multilateral solutions can be employed to bring forest loss to zero. Insights from the scholarly literature and five expert interviews allow a critical assessment of how the rise of unilateralism presents a novel threat to the Brazilian Legal Amazon and, by proxy, those relying on the region’s raw resources and ecosystem services. Integrating analyses of both Brazilian institutional structures and global environmental governance frameworks, this study examines the primary historical and contemporary factors driving accelerated deforestation rates observed under Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro. In identifying the causes of deforestation during this period, the study presents how multilateral strategies can prevent future instances of politically fueled environmental degradation. This analysis evaluates potential economic and social strategies for combating deforestation, placing an emphasis on Brazil\u27s autonomy in implementing environmental and social regulations with the aid of a diverse set of actors from across the international community
The Role of Frugivorous Birds as Seed Dispersers: Feeding Selection and Preference of Madagascar’s Avian Frugivores in Analamazaotra Forest
Get PDFMadagascar is a country rich in floral and faunal diversity. However, anthropogenic habitat destruction and climate change increasingly threaten its biodiversity. Endozoochorous plants that dependent on frugivory for seed dispersal are under threat due to increasing rates of localized extinctions of frugivorous lemurs, the primary seed dispersers of the island. While lemurs are the islands most abundant frugivores, other frugivorous vertebrates like birds and bats likely play a significant role in seed dispersal, although this role is still poorly understood. This study, conducted in Analamazaotra forest, compares the rates of visitation and consumption of six endemic fruiting tree species by avian frugivores. Of the six plants, three were observed to have fruits taken (Ficus sp., Gastonia duplicata, and Ocotea cymosa). Two frugivorous birds were observed to take fruits, the Madagascar bulbul (Hypsipetes madagascariensis) and the velvet asity (Philepitta castanea). H. madagascariensis took fruits from O. cymosa and Ficus sp., while P. castanea took fruits from G. duplicata. The results of this study also showed a separation in the foraging strata preferred by each frugivorous bird species. This separation can potentially be explained by nichification of feeding behavior as a method of avoiding interspecies competition for resources