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Program Design Features Attracting Youth in Diepsloot to Urban Agriculture: Exploring Rhiza Babuyile\u27s Tiny Farm Agri-Program
Get PDFThe COVID-19 crisis has brought to the fore the fragility of our local, national, and regional food and economic systems. Urban Agriculture (UA) is one solution to rebuilding local food system resilience and creating sustainable livelihood opportunities for the region\u27s growing youth population. Although there is an acknowledgment of the utility of the growing number of interventions promoting youth participation in UA, research on specific program design features that attract youth participation is limited. This Capstone research aimed to determine the program design features that attract unemployed youth (18-35 years) living in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, to participate in UA.
The study utilized a mixed-methods explanatory sequential research approach using a single case study of Rhiza Babuyile\u27s Tiny Farm Agri-Program to answer the research question. The findings indicate that despite the barriers to youth involvement in UA, such as limited access to appropriate and adequate financial services, lack of access to land, lack of access to relevant skills, information, and education required to engage in the sector, and unclear market linkage strategies, youth in Diepsloot see UA as a viable livelihood source. The study found that the four most significant program features that attracted youth to Rhiza Babuyile\u27s program are: market-based agricultural skills training, agribusiness training, access to finance facilitation, and market linkages facilitation. The most significant implication for professional practice from these findings is that organizations and governments must ensure that interventions seeking to promote unemployed urban youth participation in UA must address youth participation barriers holistically
The Memory of a Nation: How Spanish Political Parties and Their Electoral Manifestos Address Historical Memory
Get PDFAfter years of silence, the last two decades have seen Spain begin to seriously confront its own historical memory for the first time since its transition to democracy. This text aims to deconstruct the ways that Spanish political parties address historical memory and what memories they choose to address. This is accomplished by using data gathered from all major national parties’ political manifestos from 2000 to present. Manifestos, as demonstrations of political rhetoric and popular opinion, give us a valuable insight to the ways that parties and Spanish society as a whole approach historical memory. The data gathered shows foremost the amount of content within a manifesto a party dedicates to historical memory over time, as well as what specific issues parties and ideological groups tend to focus on. Ultimately, analysis shows that virtually all parties and ideological groups have enormously increased the content they dedicate to the topic. However, this comes in the forms of very differing viewpoints and addressing entirely different histories and past events
Assessing and Mapping the Spatial-Temporal Change in Forest Phenology of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest using Moderate Resolution Satellite
Get PDFThis study focuses on coastal forests in Kenya that have some of the highest variety of flora and fauna, specifically Arabuko Sokoke Forest. Arabuko Sokoke Forest is located 110 miles north of Mombasa and 18 kilometers south of Malindi. This forest is known to be a worldwide biodiversity hotspot that is home to endemic and rare plants and animals. Within the Arabuko Sokoke Forest ecosystem, there are two main issues that challenge the conservation of the area. First, there has been more competition for land, primarily for agriculture and development. Second, there is an increase demand for forest resources due to the rise in population. Therefore, this study aims to assess the spatial-temporal change in forest phenology over time around Arabuko Sokoke from 2003-2020 using the remotely sensed Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) and ground information. The specific objectives are to map spatial-temporal changes in forest phenology over the last 18 years of Arabuko Sokoke Forest; and to analyze the change of vegetation condition in combination with ground experiences to understand pressure and drivers of changes in order to develop future policy actions to minimize the deterioration. Based on the problems posed in Arabuko Sokoke Forest, I hypothesized there will be an immense change in vegetation phenology in the last 18 years driven mostly by climatic changes in addition to anthropogenic pressures. MODIS images were used to map the environmental changes over 5 distinct seasons: annual, long dry season (DJFM), long rainy season (AMJJ), short dry season (AS) and short rainy season (ON) from 2003- 2020. The vegetation condition index (VCI) was mapped in QGIS to visually represent the trends of each season over 18 years. Many of the years were consistent in trends in terms of vegetation health. The years 2007, 2016, 2017, and 2020, there were significant VCI trends with either low or high VCI grades, different than the other years. 2016 and 2017 in across all 5 seasons appeared to have low VCI grades. However, 2007 was found to have high VCI grades in multiple seasons. Although there may have been anthropogenic impacts at play, it was found that temperature had the largest influence in terms of changing the VCI over time. Future research poses that there should be an investigation of the exact causes of these VCI trends that were mapped. For instance, were they influenced by anthropogenic impacts, limited precipitation, poor policies, climate change, the influence of disease and how biodiversity would be impacted based on these drivers
Burning in Purgatory: The Suffocation of Bisexuality and How the Match was Lit
Get PDFThe present study examines the way in which bisexuality is experienced and conceptualized in the city of Amsterdam, and how this influences bisexuality’s existence as a sexual identity. Data was collected through conducting one-on-one open-ended interviews with six queer women living in Amsterdam, five of whom are attracted to all genders. Interviews included themes of binegativity, conforming to lesbianism for safety in queer spaces, the additional mental load bisexual women carry, the perception that bisexual women are delusional to their real selves. These themes are then analyzed in order to give reason to the dissolving of the bisexual identity. This study gives light to how difficult it is to navigate being bisexual even in the famously queer city of Amsterdam, and how this has contributed to a flight from the bisexual label
A Socio-Ecological Perspective on Integrating Biodiversity Conservation and the Security-Development Nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa
Get PDFThe purpose of this paper is to examine the potential of community-based biodiversity conservation as a security-development strategy in Sub-Saharan Africa. While the creation of the security-development nexus has been an essential component in mainstreaming the principles of sustainable human development, there exist numerous gaps in the nexus. With the aid of four expert interviews, this analysis critically assesses the role of the environment and of local communities in successfully implementing the security-development nexus. Using the existing body of work comprising the security-development nexus as a framework, this research examines why biodiversity conservation has been overlooked as a security-development strategy as well as the potential that biodiversity conservation has in addressing social, political, economic, and cultural distress within civil society. This discussion is then followed by an analysis that determines why community-based conservation may be the optimal approach to achieving security and sustainable human development in Sub-Saharan Africa using a case study from the Democratic Republic of Congo
Landmine Removal in Post-Conflict Rwanda: The Connection Between Demining, Reconstruction, and Reconciliation
Get PDFLandmine contamination negatively impacts the health, safety, and economic potential of the affected community. As such, removal of landmines, or demining, is an essential part of post-conflict recovery. Tied to this idea, is the idea of mine action, which goes beyond just demining to include other measures such as education and assistance to help the communities impacted by mines. This study looks at the application of the principles of mine action in Rwanda, a country which saw landmines used during the civil war and 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. From there, the study explores possible connections between mine action and the reconstruction and reconciliation process based on answers from military and civilian interviewees. Finally, because Rwanda successfully removed all landmines and was declared mine-free, the study examines potential factors that contribute to this success that could be applied to the other countries which are still contaminated with landmines
An Assessment of the Traditional Botanical Usage of the Indigeneous People of the Bugungu Sub-Region of Western Uganda
Get PDFThe questions that this study aimed to answer were: how are indigenous plants used for medicine, and spiritual practices by the indigenous Bagungu communities? What effect has colonization and globalization had on the knowledge of plants held by indigenous Bagungu communities? And how is the knowledge the Bagungu people hold of traditional plant use preserved through the generations? The methods used to answer these questions were key informant interviews with five herbalists and seven clan custodians from the Bagungu community, and questionnaires administered to 31 Bagungu community members between the ages of 27 and 83. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis and descriptive analysis. The findings were that all respondents had knowledge of medicinal plants and used them personally and that some clans have sacred plants that are used from shrines and rituals. It was also found that globalization has had a significant effect on the Bagungu culture. There appears to be a concerted effort to preserve the knowledge of medicinal plants, but not the traditional religious beliefs and practices. Based on these findings, the recommendations are that more of an effort should be placed on teaching and conserving Bagungu culture, and more research should be done in documenting the medicinal plant knowledge of the Bagungu
The Modern-Day Sand War: A New Dimension of the Morocco-Algeria Conflict Explored Through Youth
Get PDFSince the 1963 Sand War, there has been a constant progression of tension between the countries of Morocco and Algeria. From physical space–the Western Sahara and border denotation–to diplomatic relations, Morocco and Algeria may never be the same after their colonization in the early 19th century. Due to the rise in extremist rhetoric, political accusations, economic instability, and social violence, the Moroccan-Algerian relationship can only get worse from here. Do these signs point to a modern-day Sand War approaching? This paper seeks to examine the existence of a modern-day Sand War and its consequences, specifically through the lens of youth (18-25) in the MENA region
Using Film as a Multimodal Text in the Language Classroom
Get PDFFilm is a powerful medium for language acquisition; Not only does viewing films allow learners to experience language used in various real-life contexts, but the medium of film itself is a form of communication. Through the active viewing of films, students can explore how people with diverse backgrounds, accents, and cultures communicate using multiple modes such as gestures, images, and sounds. When learners are familiar with the techniques used by filmmakers to convey meaning, they can use the medium of film themselves to tell their stories and share their perspectives through filmmaking projects. Such projects can be collaborative and engaging and build on the four skills as well 21st century skills. This thesis establishes a theoretical foundation by introducing key theories related to the use of film for language learning and how they can be beneficial if implemented effectively. The author then examines teacher preparedness for implementing film viewing and filmmaking in the classroom, first by reviewing the literature of studies that have been done, then goes on to discuss the results and implications of original research conducted by the author of teachers and their experiences and perceptions of using film in their classrooms. The paper concludes with the lessons learned from the design and delivery of multiple iterations of a professional development workshop for educators interested in using film
Diversity and Worldliness at the Compass School
Get PDFThis paper demonstrates how the application of International Education principles and practices to curricula at the Compass School of Westminster, Vermont would augment worldliness and diversity as well as improve the overall quality of education offered at this secondary school. This research identifies deficiencies in areas pertaining to internationalization and diversity and provides recommendations to remedy these deficiencies. The realization of these recommendations would help to increase students’ preparedness for participation in a globalized society and would provide an enhanced educational experience for all. This research is intended to support faculty and staff at the Compass School by providing an analysis of opportunities and challenges as well as a set of clear recommendations and frameworks for further program and curricular development.
Keywords: preparedness; worldliness, internationalization, diversity, globalized societ