In: Galvin M, Haller T, editors. People, Protected Areas and Global Change: Participatory Conservation in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 3.Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp 111-144.
"De plus en plus souvent, les groupes pharmaceutiques et agroalimentaires font valoir des licences sur certaines propriétés d’espèces animales et végétales, s’assurant ainsi des droits de distribution lucratifs. En même temps, les pays en développement, «génétiquement riches», revendiquent une juste répartition des bénéfices. Cette évolution peut être illustrée par l’exemple du Pérou."
Recognition of the limitations of the traditional ‘fortress approach’ to governance of protected areas has led to a new model that seeks to reconcile environmental conservation with human development and promote participation by local populations. Based on a comparative analysis of four case studies in Bolivia and Peru, the present article shows the processes, problems and potentialities that emerge from the inclusion of indigenous peoples in the governance of protected areas. It demonstrates that there are many political, economic, social and cultural obstacles to reconciling conservation with development. [...]
In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U.; with an international group of co-editors (eds). Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. University of Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp. 501-515
This thesis has the overall goal of contributing to the development of the emerging approach of “nature-society hybrids” by setting the fundaments for a dialogue between the needs of biodiversity conservation and the needs and claims of indigenous and traditional people. It is based on the assumption that indigenous and traditional people may not be conservationists “by default”, because the concept of biodiversity conservation has emerged from a concern of modern science and global policy in the developed world that they do not share necessarily. Nevertheless, indigenous communities may have traditional land use practices that are at the same time deeply rooted in their traditional knowledge and specific cultural worldview, and highly relevant for the conservation of biodiversity. The main objective of the thesis was to analyze the links between traditional ecological knowledge, land use and the diversity of ecosystems, as a basis for the promotion of sustainable development, understood as results emerging from the dialogue between scientific and traditional ecological knowledge.
In: Dansereau F, Navez-Bouchanine F, editors. 2002. Gestion du développment urbain et stratégies résidentielles des habitants. Paris: L'Harmattan (Collection Villes et Entreprises)
To ‘‘review the urban question’’ in terms of sustainable development, the premise is formulated that improving infrastructures, equipment and services to preserve the natural and built urban environment is costly and generates expenses of all kinds—at economic and social levels. Without the introduction of equalisation mechanisms, these expenses will increase inequalities between different parts of the urban population...
L’objectif de cette communication est de nous questionner sur les causes et la nature des changements sociopolitiques encourus ces dernières années dans les sociétés d’Amazonie bolivienne, en présentant une approche, quelques données contextuelles et une brève étude de cas : la Réserve de Biosphère et Territoire Indigène Pilón Lajas.
Características sociales, económicas y culturales que influyen en la adopción de métodos de innovación
Carmen Lucila Camargo López, 2005
Master's Thesis, Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Bolivia
Concretamente se realizo un estudio acerca de las características sociales, económicas y culturales, que influyen en la difusión y adopción de la innovación SODIS en familias de distritos de Cochabamba, Potosí, Oruro y Santa Cruz.
Patrimonio urbano y vivienda social en el centro de Buenos Aires: nuevas perspectivas y conflictos
E Cañellas, V Colella, N Da Representaçao, 2008
In: Torti C, Piovani J, editors. Desafíos para el conocimiento social” Actas-CD-ROM. La Plata: Universidad Nacional de La Plata, ISBN:978-950-34-0514-7.
"El trabajo interpreta el fenómeno de recuperación fabril como parte del nuevo repertorio de acción colectiva en Argentina. Estudia el Movimiento Nacional de Fábricas Recuperadas por sus Trabajadores con el análisis preliminar de una investigación en terreno realizada entre marzo de 2005 y junio de 2006 en ciudad y provincia de Buenos Aires. Muestra cómo se enfrentaron los problemas laborales con los recursos disponibles y explora el horizonte de sentido en que estas circunstancias motivaron y justificaron las acciones. Así, el repertorio no sólo se concibe como un conjunto de medios para formular reclamos, sino también como una colección de sentidos que aparece relacionalmente en la lucha. Se espera aportar al estudio de la constitución de nuevos actores colectivos al ilustrar los mecanismos de un fenómeno que internacionalmente es ubicado entre las formas posibles de lucha obrera del siglo XXI."
El artículo examina la situación de enfrentamientos en la que se encuentra Bolivia. Enfrentamientos que están conociendo una frágil tregua que permitirá la confrontación electoral de diciembre del 2005. ¿Pero cómo se ha llegado a esta situación de empate social, que se traduce en una serie de conflictos? y ¿cuál podría ser el desenlace de este empate? Son algunas de las preguntas que el artículo trata de responder.
Les mécanismes participatifs qui accompagnent le processus de décentralisation en Bolivie ont permis un accès plus important, notamment en ce qui concerne les populations rurales, paysannes et indigènes, aux services publics de base. Cet exposé examine quand et dans quelles conditions les populations marginalisées et exclues depuis toujours, ont obtenu un meilleur accès aux services publics.
Par ailleurs, les lois liées au processus de décentralisation et d’autres lois connexes ont favorisé un renforcement des organisations populaires. Cet exposé s’efforce également de comprendre ces processus, en se demandant pourquoi une politique de décentralisation, conçue à partir de l'Etat et des organismes internationaux, a ce type de conséquences qui, bien évidemment, n'étaient pas désirées par l'Etat.
Este artículo consta de cinco partes. En las dos primeras presentamos algunos elementos históricos, que están relacionados con los procesos de centralización y descentralización. Procesos que fueron conflictivos, ya que toda redistribución del poder entre niveles de gobierno y entre regiones supone afectar intereses muy concretos. En esta rápida mirada de la historia hemos privilegiado el accionar del Gobierno, de los movimientos regionales y de los movimientos indígena-campesinos. Además, hemos tratado de colocar este accionar al interior del “modelo” de desarrollo que estaba vigente en cada momento histórico.
Texto publicado en RESTREPO, D. (editor), Historias de descentralización: transformación del régimen político y cambio en el modelo de desarrollo. América Latina, Europa y Estados Unidos, Bogota: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, 2006.
De la Fuente M. 2007. El triunfo de Evo Morales: início de una nueva institucionalidad o etorno de los conflictos sociales? Búsqueda. Cochabamba: IESE-UMSS, 29, pp 9-35.
De la Fuente M. 2008. La violence collective en Bolivie. In: Corten A (dir.) La violence dans l'imaginaire latino-américain. Karthala/Presse de l'université du Québec, pp. 105-116.
This book presents a critical analysis of the potentials and constraints of past and present models of developing agrarian innovations.
These innovations had low to non-existent impacts on the sovereignty and security of food production. They focused on linking indigenous food production to a market economy that was not able to guarantee reasonable prices to farmers, preventing them from covering production costs and basic needs for their livelihoods.
The attempt to overcome this one-sided policy in order to develop agrarian innovations in the context of a dialogue among scientific, indigenous and popular forms of knowledge was presented as an institutional experience developed by AGRUCO. This experience was developed during the last 15 years with active support from the Centre for Development and Environment, NCCR North-South and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
Read an extensive account of the book launch by Stephan Rist
Latitude. Revista do Programa de Mestrado em Sociologia, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceió, Brasil. 2007, Año 1, Nº 1, pp. 83-100.
For further information, please contact the author.
Movimientos piqueteros: alcances de su construcción política
"The article approaches the subject of the significacy of the ‘piqueteros’ movements for the Argentine political field, retaking two habitual axes of discussion in the bibliography. As opposed to the debate about the continuity or rupture that these movements represent with respect to “the traditional” forms of organization of the popular sectors, it is indicated that this type of approach does not allow to understand the complex articulation between past and present that characterizes them. In relation to the controversy on the political effectiveness of its action, it is indicated that they have lastly transformed the perspections about unemployment, archivieng recognition in the public space and generated relevant spaces of social militants."
"Based on case study analysis of four picketing organizations in Argentina, this article analyzes the impact of women's participation in the picketing movements, on the ways in which women think about themselves and the social roles they claim. Women's initial involvement in the picketing movements was tied closely to their performance of the traditional roles of mother and wife. Over time, and as a result of women's social participation, these roles acquired new meaning. Women began to reject certain stereotypes linked to the feminine, and to challenge some aspects of the gendered division of tasks and responsibilities. Redefinition of feminine roles, however, has limitations, which are evident through analysis of the unequal participation of women in the movements’ leadership."
Metis Knowledge. Analysis of the Traditional Knowledge Policy in Peru:
This research aimed to produce a critical analytical framework to understand the process of international norms creation, transmission into a national context and implementation at the local level. This objective has been addressed by choosing traditional knowledge (TK) issue as a strategy to analyze the multi-level governance process, and by studying especially the Peruvian Law for TK protection. This law voted in 2002 intended regulate the encounter of local supply with international demand. But a number of doubts have appeared: Is this law an efficient way of protecting traditional knowledge? Why is its implementation so slow? What is the potential of TK for nature conservation and sustainable development?
Frontier Encounters: Indigenous communities and settlers in Asia and Latin America
Danilo Geiger, Marina T. Campos, Christian Erni, Søren Hvalkov, Sabino Padilla, Jr., Devasish Roy, Ranabir Samaddar, 2008
Poverty and the maldistribution of land in core areas of developing countries, together with state schemes for the colonization of unruly peripheries, have forced indigenous peoples and settlers into an uneasy co-existence. On the basis of case study material from various Asian and Latin American countries, Frontier Encounters identifies characteristic patterns of interaction between these groups, explores the dynamics of some of the open conflicts that dot the map of the two continents, and situates them in the context of the politics and economics of the “frontier”.
Daniel Geiger is a doctoral candidate in Social Anthropology at the University of Luzern, Switzerland. He has lectured on political anthropology and indigenous movements. His research experience includes fieldwork in the Philippines and Indonesia. Under the auspices of the NCCR North-South, he has coordinated a comparative research project on conflicts between indigenous communities and settlers in South and Southeast Asia.
"Decentralisation Meets Local Complexity brings together insights from eight case studies in Latin America and South Asia that provide nuanced descriptions and analyses of the experiences of decentralised natural resource management. The studies are compared in a non-reductionist way through an interpretative framework drawing upon various contemporary state–society theories and human–environment perspectives.
The book goes beyond an identification of universal mechanisms of effective decentralisation. It provides a useful examination of how political contestations within and between heterogeneous communities and a non-monolithic state produce complex and often unintended outcomes for the management of natural resources as well as for the realisation of political participation as a fundamental human right. Decentralisation meets Complexity is an invaluable resource for both practitioners and researchers in the field of decentralisation and community-based natural resource management."
Factors from Diffusion of Innovations Theory Influencing the Adoption of Solar Water Disinfection
A Field Study in Bolivia
Simone Heri, 2006
Master's Thesis, University of Zurich, Switzerland
"In this study we examine a broad array of theory-based factors derived from diffusion research that influence the current use and intention to use of solar water disinfection (SODIS), a simple, low-cost technology for the treatment of drinking water on household-level. The perceived attributes of an innovation, the nature of the social system in which an innovation is diffused, the extend of change agents’ promotion efforts in diffusing the innovation and the nature of the communication channels were operationalized resulting in 16 variables to assess the use and intent to use of the innovation of SODIS. The aim of the study is to determine the influence of each factor and its predictive power. [...]"
In: Schweizerisches Jahrbuch für Entwicklungspolitik. Öffentlich-private Partnerschaften und internationale Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, Band 24, Nr. 2. 2005. iuéd, Genf, pp. 183-194.
Este artículo presenta un esquema analítico de la ciudadanía, el mismo que comprende diferentes dimensiones interrelacionadas. Partiendo de las dimensiones “status versus práctica”, “lo privado versus lo público” y “espacio público” se busca conceptualizar la noción de la participación ciudadana en los espacios públicos.
"L’article de Sabine Hoffmann aborde la notion de partenariat par le biais des régimes institutionnels de propriété et de possession. Aux yeux de l’auteure, les partenariats posent inéluctablement des conditions institutionnelles qui définissent les droits, les obligations, les privilèges et les non-droits des acteurs concernés. L’article expose les différentes logiques auxquelles sont soumis les acteurs dans le cadre de partenariats : rationalité économique (liée à une économie de propriété) ou raison écosociale (liée à une économie de possession). Quelle logique guide les acteurs ? La réponse apportée par l’auteure s’appuie sur une étude de cas menée à Cochabamba, en Bolivie, concernant l’accès à l’eau potable."
Participation citoyenne à la construction des espaces publics, ou les diverses pratiques et conceptions autour de la gestion des services de l'eau potable à Cochabamba, Bolivie
Un aporte conceptual y analítico para la investigación
Marc Hufty, Ernesto Bascolo, Roberto Bazzani, 2006
Governance in health: a conceptual and analytical approach to research
"In the Latin American region there is a notable absence of conceptual coherency in the use of the terms governability and governance. This is true for their application to both the social and political sciences and health. Researchers’ understanding of governance varies, and the concept is used heterogeneously within academic circles, with ignorance of the term on the part of decisionmakers and great confusion and ambiguity in the meanings used by researchers and decisionmakers in the health sector. Instead of the prevailing normative use, promoted by most international agencies, a conceptual and analytical framework for governance is proposed here for health systems and services research. Advances in the design of this framework were used to evaluate the public health insurance program in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which allowed the use of the analytical framework to be assessed as a tool for systemizing the social, political, and institutional complexity of the health policy formulation and implementation processes."
"La mise en place d’aires protégées est un instrument essentiel pour la conservation de la diversité biologique. Mais elle ne peut aboutir que si les mesures de protection tiennent compte des besoins de la population locale."
"En apparence, la culture du soja est une chance pour l’Argentine, la Bolivie, le Brésil et le Paraguay. Elle apporte à ces pays une manne financière bienvenue. Mais ses conséquences pour la forêt, le sol, la biodiversité, l’eau et - surtout - les populations locales rendent cette réussite économique dérisoire. Quelques mouvements d’opposition tentent de faire entendre leur voix, mais ils restent démunis face à la demande mondiale de soja."
Humankind today is challenged by numerous threats brought about by the speed and scope of global change dynamics. A concerted and informed approach to solutions is needed to face the severity and magnitude of current development problems. Generating shared knowledge is a key to addressing global challenges. This requires developing the ability to cross multiple borders wherever radically different understandings of issues such as health and environmental sanitation, governance and conflict, livelihood options and globalisation, and natural resources and development exist.
Global Change and Sustainable Development presents 36 peer-reviewed articles written by interdisciplinary teams of authors who reflected on results of development-oriented research conducted from 2001 to 2008. Scientific activities were – and continue to be – carried out in partnerships involving people and institutions in the global North, South and East, guided by principles of sustainability. The articles seek to inform solutions for mitigating, or adapting to, the negative impacts of global dynamics in the social, political, ecological, institutional and economic spheres.
For the print version, please send your order to: (price: CHF 45.00 / EUR 30.00, excluding postage)
In: CESU [Centro de estudios universitarios superiores], CIDES [Postgrado multidisciplinario en ciencias del desarrollo], IFEA [Instituto francés de estudios andinos] , IRD [Institut de recherche pour le développement], Gobernabilidad y gobernanza de los territorios en América Latina, Cochabamba / La Paz: 94-118.
For further information, please contact the author.
The Clean Development Mechanism
An opportunity to finance decentralised composting?
Master's Thesis, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland
Master's thesis on the current Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and its effect on promotion of sustainable environmental sanitation improvements at decentralised level. The transaction costs and risks associated with the CDM have shown to favour large centralised projects. Though many decentralised projects contribute significantly to increasing sustainable development, they cannot compete with large centralised projects on emission reductions at lowest cost. The study assesses the viability of selected case studies and suggests approaches to enhance decentralised CDM projects.
Risk perception, risk management and vulnerability to landslides in the hill-slopes in the city of La Paz, Bolivia
Nathan, Fabien Nathan, Fabien, 2008
The article begins by describing the difficult living conditions of many people in the hill slopes
(laderas) of La Paz, Bolivia, demonstrating that they are exposed to a combination of natural
and social hazards.1 It shows that residents, community leaders and city planners tend to underestimate
or deny risk, with important consequences for risk management, such as a failure to raise
risk awareness. The article then proposes some hypotheses to explain risk perceptions in La Paz, discarding the usual single-approach interpretations and suggesting instead more nuanced theoretical explanations to account for why people build their homes in such hazardous environments.
Estimating Emissions in Latin America: An Alternative to Traffic Models
Margarita Ossés de Eicker, Hans Hurni, Rainer Zah, 2008
Emissions from traffic are a serious pollution problem in Latin American cities. Traffic models at street level allow precise estimations of these emissions but are too expensive for a broad application. A simplifed approach for estimating traffic emissions at city level proved to be a reasonable alternative for Latin American mid-sized cities.
Poster presented at the International Conference on Research for Development (ICRD), National Centre of Competence in Research NCCR North-South, University of Bern. 02-04 July 2008, Bern.
A unique atlas presenting threats, vulnerabilities and risks in Bolivia has just been published (in Spanish). The atlas is considered a highly relevant instrument for improving the management and mitigation of the ever-present natural risks in Bolivia.
According to Hernan Tuco, Vice-Minister of Civil Defence of the Bolivian Government, the atlas will serve as a “reference to the national, departmental and municipal authorities for taking decisions regarding containment and prevention of major disasters”.
Within the framework of the NCCR North-South, the atlas is a direct result of the Transversal Package Project (TPP) on ‘Social Vulnerability and Resilience’ and a related PAMS (Partnership Actions) project. The atlas was developed as a joint-venture between the Vice-ministry of Civil Defence and researchers of the NCCR North-South, OXFAM and the Foundation for Participatory Communitarian Development (Fundepco). The team of authors were lead by Luis Salamanca of the NCCR North-South.
«El comedor los pibes, una fábrica de Trabajo y de Sueños»
Isabelle Rauber, Norberto Inda, Alvaro San Sebastian, 2007
Buenos Aires, NCCR North South
“It was hard to come to mutual understanding…” – The multidimensionality of social learning processes concerned with sustainable natural resource use in India, Africa and Latin America
Sustainable natural resource use requires that multiple actors reassess their situation in a systemic perspective. This can be conceptualised as a social learning process between actors from rural communities and the experts from outside organisations. A specifically designed workshop provided the background for evaluating the potentials and constraints of intensified social learning processes. Case studies in rural communities in India, Bolivia, Peru and Mali showed that changes in the narratives of the participants of the workshop followed a similar temporal sequence relatively independently from their specific contexts. Social learning processes were found to be more likely to be successful if they 1) opened new space for communicative action, allowing for an intersubjective re-definition of the present situation, 2) contributed to rebalance the relationships between social capital and social, emotional and cognitive competencies within and between local and external actors.
In: Delgado F, Escobar C, editors. 2006. Diálogo intercultural e intercientífico para el fortalecimiento de las ciencias de los pueblos indígenas originarios. Serie Cosmovisión y Ciencias No. 2. La Paz, Bolivia. pp. 87-100.
"The present paper discusses a conceptual, methodological and practical framework within which the limitations of the conventional notion of natural resource management (NRM) can be overcome. NRM is understood as the application of scientific ecological knowledge to resource management. By including a consideration of the normative imperatives that arise from scientific ecological knowledge and submitting them to public scrutiny, ‘sustainable management of natural resources’ can be recontextualised as ‘sustainable governance of natural resources’. This in turn makes it possible to place the politically neutralising discourse of ‘management’ in a space for wider societal debate, in which the different actors involved can deliberate and negotiate the norms, rules and power relations related to natural resource use and sustainable development. [...]"
"A typical traditional Andean land-use system was analyzed as the outcome of long-term social learning processes. From this perspective the land-use system is the result of coevolution between society and nature, representing a successive embodiment of ethical principles corresponding to different periods in history. Ethical principles, understood in this study as the main values in which social and spiritual life is rooted, emerge from and are shaped by a process of dialogue between the local worldview and external historical influences. The degree of differentiation among ethical values corresponding to different stages of local history greatly depends on the type of cognitive competence developed by members of a community. The interplay between cognitive competence and concrete social action develops through a system of rotating duties aimed at lifelong learning and development of social competence derived from the ethical principles of the Andean worldview. The equilibrium between cognitive and social competencies creates social coherence, which was and still is necessary for withstanding moments of crisis and conflict. The learning process evolve from single- to double-loop learning, meaning that an individualized understanding of the epistemological basis of ethical values becomes a clear priority. This allows time to experiment with the land-use system as part of a social learning process. The positive conditions supporting social learning processes were a nondualistic worldview, local autonomy and self-determination in social and religious–spiritual life, territorial and productive organization, low levels of formalization of norms, deliberative rather than formal democratic decision making, and a combination of increasingly reflective attitudes and development of specific social competencies among all members of the community."
"Waste stabilization ponds (WSP) are an often-used option to treat faecal sludges collected from on-site sanitation systems. Since agricultural use is one of the most attractive options for sludge disposal, specific guidelines on the hygienic sludge quality must be fulfilled, such as for viable helminth eggs and Salmonella sp. Although Salmonella isolation methods are well known for other types of samples, they are not suitable for faecal sludge. The reason can be attributed to the co-existence of a native bacterial sludge flora masking Salmonella development, especially if this bacteria is present at low concentrations. [...]"
"Fortalecimiento de la organización comunal: estrategia para la conservación y regeneración de bosques andino" in: Delgado F, Serrano E, Bilbao J. editors. 2004. Agroforesteria en Latinoaméria: Experiencias Locales, Cochabamba, MALEA- AGRUCO, pp. 41-50.
The NCCR North-South is hosted by the University of Bern
and funded jointly by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
