German edition of Eawag News on material flows in foreign lands. An accounting method for the analysis of flows of ecologically significant materials and resources is increasingly being used by Eawag to assess acute environmental problems in developing and emerging countries. The German edition of Eawag News reports on projects carried out in Bangladesh, Eritrea, Congo/Rwanda, Cuba, Thailand and Vietnam.
Attitudinal and Relational Factors Predicting the Use of Solar Water Disinfection
A Field Study in Nicaragua
Anne-Marie Altherr, Fabrizio Butera, Hans-Joachim Mosler, Robert Tobias, 2006
"Solar water disinfection (SODIS) is an uncomplicated and cheap technology providing individuals with safe drinking water by exposing water-filled plastic bottles to sunlight for 6 hours to kill waterborne pathogens. Two communities were visited, and 81 families (40 SODIS users and 41 nonusers) were interviewed. The relationship between several factors and the intention to use SODIS in the future and actual use were tested. The results showed that intention to use and actual use are mainly related to an overall positive attitude, intention to use is related to the use of SODIS by neighbors, and actual use is related to knowledge about SODIS; SODIS users reported a significantly lower incidence in diarrhea than SODIS nonusers. These results suggest that promotion activities should aim at creating a positive attitude, for example, by choosing a promoter that is able to inspire confidence in the new technology."
Reflections on the conceptual framework of the NCCR North-South based on a comparative study of international labour migration in Mexico, India and Kyrgyzstan
International labour migration has become a strategy against poverty in many parts of the developing world. By remitting their earnings to the families they leave behind, migrant labourers have become a primary source of livelihoods for many of the world's poorest nations. The long-term consequences of this practice on local development are the subject of this study, based on reseach conducted in three rural communities in Mexico, India and Kyrgyzstan.
"In this paper, we apply the method of material flow analysis to analyze the consumption and waste mass flows of short-lived goods and we provide first insights into the waste management behavior of households in Santiago de Cuba. The goods analyzed are glass, aluminum, organic material and PET. The necessary data were gathered in personal interviews with 1171 households using a standardized questionnaire. The questionnaire contained questions about socio-demographic variables, such as age, sex, education, income and occupation. The households were asked how many PET bottles, aluminum and glass containers they consume per month and how they dispose of the different kinds of garbage. [...]"
"Urban agglomerations continue to be defined primarily by spatial and demographic criteria which signal their position within the domestic and international urban networks. We consider that these criteria are overly static, and lack indicators of both the potential inherent in medium-sized cities, and the risks they are prone to. On the occasion of a research action project conducted jointly with the Urban Management Program for Latin America and the Caribbean (PGU–ALC/HABITAT), we attempted to gain a deeper understanding of medium-sized cities in order to see more clearly what varied relations they entertain with their immediate or more distant environment. [...]"
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...
"This paper reviews the contribution of the book ‘The Garbage Society: Caciquismo in Mexico City’; written 20 years ago when no official statistics on garbage production were available, to the development of sustainable waste management practice in Mexico. At that time public information was extremely difficult to obtain and environmental pollution was not regarded as an important research area for many disciplines, including social sciences. The objective of ‘The Garbage Society’ was to provide a detailed description of all the stages involved in garbage disposal from the time when it is discarded, until it resurfaces in recycled products. This process can be summarized as Garbage+Working FORCE=Merchandise. The garbage problem in Mexico City is an accurate reflection of the Mexican political system that has traditionally supported corporatism in which caciques (a person who exercises absolute power over a group) play a key role. Current data are used to verify the events of that first study and through reflection on the historical process, to indicate the requirements for on-going research as a means of clarifying and categorizing the inherent problems associated with sustainable waste management in Mexico."
If we define actors (social, political, economic) as groups having a distinctive public profile and defined interests vis-à-vis the system they seek to preserve, replace, or simply change, then it is extremely difficult to speak of actors in Cuba. Because of the way in which Cuban society has evolved over the past several decades and the unique characteristics of its political system, the emergent actors referred to here (those that have appeared in the past decade as a result of a changing society) are all larval, with little or no organization, and scripts so surreptitious as to be incomprehensible to the uninitiated....
"La frontera dominico-haitiana está marcada por profundas asimetrías y el predominio de una relación de intercambio desigual que supone la transferencia de valores desde Haití a República Dominicana. Las relaciones transfronterizas resumen esta contradictoria relación, pero al mismo tiempo constituyen la única forma de supervivencia para más de medio millón de haitianos que habitan la región. Este artículo discute la historia de esta relación y sus tendencias actuales, incluyendo la formación de regiones económicas y complejos urbanos binacionales. La debilidad de las políticas públicas de regulación y la agresiva acción de los actores del mercado generan un escenario muy contradictorio que pudiera conducir a conflictos por el uso de los recursos compartidos, la explotación de la fuerza de trabajo haitiana y la agitación de posiciones nacionalistas."
"The Dominican/Haitian border is signed by profound asymmetries and the predominance of a relation of uneven exchange in benefit of Dominican Republic. Transborder relations summary this contradictory relation, but at the same time constitute the only form of survival for more than half million of Haitians that inhabit the region. This article discusses the history of this relation and its present tendencies, including the formation of economic regions and urban binational systems. The weakness of regulatory public policies and the aggressive action of the market generate a very contradictory setting that could lead to conflicts by the use of shared natural resources, the exploitation of the Haitian labour force, and the agitation of nationalist positions."
In: Tulchin JS, Bobea L, Espina Prieto MP, Hernández R, Elizabeth Bryan E, 2005. Changes in Cuban Society since the Nineties. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, pp. 35-51
"A lo largo de décadas de coexistencia en una misma isla, Haití y República Dominicana han construido una fuerte relación de interdependencia, que en la actualidad opera como una subordinación creciente y fragmentada del e spacio haitiano a la economía capitalista dominicana, y un potencial surgimiento de regiones económicas binacionales en función de la acumulación global. La construcción ideológica racista antihaitiana en República Dominicana es también un ingrediente activo de esa relación. Para los sectores políticos e intelectuales democráticos de ambos países esto plantea un reto que solo podrán superar a partir de la crítica de las relaciones objetivas entre sus sociedades. Invito al lector a leer cuidadosamente el siguiente párrafo: La desnacionalización de Santo Domingo, persistentemente realizada desde hace más de un siglo por el comercio con lo peor de la población haitiana, ha hecho progresos preocupantes. Nuestro origen racial y tradición de pueblo hispánico no nos deben impedir reconocer que la nacionalidad se halla en peligro de desintegrarse. La influencia de Haití ha corrompido la fibra sagrada de la nacionalidad. La vecindad de Haití ha sido y sigue siendo el principal problema de la República Dominicana. Entre el peligro supuesto y el beneficio tangible."
"[...] La bioprospection est une de ces questions qui est venue sur le devant de la scène dans la plupart des pays latino-américains à la fin des années 1990, même si, en tant que collecte scientifique de matière vivante (plantes, champignons, micro-organismes, animaux, etc.), il s’agit d’une pratique ancienne et très répandue. Cette pratique peut s’appuyer sur la participation des populations indigènes et de leurs savoirs traditionnels sur les plantes, comme il en est question ici. [...] On voudrait analyser ici la bioprospection non dans ses modalités pratiques, mais plutôt comme objet de conflit politique, de controverse sociotechnique, permettant de faire dialoguer scientifiques, militants et politiques. [...]"
"An understanding of the current policies that conjugate the conservative interests with the develompental demands needs an analysis of the sustainable development concept. This study examines how the environmental change is perceived by a farmer comunity located in a Biosphere Reserve. We observe how the policies promoted by the globalising development tear down progressively the universe of meanings of the farmers. Thus, their particular view of the natural, productive and social cycles goes through a crisis, creating a dependence based on the incomprehension and ignorance of external factors. This analysis leads us to address some ideas for the management of protected natural areas, taking into consideration all the actors, interests and notions involved in order to achieve an integrating and communicative sustainable development."
Establishment of conservation areas has become a standard strategy for protecting biodiversity. Different categories are distinguished, such as those that aim at enhancing local participation. Although rapid evolution has taken place since the 1970s, stimulating participation still challenges conservationists. Understanding the complex issues impacting on participation is a first step in finding more effective methods of conservation. The present article addresses this issue by contrasting farmer and conventional perspectives on conservation. A differentiation between ecologically oriented biodiversity conservation perspectives and livelihood-oriented resource diversity perspectives is proposed. A case study from western Mexico illustrates both perspectives.
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)
Migration, poverty, security and social networks: A Central American perspective.
Morales, A Morales, A, Daniel Villafuerte Solis, 2010
This article provides a critical introduction to understanding the migration–poverty relationship from a different perspective, i.e. by focusing on the migration–livelihoods nexus from the point of view of social structures and people’s living conditions. The discussion presented here is based on analysis of different analytical approaches to migration in Central America and the Caribbean, developed within the framework of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR), an international research programme focusing on mitigating syndromes of global change. The present appraisal provides a broader explanation of the scope of relationships in the development of social life reproduction strategies, envisaging migration as
an answer to problems of inequality and as a resource for poverty alleviation strategies, from a Central American perspective.
In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors. Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp 417-433.
Rapid urbanisation, population growth and changes in lifestyles in low- and middle-income countries contribute to increasing the per capita domestic waste generation. This trend leads to deplorable environmental and public health conditions, especially in rapidly expanding cities of low- and middle-income countries lacking appropriate waste management systems, Santiago de Cuba is no exception. To improve solid waste management in the city of Santiago de Cuba, the generation of household waste was studied and individual waste treatment approaches were assessed.
The paper contains the results of the composition and distribution of the waste generated by the households as a function of socio-demographic data. Furthermore, the paper describes the various household treatment strategies dependent on specific waste material types.
Verhaltensbestimmende Faktoren der Abfall-Trennung in Santiago de Cuba
Martin Soland, 2006
Master's Thesis, University of Zurich, Switzerland
The MSc thesis describes a model that was developed to accuratly predict the waste segregation behaviour of individuals in Santiago de Cuba, allowing specific target oriented intervention actions to promote social responsible waste segregation practices.
This article discusses alternative sanitation systems enabling the reuse of human waste (organic solid waste, urine, faeces) in agriculture. Case studies in Mexico, China, and Ghana illustrate how the concept of closing nutrient cycles can be succesfully implemented.
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
