In representative democratic systems, governments are expected to act in the interest of citizens in a responsive manner. A core feature of democracy settings is accountability which is needed for citizens to judge the propriety and effectiveness representatives’ actions and decisions. Generally, elections are seen as the main accountability mechanisms but they have shown to be insufficient for citizens to control their representatives and effective democracy. Despite its importance, literature on the field shows significant variance in its conceptualization what has hindered the development of a fixed tool for the systematic and rigorous analysis of accountability. This research focuses on the relationship between citizens and their representatives to hold them accountable –social accountability– by means other than elections. Qualitative content analysis was employed by this research to critically compare and analyse eight prominent tools developed to assess the level or quality of accountability. Furthermore, I argue that the Between Elections Democracy framework and its core concepts (e.g. responsiveness, ongoing interactions) can help to advance but so far the approach has not included the study of accountability. Thus, this research contributes to fill a gap in the BED framework by identifying social accountability as relevant phenomena to study and including other actors besides governments as representatives. Another significant contribution is the proposal of an initial set of indicators for a systematic and comparative evaluation of social accountability. Resumen: En sistemas de democracia representativa, se espera que los gobiernos actúen respondiendo a los intereses de los ciudadanos. Una característica esencial de establecimientos democráticos es la accountability (rendición de cuentas), la cual es necesaria para que los ciudadanos juzguen la efectividad de las actuaciones y decisiones de sus representantes. Generalmente, las elecciones son vistas como el principal mecanismo para juzgar y ‘exigir’ cuentas, pero éstas han mostrado ser insuficientes para que los ciudadanos ejerzan control sobre sus representantes y procurar una democracia efectiva. A pesar de su importancia, la literatura en este campo muestra una significativa variedad en la conceptualización, lo que ha obstaculizado el desarrollo de una herramienta para el estudio riguroso y sistemático de accountability. Esta investigación se enfoca en la relación entre ciudadanos y sus representantes para ejercer control sobre estos últimos – rendición de cuentas social- por medios distintos a las elecciones. El análisis cualitativo de contenido fue utilizado para críticamente, comparar y analizar ocho herramientas destacadas, desarrolladas para evaluar niveles o calidad de accountability. Incluso, este trabajo argumenta que el marco teórico de Democracia Entre Elecciones (BED en inglés) que incluye conceptos como receptividad e interacción permanente puede ayudar a avanzar en la tarea, pero hasta ahora no ha sido aplicado al estudio de rendición de cuentas. De esta manera, esta investigación contribuye al marco BED al incluir la rendición de cuentas como un fenómeno relevante. Otra importante contribución es la propuesta de indicadores para el análisis sistemático y comparativo de la rendición de cuentas.

This dissertation explores the relationship between corruption and social trust in Colombia through a mixed methods study that combines descriptive statistics and semi-structured interviews. Two hypotheses are established: first, that corruption is a cause of low social trust and second, that there are external factors that affect the relationship between corruption and social trust. The analysis confirms both hypotheses as results show that there is a strong correlation between the two factors, corruption is a cause of low social trust in the country, and three main external factors affect this relationship in the national context, which are culture, violence and drug trafficking, and Catholicism.

This research contrasts two of the most common methods used to estimate sprinkler response, semi-empirical correlations and computational models based on fluid dynamics. The semi-empirical calculations are based on Alpert’s relations and the modelling task is carried out with the software tool Fire Dynamic Simulator, FDS. The case studies implemented in this work were defined considering the limitations of Alpert’s equations. Different enclosure configurations were considered, such as, unconfined spaces (open rooms - steady state and time-dependent fires), confined spaces (rooms with parallel walls creating corridors – steady state fires) and obstructed areas (rooms with beams in the ceiling – steady state fires). The results obtained show that both approaches predict accurately the sprinklers activation time for unconfined configurations, except for the heat release of 500 kW since Alpert's relationships are not applicable for small fires. In general, the tendency observed is that semi-empirically calculated values are more conservative, resulting in the prediction of longer activation times. Therefore, this would result in designs based on the worst-case scenario, showing that Alpert’s correlations can be applied with certain confidence. On the contrary, for confined and obstructed scenarios, the outcomes show that the semi-empirical correlations are not completely reliable for this type of enclosures. In confined configurations, regardless of the magnitude of the heat release rate, the more confined the corridor, the sooner the sprinkler activation occurs. Therefore, in these cases, although Alpert's relationships consider the worst risk scenario by predicting longer activation times, the design of fire protection systems will be based on inappropriate values. In obstructed scenarios, even the smallest obstruction modifies the ceiling jet flow due to the presence of the beams, varying also the smooth ceiling jet attributes characteristic of unconfined scenarios. Therefore in rooms with obstructions, the semi-empirical correlations are not applicable anymore for devices located in a bay other than the primary, since Alpert´s equations predict shorter activation times to those that could be expected in reality, which means that the worst risk scenario would not be considered. This study demonstrates the importance of using computational tools for sprinkler response estimations, being a useful and valid alternative to analyse complex fire scenarios and to improve fire protection systems designs.

AEC industry is currently facing a remarkable transformative stage given by the use of disruptive technologies alongside a gradually increasing interest form project participants to enhance collaborative dynamics in projects, throughout the implementation of technologies such as Building Information Modelling, migrating from a fragmented conduct workflow in the built environment projects, to a share and open- access iterative process. The rising popularity and the wide adoption of these technology had unleash a high level of digital information and sharing transactions, overcoming the capacity of current digital infrastructures, entailing some collateral effects for the AEC organisations, such as handling with vast amount of information during multiple projects, increasing the complexity of data and resulting in a mistrust on the reliability on the information. Blockchain is the unbounded innovation technology behind cryptocurrencies, the characteristics of this platform presents multiple similarities with the database in the BIM files and the network workflows of information set a feasible scenario for the application of this technology as a backbone of BIM, this study sought to unveil and explore possible technological fusion between these two ground-breaking technologies, to achieve these goals, this study sets a qualitative methodology conducted with two approaches, a systematic literature review regarding previous research about this technologies alongside personal interviews with professionals in the AEC industry related to this. The findings on these two approaches are later discussed and analysed unveiling the best path that future researchers might follow to continue with the development of these technologies, benefiting the AEC industry in the long term. Resumen: La industria de AEC se enfrenta actualmente a una notable etapa de transformación dada por el uso de tecnologías disruptivas junto con un interés gradualmente creciente de los participantes del proyecto para mejorar la dinámica de colaboración en los proyectos, a lo largo de la implementación de tecnologías como el Modelado de información de construcción, migrando desde un flujo de trabajo fragmentado en entornos constructivos, a un proceso iterativo de acceso abierto y compartido. La creciente popularidad y la amplia adopción de estas tecnologías han desencadenado un alto nivel de información digital y transacciones de intercambio, superando la capacidad de las infraestructuras digitales actuales, lo que conlleva algunos efectos colaterales para las organizaciones de AEC, como el manejo con gran cantidad de información durante múltiples proyectos, aumentando la complejidad de los datos y dando lugar a una desconfianza en la fiabilidad de la información. Blockchain es la tecnología de innovación ilimitada detrás de las criptomonedas, las características de esta plataforma presentan múltiples similitudes con la base de datos en los archivos BIM y los flujos de trabajo de la red de información establecen un escenario factible para la aplicación de esta tecnología como columna vertebral de BIM, este estudio buscó Revelar y explorar la posible fusión tecnológica entre estas dos tecnologías innovadoras, para lograr estos objetivos, este estudio establece una metodología cualitativa realizada con dos enfoques, una revisión sistemática de la literatura sobre investigaciones anteriores sobre estas tecnologías junto con entrevistas personales con profesionales en la industria de AEC relacionados a esto. Los resultados de estos dos enfoques se discuten y analizan más tarde, revelando el mejor camino que los futuros investigadores podrían seguir para continuar con el desarrollo de estas tecnologías, beneficiando a la industria de AEC a largo plazo.

In 2019, the European Commission published the “2030 Clean Energy for All Europeans” package, as part of the 2050 Energy roadmap. To comply with the European directives, Italy published the National Energy and Climate Plan setting a target of 55% for RES share in electricity generation by 2030. This high RES generation target raises concerns about the operational flexibility of the Italian power system. The flexibility of the Italian power system was measured using currently available flexibility frameworks and indexes (e.g.: AFPER, FAST2). Hence, the 2030 Base Scenario and 15 alternative scenarios were simulated using Promed Grid, a market tool developed by CESI and able to perform a coordinated hydro- thermal dispatching over a one-year horizon, considering the adoption of some flexibility sources such as storage systems and demand response. The results were then compared to characterize the performance of each flexibility source and its influence on the power system. BESS, PHS, and DR showed a level of complementarity while covering flexibility needs and controlling price spikes. Daily needs are covered mainly by BESS and weekly needs by PHS, mainly during the summer since both technologies were more used due to high solar power generation. Conversely, peak shedding DR was primarily activated in winter since prices are higher and storage systems lees used. In the case of V2G and DR, the role of aggregators is vital to have a representative capacity to be offered in the power markets. Finally, from a holistic perspective, the benefits of implanting all flexibility source are higher than the costs. Nevertheless, such benefits should be redistributed to incentivize the deployment of certain sources with low benefit-cost ratios. The results of this thesis can serve as a starting point to delve into the technical performance and economic implications of each flexibility source. In addition, it highlighted the advantages for Italy of boosting and supporting some schemes such as DR and V2G, as well as incentivizing the installation of storage systems.

Sergio Cabrera is a prominent figure in the history of Colombian cinema: with seven long-feature films made throughout a career of more than thirty years, the director is one of the most renowned Colombian filmmakers in the country and abroad. His oeuvre has always aimed to address Colombian social reality through an original blending of his approach to cinema as an auteur and the deployment of accessible genres, narratives, and aesthetics. However, his relevance has not always been accompanied by a thorough scholarship that methodically analyses his films. This dissertation aims to fill this gap regarding academic studies about Cabrera’s films, especially considering his work as a corpus, not separately. In the following study, the author makes a textual analysis that aims to critically describe the aesthetic and ideological elements within three films from the 1990’s by Sergio Cabrera that constitute the director’s representation of Colombian society, focusing on three main social issues depicted in each film: social class (La estrategia del caracol), gender (Ilona llega con la lluvia), and armed conflict (Golpe de estadio). To do such analysis, this dissertation uses the concept Melorealism, an encompassing category coined by Paul A. Schroeder Rodríguez to outline the aesthetic, ideological, and economical factors that have shaped Latin American films from 1990s. The analysis will ultimately show that Cabrera’s oeuvre is constantly moving within a spectrum defined by utopia and reality. Resumen: Sergio Cabrera es una figura destacada en la historia del cine colombiano: con siete largometrajes realizados a lo largo de una carrera de más de treinta años, el director es uno de los cineastas colombianos más reconocidos en el país y en el extranjero. Su obra siempre ha tenido como objetivo abordar la realidad social colombiana a través de una combinación original de su enfoque del cine como autor y el despliegue de géneros, narrativas y estéticas accesibles. Sin embargo, su relevancia no siempre ha estado acompañada de un estudio exhaustivo que analice metódicamente sus películas. Esta tesis tiene como objetivo llenar este vacío con respecto a los estudios académicos sobre las películas de Cabrera, especialmente considerando su trabajo como un corpus, no por separado. En el siguiente estudio, se realiza un análisis textual que tiene como objetivo describir críticamente los elementos estéticos e ideológicos dentro de tres películas de la década de 1990 de Sergio Cabrera que constituyen una representación de la sociedad colombiana desde la perspectiva del director, centrándose en tres temas sociales principales representados en cada película: clase social (La estrategia del caracol), género (Ilona llega con la lluvia) y conflicto armado (Golpe de estadio). Para hacer dicho análisis, esta disertación utiliza el concepto Melorealismo, una categoría acuñada por Paul A. Schroeder Rodríguez para delinear los factores estéticos, ideológicos y económicos que han dado forma a las películas latinoamericanas de la década de 1990. El análisis finalmente mostrará que la obra de Cabrera se mueve constantemente dentro de un espectro definido por la utopía y la realidad.

The importance of the knowledge universities constantly generate through research cannot be denied, and the appliance of this knowledge and its potential impact in industry has created challenges for the relation among academics and practitioners. One important topic for higher education is how to better generate relevant knowledge than can relate to industry and contribute to knowledge creation. That question has been examined by engaged scholarship where collaboration has been a tool to put both universes together. However, this model also faces some challenges which make pertinent the study of new ways to transfer knowledge from academia to industry. This research attempts to find the extent into which the appliance of creativity in knowledge translation could enhance knowledge transfer effectiveness. Advertising has shown effectiveness with the use of creativity; therefore, this research aims to link creative advertising and knowledge transfer to experiment with the role of creativity for a better academic communication. Resumen: No se puede negar la importancia del conocimiento que las universidades generan constantemente a través de la investigación y que el uso de este conocimiento y su impacto en la industria ha creado desafíos para la relación entre académicos y profesionales. Un tema importante para la educación superior es cómo generar conocimiento relevante que sea posible de relacionar con la industria y contribuir a la creación de conocimiento. Esa pregunta ha sido examinada en diferentes tipos de estudio en donde la colaboración ha sido una herramienta para unir ambos universos. Sin embargo, este modelo también enfrenta algunos desafíos que hacen pertinente el estudio de nuevas formas de transferir conocimiento de la academia a la industria. Esta investigación intenta encontrar en qué medida el uso de la creatividad en la traducción del conocimiento podría mejorar la eficacia en la transferencia de conocimiento. La publicidad ha demostrado efectividad con el uso de la creatividad; Por lo tanto, esta investigación tiene como objetivo vincular la publicidad creativa y la transferencia de conocimiento para experimentar el papel de la creatividad en la comunicación académica.

Kingdon’ (2014) Multiple Stream Framework (MSF) is a novel agenda-setting model, which is recognised for introducing agency into the agenda-setting processes. Empirical evidence indicates that there are cases in which a policy entrepreneur couples the three streams, from the MSF model, to close a policy window, for maintaining a policy status quo. Yet, the closing window policy entrepreneur role has not been developed under the MSF. Therefore, this study has been designed to initially explore the process by which an interest group couples to close a policy window under the MSF. This research applied the theoretical constructs of the MSF model in a Colombian television policy case study. In this case, two interest groups competed for a different policy result. One of them was a collective policy entrepreneur advocating for a policy status quo. The key findings of the research are that: (i) one interest group acted as a collective policy entrepreneur, and coupled the three streams to introduce a topic on the agenda for maintaining a policy status quo; and (ii) to handle the power imbalance, this coupling strategy was developed within a favourable narrative and problem categorization. These findings are synthesised and embodied in the following three key propositions: (i) Interest groups aiming for a policy status quo might act as policy entrepreneurs when they are willing to invest their resources to introduce a topic on the agenda, for maintaining a policy status quo. (ii) Policy entrepreneurs that advocate for a policy status quo might use an agenda-setting strategy within the MSF processes. (iii) When there are two competing policy entrepreneurs in an agenda-setting process and one believes that has less power than the other, the agency strategy might involve the re-categorization of the problem and a favourable narrative to handle the power imbalance. To my knowledge, this research is original as it is the first attempt across the agenda-setting literature to empirically study how a policy window is being closed under the MSF. Therefore, this work might be used in future research, to continue the exploration of the policy entrepreneur role in closing a window under the MSF model.

Este trabajo establece un marco de referencia a partir de la relación entre la idea de Naturaleza y Arquitectura en la obra de Le Corbusier, a través del análisis de su obra arquitectónica y pictórica. Esto se construye a la luz de sus textos y la experiencia del pasado, capturado a partir de sus viajes. Esta investigación se enfoca especialmente, en la compleja similitud que existe entre un texto como Après le Cubisme de 1918 y Le Poème de l´Angle Droit de1955. El trabajo presenta 3 etapas: Formulación y revisión crítica del concepto de naturaleza tanto en los textos de Le Corbusier, así como en su obra pictórica y arquitectónica. Esta revisión crítica parte de sus ideales planteados desde 1918 y desarrollados en su etapa purista durante los años veinte, donde la incidencia de su visita al Partenón durante su Viaje a Oriente (1911) es fundamental, en la formulación de sus postulados ante la relación del arte y la arquitectura con el concepto de naturaleza. La segunda etapa es el análisis e interpretación de Le Poème de l´Angle Droit de1955. Obra que da cuenta de la reflexión sobre su propia experiencia de vida, en la que se reafirman naturaleza e historia como elementos esenciales del pensamiento proyectual de Le Corbusier. La tercera parte del trabajo, establece de forma sintética, la relación entre la experiencia frente a la arquitectura clásica, teniendo como eje principal su mirada sobre el Partenón, y la arquitectura moderna, tomando como referencia su Notre-Dame du Haut en Ronchamp, a la luz de una obra como Le Poème de l´Angle Droit. Como dice Le Corbusier: “Ser moderno no es una moda, es un estado. Hace falta comprender la historia, y quien comprende la historia sabe encontrar la continuidad entre lo que fue, lo que es y lo que será.” Abstract: This study establishes a framework construed on the relationship between the idea of Nature and Architecture in Le Corbusier’s work through the analysis of his architecture and plastic work. This is complemented by the analysis of his writings and the experience of the past, captured in his travels. This research focuses on the complex similarities between a book such as Après le Cubisme of 1918 and Le Poème de l´Angle Droit of 1955. This study is organized in three parts: A critical review of the concept of Nature both in Le Corbusier’s texts, as well as in his plastic and architectural work. This critical review starts with the study of his ideals, raised up since 1918 and developed in his Purist period during the twenties, where the influence of his visit to the Parthenon during his Voyage d’orient (1911), is a fundamental key on the formulation of his postulates on the relationship between Art and Architecture, with the concept of nature. The second part is an analytical interpretation of his book Le Poème de l´Angle Droit of 1955. This book accounts the reflection on his own life experience, in which nature and history are reaffirmed as essential elements of projective thinking. The third part, enlightened by a book as Le Poème de l´Angle Droit, establishes the relationship between his knwolegde of architecture of the classical period, with the Parthenon as his main reference, and modern architecture, with the reference of his project of the chapel of Notre-Dame du Haut in Ronchamp.

El desgaste por empatía es un concepto relativamente reciente y en evolución que ha captado el interés de los profesionales sanitarios debido a que el trabajo en el ámbito de la salud implica un coste emocional que repercute en la misma salud del trabajador y en su labor profesional. Según la literatura revisada, los programas en prevención en todos los niveles de este tipo de estrés son escasos, por lo tanto, el objetivo de este trabajo es proponer un programa de prevención del desgaste por empatía en profesionales sanitarios de una unidad de diálisis de hospital. La idea surgió de la necesidad manifiesta por la Unidad de Diálisis del Hospital Universitario Infanta Sofía (HUIS), hacia la Unidad de Salud Mental del mismo Hospital y de la confianza depositada en la investigación académica, relacionada con la dificultad en el afrontamiento a la muerte de pacientes de la Unidad, por parte del personal asistencial. El propósito es entonces entrenar a los profesionales en estrategias de regulación emocional del desgaste por empatía, con el fin de disminuir los niveles de este tipo de estrés y prevenir su futura aparición, por medio del desarrollo de 6 módulos, que se llevarán a cabo a través de diferentes ciclos y que puede tener continuidad a través de una modalidad de Formación Continuada. Se ha diseñado una evaluación estandarizada con el fin de medir la presunta efectividad del programa para prevenir el desgaste por empatía. Se realiza una valoración sobre los resultados esperados, las conclusiones del diseño de la propuesta del programa, así como de sus limitaciones y sobre futuras líneas de investigación. Abstract: The compassion fatigue is a relatively recent and evolving concept that has captured the interest of health professionals because working in health implies an emotional cost that affects the health and the worker performance. According to the revised literature, prevention programs at all levels of this kind of stress are scarce, therefore, the objective of this work is to propose a program of prevention of compassion fatigue in healthcare professionals of a dialysis unit of a hospital. The idea came up from the necessity exposed by the Dialysis Unit of the Hospital Universitario Infanta Sofia (HUIS), towards the Mental Health Unit of the same Hospital and from the confidence placed in the academic research, related to the difficulty of facing death of patients of the unit, by the assistance personnel. The purpose is then to train professionals in strategies of emotional regulation of compassion fatigue, in order to reduce the levels of this type of stress and prevent its future emergence, through the development of 6 modules, which will be carried out through different cycles and that can have continuity through a continuous training modality. A standardized assessment has been designed to measure the presumed effectiveness of the program to prevent the compassion fatigue. An assessment is made of the expected results, the conclusions of the design of the program proposal, as well as its limitations and future lines of research.