«El avión de papel» es un método para la enseñanza del francés como lengua extranjera (FLE) a niños. Esta propuesta metodológica para la enseñanza del FLE a niños en condición de discapacidad cognitiva fue creada con el fin de identificar y poner en práctica estrategias didácticas para promover una verdadera inclusión pedagógica desde la clase de francés en el colegio IED Villemar el Carmen de Bogotá. Durante esta investigación – acción se siguieron cinco etapas fundamentales: - En primer lugar, se hizo una exploración del contexto educativo a través de la implementación de dos encuestas, teniendo por objetivo conocer características específicas del colegio y de los estudiantes. - Posteriormente, se realizaron observaciones en todos los grupos de educación especial durante la clase de lengua materna con el fin de reconocer ciertos elementos sobresalientes con respecto a estrategias metodológicas y situaciones de interacción. (Estudiantes-docentes) - La tercera etapa comprende una revisión de nociones teóricas referentes a tres temas esenciales para la promoción de la inclusión educativa a partir de la clase de FLE: La pedagogía de la inclusión, el desarrollo cognitivo de los niños y los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje de lenguas a niños, incluso aquellos en condición de discapacidad cognitiva. - La siguiente etapa hace referencia a la concepción y creación de la propuesta metodológica teniendo en cuenta el programa de educación especial como punto de referencia. - La última etapa es dedicada a la experimentación del manual “El avión de papel” en dos grupos de educación especial, específicamente segundo y tercero de primaria. A lo largo de este proceso, se logró la creación del libro para los estudiantes junto a la guía pedagógica para orientar a los docentes a utilizar mejor este método. Finalmente, algunos puntos fuertes y posibles remediaciones para el manual son considerados a partir de las 300 de enseñanza.

During the last decade massive immigration of people, regardless of its reason has been a new challenge for many countries around the world. People leave their homes in pursuit of safety and protection but in many cases they fail and not only do not find a new home but also unintentionally/intentionally affect the quality of the hosting country and jeopardize its vitality. On the one hand immediate (short term) effects of immigration need to be considered in order to define the structure of the emerging community and also its interaction with the existing one (hosting country). On the other hand, since there is no clear prediction for life expectancy of these communities, in long term what is left of these transitions can be very decisive for the future of the existing community. According to the United Nations refugee commission ACNUR, Latin America and the Caribbean is the third region most affected due to migration issues with 3.99 million compared with the rest Africa 13.5, Asia 20, Europe 2.6. Inside the region Colombia is the country with the highest number of people that have been displaced, and Ecuador as the host country with the biggest refugee population. Colombian farmers leave their homes in the countryside to live in the suburbs of big cities. The forced change of residence transforms the idea of own self and about the space occupied, their physical location in the place of arrival shows the precarious conditions surrounding them, lying outsourced and crumbled from this space they built for themselves and their family. This physical and emotional transit characterizes the notion of displacing, because it becomes key to understand the struggle to reinvent a place for them in the urban space where new ways of appropriation of space emerge. Such transit also brings the conflict of coexistence between newcomers and resident migrants, the territory appears as a space where they must acquire their own house and stabilize their living conditions. In this project firstly immigration and its short/long time effects on several cases will be studied. Afterwards considering the life span of these settlements (future Identity) a proposal based on integration of communities through specific arrangement of housing (based on introducing modular design) that encourage the public participation in development of the habitat, a prototype will be suggested.

The aim of this work is to propose an effective design strategy to deliver complex information to a multicultural audience. Following this notion, this project attempts to recognise how the principles of interface design and learning could be applied in cross-cultural communication. To carry out this proposal, an e-learning course aimed at international students was developed. E-learning was chosen as an ideal starting point to perform an interface analysis, as through learning effectiveness is possible to assess efficacy in communication, giving a chance to evaluate an interface design under specific parameters. To propose a method that could address this goal, it became clear that the application of a multidisciplinary approach was crucial. Therefore, the proposed design strategy seeks to find the links between interface design heuristics, learning principles and cultural factors analysing a group of 349 international students from five different nationalities registered at the Bauhaus University of Weimar (Winter Semester 2015/16). Using the design strategy detailed in this document, an interface for an e-learning course was developed and, it will be implemented in the context of a pilot test during the Summer Semester 2017.

Abstract: Cetacean distribution was assessed by examining the relationships between oceanographic variables and cetacean species occurrence along the Pacific Exclusive Economic Zone (PEEZ) and the Caribbean Exclusive Economic Zone (CEEZ) in Colombia. The study areas were gridded at a resolution of 1o lat/long with 60 grid cells for the CEEZ and 37 grid cells for the PEEZ. Raster surfaces of four oceanographic variables (Temperature (°C), Salinity (PSU), Density (kg/m3), and Chlorophyll-a (Chla: ?g/l)) were generated through Interpolation Distance Weighting (IDW) to obtain mean values of response variables per grid cell. Data from cetacean species were related to the oceanographic variables using Redundancy Analyses ordination (RDA). Eighteen cetacean species were observed in the CEEZ and 22 cetacean species in the PEEZ, with a total of 617 and 828 sightings, and mean richness values of 2.8 (SD=7.54) and 3.69 (SD=3.27) cetaceans per grid cell, respectively. Distribution patterns showed counts concentrated in the continental shelf and adjacent to the coast for both regions. The CEEZ had concentrations in the northern Guajira Peninsula, in the central Santa Marta and Tayrona NP, in the southern Gulf of Morrosquillo, Cispatá Bay and the Gulf of Urabá, with a particular concentration in open waters around the Jamaica-Colombia Joint Regime. The PEEZ had cetacean concentrations in the northern Solano and Málaga Bay, in the central Buenventura city, in the southern Gorgona Island and Tumaco, with an important concentration in open waters in Malpelo Island. Distributions of cetaceans in the CEEZ showed an unclear correlation with oceanographic parameters (p=0.188), and no relationship between grid cells and species (p= 0.4426, p= 0.2547, and p= 0.1988, respectively). On the contrary, in the PEEZ, cetacean communities were mostly correlated to Chla, Density, and Salinity (Chla p= 0.016983, Density p= 0.018981, and Salinity p= 0.008991, respectively). Resumen: La distribución de cetáceos se evaluó examinando las relaciones entre las variables oceanográficas y la ocurrencia de especies de cetáceos a lo largo de la Zona Económica Exclusiva del Pacífico (PEEZ) y la Zona Económica Exclusiva del Caribe (CEEZ) en Colombia. Las áreas de estudio fueron divididas en cuadrículas con una resolución de 1º lat / long con 60 celdas para el CEEZ y 37 celdas para el PEEZ. Se generaron superficies ráster de cuatro variables oceanográficas (Temperatura (° C), Salinidad (PSU), Densidad (kg / m3), y Clorofila-a (Chla: μg / l)) mediante la Determinación de Distancia de Interpolación (IDW) para obtener valores promedio de las variables de respuesta por cada celda de las cuadrículas. Los datos de las especies de cetáceos se relacionaron con las variables oceanográficas usando la ordenación de análisis de redundancia (RDA). Se observaron 18 especies de cetáceos en la CEEZ y 22 especies de cetáceos en el PEEZ, con un total de 617 y 828 avistamientos, y valores promedio de riqueza de 2,8 (SD = 7,54) y 3,69 (SD = 3,27) por celda, respectivamente. Los patrones de distribución mostraron concentraciones en la plataforma continental y adyacentes a la costa para ambas regiones. La CEEZ obtuvo concentraciones en el norte por la Península de La Guajira, en la parte central en Santa Marta y el PNN Tayrona, en el sur en el Golfo de Morrosquillo, Bahía de Cispatá y el Golfo de Urabá, y con especial concentración en aguas abiertas alrededor del Área de Régimen Común Jamaica-Colombia. El PEEZ tenía concentraciones de cetáceos en el norte en Bahía Solano y Bahía Málaga, en la parte central en la ciudad de Buenventura, en el sur en la Isla Gorgona y enTumaco, con una importante concentración en aguas abiertas en la Isla Malpelo. Las distribuciones de cetáceos en la CEEZ mostraron una correlación poco clara con los parámetros oceanográficos (p = 0,188), y ninguna relación entre las celdas de la cuadrícula y las especies (p = 0,4426, p = 0,2547 y p = 0,1988, respectivamente). Por el contrario, en el PEEZ, las comunidades de cetáceos se correlacionaron principalmente con Chla, Densidad y Salinidad (Chla p = 0,016983, Densidad p = 0,018981 y Salinidad p = 0,008991, respectivamente).

Prescriptive ideas on war have been traditionally focused on the reasons and the means of war. However, contemporary scholars have emphasised the importance of normative judgements about the aftermath of armed conflicts. Although peacetime after war has been mainly guided by notions of corrective justice like retribution and restoration, a distributive approach to justice is currently proposed to redress socio-economic inequalities within highly unequal post-conflict scenarios. From this perspective, a peaceful state of affairs that preserves severe inequalities could not be deemed a just peace. In this regard, Colombian conflict is frequently utilised as an example of the expected role of distribution after war. Then, it seems a relevant question whether reducing socio-economic inequalities through mechanisms of distributive justice must be considered indispensable for a just peace after war. I will argue that distributive justice must be regarded as essential for a just peace within highly unequal post-conflict societies like Colombia. To that end, consequentialist and deontological arguments for post-conflict distribution will be discussed to analyse Colombian case as a scenario in which a just peace must necessarily include notions of distribution.

The main purpose of this research is to demonstrate the connection between the vernacular architecture of La Cabaña and El Chuzo, two coffee regions of Caldas, Colombia, and how their ordinary domestic spaces of everyday life are defined and intimately related to the process of coffee production. The study of both veredas will lead us to understand an architecture that has been shaped by the two systems of coffee production in Caldas, known as Latifundios1 (La Cabaña) and minifundios2 (El Chuzo). Both systems determine the social and economic structure of the Caldas coffee region and therefore also its vernacular architecture and its peoples’ everyday life. This study will demonstrate the tangible and intangible qualities of these places, enabling us to understand in a deep way their values, meaning, and change over time. In Colombia, a country just starting to document its history and to create a written patrimony, being able to narrate what people do not know about La Cabaña and El Chuzo is a way to work toward a better understanding of the coffee region´s vernacular architecture and cultural landscape, and its sense of place and identity. To achieve this understanding of the coffee region, the project is undertaken in the emerging field of Cultural Landscape studies. This methodology aims to identify and analyze the essential and fundamental qualities of specific places, to then reveal their sense of place and identity. The study is done through historic photographs, oral histories, interviews, direct observation and documentation of peoples’ everyday lives around the process of coffee production. Only by studying how people live and the activities that take place in their domestic spaces and by being part of their everyday life, will we be able to understand how the vernacular architecture of La Cabaña and El Chuzo has been shaped by the process and culture of coffee production.

The FreshWaterMill project is a transfer of Environmentally Sound Technology (EST) from The Netherlands to Colombia that involves several Dutch companies, the Delft University of Technology and Coralina (corporation for sustainable development of the Archipelago San Andrés, Providence and Saint Kathleen). The installation place is Johnny Cay, a small islet 1.5 km northeast from San Andrés, Colombia, uninhabited and exclusive for touristic use (Van Tonningen, 2014). The technology is a wind powered reverse osmosis (RO) system that can fulfil the drinkable water and electricity demands of the Cay. This way can be alleviated the sanitary conditions resulting from unsustainable touristic practices. Moreover, this project is seen as a promoter of sustainable development in the Archipelago (Coralina, 2006), and as a potential solution to provide electricity and water to rural and remote areas of low utility coverage but abundant wind power. There are no environmental or social impact analyses that validate the sustainable character of the technology transfer. Moreover, although it is intended to improve the livelihood of target users their opinions are not reflected in the project plans. This situation resembles those factors that describe the trend to failure of technology transfers. Therefore this research made an integral assessment of the project as a Socio-Technical System (STS) to provide useful findings and recommendations that could lead it away from such trend. The Functions of Innovation Systems (FIS) framework (Van Alphen, 2008) was chosen for a systems approach analysis. Through this was found that poor planning, insufficient financial resources and ineffective communication channels are the most relevant barriers for a successful implementation of the FreshWaterMill. The most relevant drivers are the suitability of the place for a wind/RO system, the planning of a local educational center, a remarkable advocacy for Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) in the Archipelago and the existence of local human capital and R&D on RE. Five conditions for self-organization were derived from the PAR (Participatory Action Research) methodology to explore the likeliness of self-organization for bottom-up management. Through this methodology was shown that the difficult relationship between the corporation and the touristic service providers, their lack of group cohesion, managerial and operational capacities, ignorance and/or misuse of instruments for self-organization, make unfeasible for this group to address the barriers and support the drivers of the project. Relevant conditions from the context not covered by the previous methodologies were also included. These reflected that the advocacy for RETs is counteracted by the fragmentation between institutional actors and their lack of managerial skills on technology topics, which makes them rely on national and international assistance to achieve a technological transition. The regular interaction that Johnny Cay workers will have with the windmill, the affinity of the life plan of young adults to the project objectives and the likeliness of this group to make economic contributions urges the need for a participatory approach. The socio-cultural crisis of the Archipelago supports this recommendation. However, the difficulty of institutional entities to understand and assume the roles that require a participatory approach and the path dependency on top-down regulation makes it a complex challenge. A participatory approach for the FreshWaterMill is indirectly supported by the management plan of the Natural Regional Park Johnny Cay and the Community and institutional participation board. Additional to the commitment of the corporation to assume an enabling role, the process needs a mediator so the touristic service.

An extended method of the optimal rapidly exploration random tree (RRT*) for car-like robots is presented in this research paper. As it is known RRT* approach allows finding an asymptotic optimal solution to path planning problem. However, a lot of unnecessary waypoints are necessary as well as sharp corners between two consecutive segments. Also in this work, a removing redundant waypoints method is implemented by checking the visibility along a neighborhood from an initial configuration which will yield a pruned path. To avoid complex turning of the robot in each waypoint, a smoothness path method is implemented by using quintic Bèzier spline as parametric curve taking into account the constraints imposed by the robot leading to increasing the convergence rate to reach an optimum or near an optimum solution and decrease the execution time. Finally, a simulation is presented to verify the effectiveness of the new path.

The following research is an exploration on the development of solutions from the discipline of graphic communication, to support war victims in Colombia. The research was focused on the study of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and the methods to treat this mental disorder such as Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Art Therapy. The initial phase of the project consisted on creating a book inspired onthe therapies mentioned above, exploring how graphic communication could facilitate trauma treatment and visually reinforce those methods previously studied. Afterwards, the project advanced into using illustration as a tool to criticize the psychological and sociocultural effects of Colombian war on victims and society. The social discomfort motivated by war led me to think of Colombia as a nation suffering from analogue trauma, a moderated emulation of PTSD. Thus, my illustrations were collages inspired on each symptom of PTSD, Magic Realism – One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, and photojournalists Jesús Abad Colorado, Josh Rushing and Álvaro Ybarra. Finally, these illustrations explored how graphic communication could motivate debates and nurture critical perspectives about armed conflict in Colombia; also, raise awareness about the importance of supporting victims with mental health programs.

"The dissertation is an analytical review of the available literature on marine protected areas (MPAs) to propose some governance, and spatial management mechanisms in the Colombian Caribbean Sea, particularly in the Seaflower MPA. The Seaflower MPA is facing several challenges regarding political issues of boundary disputes and also adverse impacts on the marine environment from the increase in shipping activities. This is largely due to the expansion of the Panama Canal and the possible Nicaragua Canal, which is increasing the maritime traffic of international shipping to almost double that of today. In addition, the increase in seabed activities is also a threat to the ecosystems within it. This research describes the Colombian framework of MPAs, and it also shows the issues that face the Seaflower MPA today. The aim is to propose and to recommend some governance and management measures based on the ecosystem-based approach to establish a transboundary agreement keeping the integrity of the MPA and giving regional relevance for the protection of the unique ecosystems. Furthermore, to address the issues of negative impacts from shipping, some protective measures have to be taken to protect the ecosystems and safe navigation guaranteeing long-term sustainable development. "