Abstract: The urgent need to assure access to animal protein and to protect the food security worldwide has led the animal production and fishery sector to a huge problem around the decisions they made based on the ethical perception. That is why, since the beginning, the science of animal welfare is concerned about the ideal conditions for animals in production systems. In aquaculture, for example, the operational welfare indicators have been used to establish the level of welfare that fishes have when they are cultured. Nevertheless, currently there is a knowledge gap regarding many fish farming species. For European sea bass and Gilthead sea bream there is not a list of indicators to determine the welfare conditions in intensive culture. This thesis was based on the review of scientific literature about indicators in commercial species, such as salmon. Also, the implementation of semi structured interviews in Culmarex, an aquaculture intensive company, make possible the selection and feedback about the application of operational welfare indicators in farms for European sea bass and Gilthead sea bream take into account biological, ethological and physiological aspects. To improve the work at farms, the traffic light approach was applied, expecting it to make it easier for the detection of indicators and to monitor the application of corrective measures in case of need. As a result, the production process as well as fish welfare will be improved. Resumen: La necesidad de garantizar el suministro de proteína de origen animal y de salvaguardar la seguridad alimentaria mundial, ha llevado a que las producciones agropecuarias y el sector acuícola hayan tenido que recurrir a grandes dilemas éticos al momento de priorizar sus decisiones; es por esto qué, desde el inicio de la ciencia del bienestar animal se han discutido las condiciones de crianza de los animales en producción. En el caso de la acuicultura, se ha recurrido al uso de los indicadores operacionales de bienestar para establecer el grado de “bien-estar” con el que están siendo criados los peces; sin embargo, en el caso de la lubina y la dorada, hasta el momento no se tiene un listado que permita cumplir con esta finalidad. Este trabajo consistió en la revisión bibliográfica de los indicadores usados en algunas especies de interés comercial como el salmón. Además de la selección de los parámetros adecuados para la lubina y la dorada, en función de su biología, etología y fisiología mediante la aplicación de entrevistas semiestructuradas al personal de Culmarex, una empresa de cría intensiva, en donde se pudo obtener información sobre la viabilidad de aplicación en granja. Todo esto, además de permitir la determinación de los indicadores operacionales de bienestar para las especies objeto de este trabajo, llevó a la elaboración de varias matrices siguiendo el método de “traffic lights”, el cual facilitará la monitorización y seguimiento de los indicadores y sus medidas correctivas, redundado en un mejoramiento de las condiciones de crianza de ambas especies.

Abstract: Law 160 of 1994 in Colombia marks a point of transit between the sterile attempts for agrarian reform in the 20th century and a series of market-based land policies. However, this law also marks the end of a cycle of peasant mobilization, especially in border areas, and with it a partial recognition of the peasant settlers is achieved, through what the law named Peasant Reserve Zones (PRZ). These zones allow basically three main things to the inhabitants of frontier zones: the titling of the land that the settlers have transformed and that they informally possess, the closure of the agricultural frontier through a control of the amount of land that can be owned inside the zone, and the peasant governance of the zone. The peasant governance is manifested through processes of territorial ordering, in which the peasant associations that impulse each zone regulates the social and economic activities of it. The majority of the academic literature that has analyzed the PRZ in the last 25 years has focused its attention in particular zones treating them as case studies. Through these cases, this literature has presented the PRZ as a reaction of the peasant communities to the processes of capital accumulation and capital penetration in the Colombian countryside. Nevertheless, this literature has done this analysis without considering in depth the variation in the strategies the PRZ have used in developing a repertoire of contention against the implementation of land policies before the law 160 was issued and after it, and focusing mainly in the critical geography discussion of the dynamics of territorialization. Through a sociological and historical analysis, this paper offers an initial exploration of the dynamic process of formation of a repertoire of contention of the Colombian PRZ. This paper analyzes in a parallel way the formation of the Colombian state and the formation of a peasant social movement. It concludes arguing that the PRZ have developed two repertoires of contention through which they have at the same time resist and create the Colombian state, and 5 strategies that have enabled them a margin of maneuver between the two repertoires.

Resumen: Esta publicación hace un recorrido y se sumerge en el fascinante mundo de los festivales de música en vivo. Para cualquier persona interesada en producir un festival de música como el "Festival Estéreo Picnic", esta tesis es una guía con recomendaciones claras sobre los principales elementos a tener en cuenta para producir un festival de música enfocado en música Latina y sus diferentes variaciones musicales. Las recomendaciones pueden ser aplicadas y adaptadas a cualquier ciudad del mundo. La tesis analiza los festivales de música más importantes del mundo y hace un listado de elementos y características que deben ser tomados en cuenta por el productor para lograr un evento exitoso. La publicación incluye un estudio demográfico de la población latina en la ciudad de Nueva York, ciudad donde proponga hacer el evento.

Abstract: From an ‘Amerindian Perspectivist’ methodology, I propose to unveil the epistemology of shamanism towards a new resolution of Western artificiality. Departing from the counteranthropological approach traversing Eduardo Viveiros de Castro’s work in Cannibal Metaphysics, addressing the necessity for a constant decolonization of thought as todays ontological anarchism, the direction I will pursue entangles the necessity to put into question two foundational aspects of modern Western dialectics: the constitution of selfhood, and the inherent consequence of that process as objectification of otherness, including the mineral ecosystem, and by extension: the artificial. Through a subtle process of weaving theoretical references, I will create a set of conversations between shamanism, decoloniality, neurology, and automation, that questioning the imperative paradigm of the symbolical as extension of the anthropocentric meta-projection of the human project, locates the potentiality of ‘the return to earth by the modern subject’ as a movement (the return to earth) Indigenous communities have always been inhabiting through the opposite operation of Western dialectics: personification, and the potential landscape to come from the consequential ‘Indigenization of the Modern imperative’. To unpack Amerindian Perspectivism as methodological approach, the task consists in resolving as structural direction; the entanglement deployed from Viveiros de Castro to his own discipline: anthropology , to resolve a counter-anthropology; in the case of this investigation, directed towards the intuition of a question not yet answered, that question being: how the artificial could be resolved through and after Indigenous Perspectivism? For that matter, quoting the Brazilian Anthropologist, who’s thesis will be the fundamental matrix to pursue the constellation I will be knitting, I will concentrate in ‘the who of things’ to inhabit what the Yanomami shaman Davi Kopenawa calls ‘the far-away thinking’ in his book The falling sky, a bio-semiotical entanglement signaling as non dissociated rationalization, to direct as departing point the deformation of our European conceptual apparatus, towards a different resolution of the artificial, question involving a different resolution of the computational mega-structure, question for a possible self in automation from a counter-development artificiality, but also, a different resolution of the methodological approach towards the construction of a Western thesis. Basically, in the encounter with Amerindian myth as another form of anthropology, we will open the construction of the Western dialectical frame as myth, and far away from a grotesque simplification, we will merge into Amerindian perspectivism to bring from that space, the primordial matrix to question the construction of our Western epistemic methods, the construction of our disciplines, and in that extension, another resolution of the artificial. For that matter, as weekly dynamic, I will be meeting in Ancestral territory; todays Colombia, the traditional doctors: Luis Yunda from the NASA community, Eduard Gil Jimenez from the Yanakuna community, Misael Tumbo from the NASA community, Joaquin Viluche from the NASA community, Julio Caldón from the Kokonuko community, and Manuel Sisco from the NASA community, looking in those conversations with the shamans, to open the transitional state of an epistemology of relation, looking to envision a resolution towards a shamanic epistemology of Western artificiality, and from this matrix of relations; another artificiality to come.

Abstract: In an effort to improve coverage of the school system at the primary and secondary education levels, schools in various countries have introduced partial school days. This policy is supposed to allow two or more shifts of students to use the same infrastructure and be instructed by the same teachers, but reduces the amount of time children spend in school. Despite some positive effects on coverage, two-shift schooling has negative impacts on various learning outcomes, such as students’ performance on standardized tests. Using longitudinal data from Pruebas Saber in Colombia, this paper explores the impact of a full day of school on performance in the mathematics and language scores. Initial OLS regression results are contrasted with fixed effects models. Some effect heterogeneity is explored as well. Positive and statistically significant effects are found across all models. However, there are considerable variations in the size of the effect. First, effects on the mathematics scores are consistently larger than effects on language. Second, full-day schooling is found to make more of a difference in contexts where resources outside the classroom are less available, such as public schools which tend to be underfunded, rural areas that tend to be underserved by public services, and in children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Differences in school quality have surprising interaction effects with the length of the school day. Additional instruction time is shown to make the most difference at both ends of the quality spectrum.

Abstract: The following text explores the potential business opportunities of international performing arts markets for an emerging Colombian producing company, Media Naranja (MN), which I founded, and currently manage. This research document begins with the definition of four key terms which have been essential for my development as a professional producer and are the foundation for the conceptual framework of Entrepreneurship, Strategic Planning, Funding Models, and Networking; examined concepts from scholars such as Tom Aegeson, Lidia Varbanova, Ivan Misner and Octavio Arbeláez. In the second part of this text, I discuss key learning points through the master's degree and how they have led me to frame my practice as a producer in an international environment. Then, the third is a glance at the cultural landscape of performing arts markets, its definition and purpose, emphasising the Performing Arts Market of the Atlantic South (Mercado de las Artes Performativas del Atlántico Sur –MAPAS). The fourth part is a SWOT analysis on a proposed project to participate in MAPAS 2020, on behalf of MN, as a producer and tour booker of one Colombian theatre piece. Based on the above, I conclude with a professional and personal plan that encompasses twelve months. This plan has been shaped by the experience along the course, the development of my company and my personal goals. Resumen: El siguiente texto explora las oportunidades comerciales potenciales de los mercados internacionales de las artes escénicas para una productora colombiana emergente como lo es Media Naranja (MN), la cual fundé y actualmente administro. Este documento de investigación comienza con la definición de cuatro términos clave que han sido fundamentales para mi desarrollo como productora profesional y son la base del marco conceptual: Emprendimiento, Planificación Estratégica, Modelos de Financiamiento y Networking; conceptos examinados por académicos como Tom Aegeson, Lidia Varbanova, Ivan Misner y Octavio Arbeláez. En la segunda parte de este texto, se analizan los conceptos claves de aprendizaje a través del máster y cómo me han llevado a enmarcar mi práctica como productora en un entorno internacional. Luego, el tercero es una mirada al panorama cultural de los mercados de las artes escénicas, su definición y propósito, haciendo énfasis en el Mercado de las Artes Escénicas del Atlántico Sur (MAPAS). La cuarta parte es un análisis DOFA sobre una propuesta de proyecto para participar en MAPAS 2020, en representación de MN, como productora y gestora de una gira de una obra de teatro colombiano. Con base en lo anterior, concluyo con un plan profesional y personal que abarca doce meses. Este plan ha sido moldeado por la experiencia a lo largo de la maestría, el desarrollo de mi empresa y mis objetivos personales.

Resumen: En las últimas décadas en Colombia se han percibido cambios importantes en la agricultura, relacionados con la concentración de la tierra, la expansión de la frontera agropecuaria, el crecimiento de algunos cultivos propios de la agricultura empresarial, así como el interés y adquisición de tierras por parte de actores nacionales y extranjeros. A nivel de las políticas públicas, los últimos gobiernos han realizado esfuerzos por permitir, en la legislación, la adquisición o el uso de tierras públicas por parte de empresas. Se destaca, dentro de estos esfuerzos, la promulgación de la Ley Zidres en 2016. Dichas transformaciones se enmarcan dentro de dinámicas internacionales que han llevado a la adopción del modelo de agronegocio en diferentes países. Esta tesis analiza, en el marco del neoliberalismo, la expansión del agronegocio en Colombia, a través del estudio de las transformaciones a nivel productivo, territorial y de las políticas públicas. El desarrollo de esta investigación se apoyó en la discusión teórica sobre hegemonía, en los elementos del análisis del discurso y en los desarrollos conceptuales sobre el agronegocio. El recorrido histórico sobre la cuestión agraria en Colombia, así como el estudio de la implementación del neoliberalismo y los cambios generados en la agricultura, que se han profundizado en los últimos años, sugieren la disputa del agronegocio por la hegemonía. Esta se ha intensificado, principalmente, a partir del acuerdo de paz firmado entre el gobierno de Juan Manuel Santos y la guerrilla de las FARC-EP, que incluyó la pauta de la Reforma Rural Integral y dio protagonismo a la economía campesina y a la democratización de la tierra.

Abstract: Entrepreneurial Companies play a fundamental role in economic growth, the creation of employment, local and regional development, and social cohesion. Start-ups will not necessarily become the largest source for employment, but they are considered economic drivers that commercialize innovation, expand internationally and create economic value. With the recent increase in prominence of new entrepreneurial ventures all over the world, much attention has been devoted to the creation of new firms. Belgium consists of three main regions: Brussels, Flanders, and Wallonia. The breakdown of start-ups according to these regions is the following: Brussels: 31.5%, Flanders: 53.4%, and Wallonia: 15.1%. Note that Brussels, despite hosting only 11% of all active companies in Belgium, is doing exceptionally well regarding its share of start-ups and scaleups; almost 50% of all Belgian start-ups are concentrated in and around the cities of Brussels, Ghent, and Antwerp. It is no surprise that, being the largest cities of Belgium, students make up for a significant portion of the population. More than half of the companies are active in the following categories: eCommerce, Software as a Service (SaaS), consumer mobile/web applications, industrial technology/production, and education. Half of the companies are at the start-up stage (i.e. completion of MVP or initial customers/revenue). 22% is in the seed stage and 24% in growth stage - 85% of the companies are mainly in B2B. While the majority (55%) of entrepreneurs believe that their product or service is a novelty in the world, only 4% realizes that their product or service is not a market innovation. In addition to that, 23% of startups do not have employees (Mohout, 2016). The supplying side of the market for informal capital consists of high net-worth individuals with considerable business experience, commonly known as Business Angels (BAs). Business Angels invest a portion of their wealth in high-risk, high-return start-ups (Coveney & Moore, Business Angels: Securing Start-up Finance, 1998). While it is difficult to precisely quantify the size of the angel market (due to its informal nature), some studies estimate its size to be twice the size of the institutional venture capital market (Freear, Sohl, & Wetzel, 1995). This suggests that Business Angels provide the largest amount of capital among early-stage ventures and fund a greater number of firms than venture capitalists (VCs) do. After receiving a first investment from a Business Angel, start-ups face a new critical question: whether to raise new funding under the form of debt or equity and, in the case of equity, involving new Business Angels or migrating to Venture Capital. Literature suggests that these young enterprises more often than not receive funds from equity in the early stages. However, in the case of demand for more resources and having a BA as back up, the entrepreneur may appeal to traditional financing sources in order to maintain the ownership. Resumen: Las microempresas juegan un rol fundamental en el crecimiento económico de un país, la creación de nuevos empleos y el desarrollo local y regional. Start-ups no se convierten necesariamente en la mayor fuente de empleo pero si son considerados impulsadores económicos que comercializan innovación, se expanden internacionalmente y crean valor económico. Después de recibir una primera inversión de un Ángel Inversionista, Start-Ups tienen que enfrentar una nueva y critica pregunta: ¿es mejor conseguir nuevos fondos adquiriendo una deuda o nuevo capital proveniente de inversionistas y en caso de recurrir a inversionistas, conseguir un nuevo ángel inversionista o migrar a un fondo de inversión? La literatura sugiere que estas nuevas empresas a menudo reciben fondos de capital en las primeras etapas de inversión. Sin embargo, teniendo un Ángel inversionista como respaldo, el empresario puede optar por métodos de financiación más tradicionales con la intensión de mantener propia la empresa.

Abstract: The adequate provision of service delivery is essential for social welfare; however, providers performance varies, tending to underperform in developing countries. Therefore, whether providers responsiveness is sensitive to citizen oversight remains a relevant question for public governance. To this extent, Understanding the dynamics of accountability as a strategy to foster access, quality, and affordability of services delivery is vital to ensure development. This thesis establishes a quantitative assessment of the relationship between accountability and development. First, I systematically reviewed the empirical literature evaluating how accountability interventions affect service delivery in developing countries between 1990-2020, finding twenty-one papers from nine developing countries. Then, I conducted a meta-analysis based on an RVE model with over 90 outcomes to quantitatively synthesise the effectiveness of accountability in triggering citizen oversight of service delivery and providers responsiveness. The findings suggest that although accountability increases citizen knowledge of civic and political means to demand service delivery reforms, factors such as context, accountability structure and interventions length influence its effectiveness. While the results provide evidence to inform policy-making about aspects that effectively ignite citizen participation, they also suggest future research avenues to further conceptualise this relationship in an era of widely accessible information and new approaches to democracy.

Abstract: The representative concentration pathway (RCP) 8.5 of the the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) indicates that if anthropogenic carbon emissions follow dramatic increasing trends, in the next ~200-300 years mean global temperatures can be ~5-10 ?C higher than today. This temperature increase may generate climate conditions similar to those of the late Paleoceneearly Eocene (~58-52 Ma), which recorded the highest temperatures in the last ~60 Ma. Late Paleocene-early Eocene climates were characterized by a series of light carbon injections that produced major global warming/ocean acidification events called hyperthermals, and other smaller carbon cycle perturbations. Although late Paleocene-early Eocene geological records offer a possibility to identify global warming impacts under the worst anthropogenic-driven climatic scenario, important aspects related to the triggers and environmental responses of late Paleocene-early Eocene carbon cycle perturbations remain elusive. Here, two major scientific problems of late Paleocene-early Eocene carbon cycle perturbations are addressed. Initially, new chemical datasets are presented to clarify the origins of the largest Paleocene-Eocene carbon cycle perturbation, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). Early Eocene carbon cycle perturbations have been interpreted to be orbitally forced events; however, the influence of orbital controls on PETM triggering remains controversial. New probabilistic-based approaches are used to indicate that the PETM was at least partially triggered by an orbitally controlled mechanism, which contrasts with previous studies that restricted PETM triggering to volcanic activity. Secondly, probabilistic-based age models and statistical assessments are presented to refine poorly studied carbon sequestration timescales following Paleocene-Eocene light carbon injections. New temporal constraints reveal that carbon sequestration following Paleocene-Eocene light carbon injections was accelerated in proportion to the size of the initial perturbation. Optimized carbon removal was partially related to accelerated chemical weathering. This process also ended ocean acidification induced by Paleocene-Eocene carbon cycle perturbations, and reestablished predominant calcium carbonate sedimentation in the oceans. However, chemical weathering was not the only optimized carbon sequestration mechanism following Paleocene-Eocene light carbon injections. Temperature variations associated with Paleocene-Eocene carbon cycle perturbations exerted controls on oxygen levels. Reduced oxygen levels associated with higher temperatures may have accelerated export production and oceanic biological pump, which also promoted enhanced carbon removal. The findings presented in this thesis represent significant advances for our knowledge of origins and carbon cycle feedbacks associated with global warming events; furthermore, this thesis emphasizes that probabilistic-based approaches and statistical assessments can provide a better understanding of paleoclimate records.