Current policy-making understands human and ecological systems as independent, leading to the misconception that, though they interact, they can be managed separately. This often leads to policy overlooking the effects that the environment has on human structures, and vice versa. Under environmental stress, this disconnection may cause the community to fail, which can manifest in migration and conflict. In a climate-change scenario, it becomes increasingly important to consider social and environmental structures as one single system, that must be managed as a unit. Also, increasing the resilience of socio-ecological systems becomes a priority to prevent climatic disruptions to cause the system to collapse. This dissertation aims to learn from using systems thinking to interpret the Syrian crisis, following the 2006-2011 drought, and extract insights from using the same methodology in different contexts. This is done through the construction of two diagrams that help visualize socio-ecological system in a more accessible way, offering policy-makers an instrument to understand and manage socio-ecological systems more effectively. Finally, it discusses how these lessons can be helpful for the post-conflict process in Colombia, which shares many structural flaws with pre-conflict Syria, and explores how the methodology can be useful to identify and address these flaws for sustainable peace-building.

Trajectory planning has recently gained importance in the mobile robot community as a motion planning strategy to solve the problem of guiding the robot from a initial location to a target location in an environment with static or dynamic obstacles. This thesis is concerned with the timed elastic band approach and model predictive control to find the optimal trajectories subject to a differential constraints of a non-holonomic platform. The objective of this thesis is to augment the timed elastic band approach to general kinematics such as the mobile robots with differential drive, the car-like systems and the truck and trailer systems in specific environments. Several cost functions are evaluated to task of obstacle avoidance. For each kinematic, the metrics of traveling time starting from a fixed initial position to a goal location as well as the traversed distance between those states are evaluated. This thesis concludes with a comparative analysis of timed elastic bands with the robot motion planning approach RRT (Rapidly-exploration random tree).

Under the Colombian Flag examines the Colombian state‘s efforts to incorporate the Afro-Caribbean English-speaking Protestant islanders of San Andrés and Providence into the Spanish-speaking Catholic nation. The project analyzes how those cultural struggles and political negotiations shaped the Colombian nation-building process. I illustrate how Colombian political elites largely spoke of islanders‘ ethnic differences in terms of cultural attributes such as language, religion, and customs. In their minds, these characteristics were malleable. The Colombian nation-builders‘ project thus ignored North American and European pseudo-scientific understandings of race in order to incorporate ethnically and racially diverse populations into their homogenizing agenda, which promoted the Spanish language, Hispanic culture, Roman Catholicism, gendered notions of morality, and racial views of health and modernity. San Andrés and Providence islanders had a different understanding of racial and national identities. They tended to formulate their Colombian identity in terms of loyalty, reciprocity, and rights. My work contributes to the growing body of historical scholarship on race and nation-building in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as scholarship investigating the experiences of black communities in the Atlantic world.

In the last decade, growing recognition has been given to the reparation of the harmful experiences of victims of armed conflicts as a way to transform war torn societies into sustainable peace. In the Colombian case, reparation measures have been introduced within the peace agreements from the mid-2000s onwards. Such initiatives have been oriented towards the reparation of rights, socio-economic improvements and cultural practices of people that have suffered the immediate effects of conflict; namely peasants and inhabitants of rural areas. However, many victimized groups still await reparation and continue to experience the absence of the state in regions, which are formally identified as successful post-conflict scenarios due to the absence of war. Therefore, daily life experiences of those are still being influenced and negatively affected by long-term effects of conflict. Despite the fact that the internal displacement phenomenon has long been addressed by academia, the trajectories and outcomes of unsupported returning processes on victims remain underdeveloped. Thus, this research aims to contribute to these matters by exploring the ways in which the effects of conflict have shaped victims’ livelihoods. Utilizing a mixed methods design, this article combines a variety of interviews and surveys conducted among rural families and key stakeholders. This research reveals how by returning to their territories, people of Pitacapacho found a claim on their agricultural vocation, and a way to avoid being an “urban poor”. However, the transition from self-consumption to wage labor and the change of the agricultural land use to the development of extractive industries are issues that indicate how peasant's ideas and practices towards the territory have been challenged and transformed.

Current sustainability models rely on the triple line approach, in which economic growth, environmental sustainability and social are fundamental pivots. In recent years, the model of Biomimicry has emerged as a sustainable option of production, challenging the industrial revolution in which resource depletion and maximization of profits are key .At present , economic growth and environmental benefits has been well documented, however little is known about how social justice can be impacted by this biomimicry production systems. In the present study, a framework has been created with the purpose of assessing biomimicry production systems (BPS) in terms of social justice. In specific, an approach of poverty that has been gaining attention in the past decades and which represent poverty as a result of social relations has been used for its construction. The framework has then been done to understand the extent to which BPS can disrupt relational poverty (RP). As a study case, the polyculture quinoa production systems in the South America altiplano is presented. Evidence shows that these ancient farming systems have disruption effects on RP mechanisms with different intensities. This model of production rivals monocroping areas in areas like the Peruvian coast in terms of the avoidance relations that perpetrate poverty and of diversity, a fundamental aspect of Biomimicry. Other beneficial relations relate to moral economy were found as opportunities for these BPS’s. The framework generated here can be used to analyse other BPS in terms of social justice, it is robust and covers much of the aspects involved in power relations, agency and empowerment.

Abstract: A piracanjuba Brycon orbignyanus é um peixe da ordem Characiformes, nativo da América do Sul. As mudanças no curso do rio, urbanização, poluição e construção de hidrelétricas são algumas das razões pelas quais o B. orbignyanus está atualmente classificado como uma espécie ameaçada de extinção. A criopreservação de sêmen de peixes fornece uma ferramenta pela qual a reprodução é otimizada, melhorando os programas de conservação e melhoramento genético das espécies. Um meio de congelamento ideal deve evitar o início da motilidade espermática, durante o armazenamento. Objetivouse, neste trabalho, avaliar o efeito da composição e da osmolalidade do diluidor, na qualidade do sêmen criopreservado de B. orbignyanus. Os machos de B. orbignyanus foram selecionados em tanques de terra na Estação de Piscicultura da CEMIG, em Itutinga, durante o período reprodutivo (Dezembro a Fevereiro). Os machos receberam dose única de extrato pituitário de carpa e o sêmen foi coletado 8-10 horas depois. A osmolalidade do plasma seminal foi mensurada (249 mOsm kg-1). Oito diluidores compreendendo a combinação de duas composições (NaCl e Glicose) e quatro osmolalidades (285, 325, 365 e 405 mOsm kg-1) foram testados. O metilglicol foi usado como agente crioprotetor. O sêmen diluído foi envasado em palhetas de 0,25mL, congelado em botijão de vapor de nitrogênio (dry shipper) e armazenado em botijão de nitrogênio líquido. As palhetas foram descongeladas em banho- maria a 60°C por três segundos e o sêmen foi imediatamente avaliado quanto à taxa de motilidade e velocidades (curvilinear = VCL; linear = VSL e média de percuso= VAP), utilizando-se o sistema CASA. A composição e osmolalidade do diluidor afetaram a qualidade espermática pós-descongelamento. Em geral, o sêmen criopreservado em NaCl foi de melhor qualidade do que o sêmen criopreservado em glicose, e a 285 e 325 mOsm kg-1 melhor do que a 365 e 405 mOsm kg-1 . A maior qualidade pós-descongelamento foi observada apenas nas amostras congeladas em NaCl a 285 mOsm kg-1, com motilidade acima de 60% e VCL acima de 140 μm s-1. O sêmen de B. orbignyanus deve ser criopreservado em solução de NaCl preparada em uma osmolalidade superior a do plasma seminal e usado, tanto para fins de aquicultura, quanto para programas de conservação, uma vez que B. orbignyanus é uma espécie ameaçada. Resumen: La piracanjuba Brycon orbignyanus es un pez Del orden characiformes, nativo de América del Sur. Los cambios en el curso del rio, la urbanización, polución y construcción de hidroeléctricas son algunas de las razones por las cuales Brycon orbignyanus está actualmente clasificada como una especie amenazada de extinción. La criopreservación de semen de peces ofrece una herramienta por la cual la reproducción es optimizada, mejorando los programas de conservación y mejoramiento genético de las especies. Un medio de congelamiento ideal debe evitar el inicio de la movilidad espermática, durante el almacenamiento. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar el efecto de la composición y de la osmolalidad del diluidor, en la cualidad del semen criopreservado de B. orbignyanus. Los macho de B. orbignyanus fueron seleccionados en tanques de tierra en la Estación de Piscicultura de la CEMIG, en Itutinga, durante el periodo reproductivo (Diciembre a Febrero). Los machos recibieron dosis única de extracto pituitario de carpa y el semen fue colectado después de 8 – 10 horas. La osmolalidad del plasma seminal fue mensurada (249 mOsm kg-1). Ocho diluidores comprendiendo la combinación de dos composiciones (NaCl y Glucosa) y cuatro osmolalidades (285, 325, 365 e 405 mOsm kg-1) fueran evaluados. El metilglicol fue usado como agente crioprotector. El semen diluido fue envasado en pajillas de 0,25mL, congelado en tanque de vapor de nitrógeno (dry shipper) y almacenado en tanque de nitrógeno liquido. Las pajillas fueron descongeladas en baño maria a 60°C por tres segundos y el semen fue inmediatamente evaluado en cuanto a tasa de movilidad y velocidades (curvilinear = VCL; linear = VSL y media = VAP), utilizando el sistema CASA. La composición y osmolalidad del diluidor afectaron la calidad espermática pos descongelación. En general, el semen criopreservado en NaCl fue de mejor calidad que el semen criopreservado en glucosa, y a 285 y 325 mOsm kg-1 mejor que a 365 y 405 mOsm kg-1. La mayor calidad pos descongelación fue observada apenas en las muestras congeladas en NaCl a 285 mOsm kg-1,, con movilidad encima de 60% y VCL encima de 140 μm s-1. El semen de B. orbignyanus debe ser criopreservada en solución de NaCl preparada en una osmolalidad superior a la del plasma seminal y usando, tanto para fines de acuicultura como para programas de conservación, teniendo en cuenta que B. orbignyanus es una especie amenazada.

The discussion whether indigenous peoples have or have not determined collective and individual rights related to the environment, within international and regional instruments, will be addressed within the chapters of the thesis. Thus, here we will devote special attention to the right to a healthy environment, considering also if the paternalistic point of view that has been given to this minority is currently necessary. Consequently, for reaching a final conclusion we will develop in a logical order the topic, starting from the root, which is the origin of the term indigenous and its scope, going through determinant historical events and how this will mark the current legal instruments and state practice around the world. Afterwards, we will dedicate the second part to the explanation of the ancestral bound of peoples and their native lands, as well as how modern events, such as climate change, and not so modern events, such as the exploitation of natural resources and the building of mega projects are still affecting their territories. Hence, we will explain how this vulnerability has to deal with the procedural and substantive rights, exposing for these purposes the different international instruments, which develop both collective and individual rights of peoples. Finally, we will bring selected cases regarding the developed topics.

«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.

The construction of an LNG facility implies a considerable expenditure the capital, generally, the process simulators are used to estimate the operating parameters of the liquefaction plant and to size the equipment needed. Although, natural gas data has been widely studied under non-cryogenic conditions, the availability of thermodynamic data for multi-component mixtures at high pressure, and cryogenic temperatures is still poor (Laskowski L., 2008). Therefore, accurate vapour-liquid equilibria (VLE), and calorific data for multi-component mixtures at LNG process conditions would enhance the simulations.Measurements of VLE data for binary mixture consisted of methane and butane and also a multi-component mixture; methane, ethane, propane and butane were performanced. Furthermore, a comparison of these data with the predictions given by Aspen HYSYS software, using the Peng-Robinson (PR), Soave Redlich Kwong (SRK) and the GERG equations of state (EOSs). Moreover, an improvement in the performance of cubic EOSs in HYSYS is studied by anchoring these data using a tuning code. Finally, analyse the impact of those finding in the LNG scrub column.The experimental part of the project has completed using a cryogenic VLE apparatus, while the modelling part has done by using a tuning code that interacts between HYSYS and MS Excel; it optimizes an objective function by the modification of binary interaction parameters in the equation of state.

Studying abroad implies not only academic interaction, but also living through life experiences in a new country. Thus, this qualitative research attempts to be a starting point for those interested in students’ perceptions about studying abroad and how this develops their global citizenship skills. Four student experiences were analysed through semi-structured interviews, to examine the opportunities and challenges the students faced while living and studying abroad and what their perceptions are towards global citizenship. Furthermore, it is explored how their global citizenship skills are developed, after the living abroad experience. There were three significant findings of the study: firstly, student ideas of global citizenship were more positive among the students from developing countries, than those who came from developed countries. Secondly, students from developing countries experienced more academic and social challenges than those from developed countries. Thirdly, it was evidenced that the experience of studying abroad developed students’ global citizenship skills, regardless of their countries background – developed or developing. The four participants were a male and a female from developed countries and a male and a female from developing countries. All of them were pursuing their MA degree in education at Bath Spa University at the time of this research.