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.

Throughout this paper, the main interest is in describing the use and practice of socialnetworking by Colombian migrants and its influence on the relation with, and the construction of a discourse about, Colombian conflict and social reality. In addressing the problematization of cyberspace and its virtuality as a space, an account is given of the singularities, political concerns, and personal expectations of two Colombian migrants living in Berlin. This leads to an analysis of the influence of virtuality in the construction of political and social discourses and of practices abroad. The discussion of the authenticity and “realness” of the virtual world and virtual relationships invokes the supposed opposition between virtual space as abstract, and the real world as the tangible and real one. However the notions of virtuality and reality are not necessarily opposed. According to Augé (1995), a place is defined as relational, historical and concerned with identity. Borrmann (2013) concludes in her study that cyberspace cannot be understood as an abstract place, meant to exist only “while we are sitting in front of the computer” (64). From this reasoning, several questions guide this paper: If the cyberspace is a tangible one, how do migrants—those people who supposedly live in between territories—relate to virtuality? How are these virtual spaces and places constructed from the singularities of Colombian migrants in Berlin? How do they relate to the actuality overseas, in their home countries?

Colombia ha sido el escenario de una de las guerras más largas del mundo que ha dejado casi ocho millones de víctimas y ha impactado negativamente las estructuras sociales, políticas y económicas del país. Debido a los diferentes esfuerzos de construcción de paz de las últimas décadas, Colombia está atravesando un costoso proceso de reconstrucción y reconciliación que exige la aplicación de estrategias innovadoras. Uno de estos mecanismos es la participación del sector privado en los procesos de construcción de paz a través de las Alianzas Público-Privadas - APP, en las que Colombia es un país pionero. Precisamente, debido a sus recursos, knowhow y networking, las APPs se han convertido en un elemento fundamental de la Infraestructura para la paz de Colombia. En este contexto, uno de los principales desafíos de la construcción de paz es el ambicioso plan gubernamental para la reparación de las víctimas, que, por su magnitud y complejidad, ha requerido la inclusión de la estrategia de las APPs. El presente trabajo analiza la dinámica de las APP como mecanismos de construcción de paz en Colombia, haciendo hincapié en las experiencias de reparación a las víctimas, las principales características de este proceso y los desafíos y oportunidades para el futuro.

This paper presents an experimental investigation of combustion instabilities for a laminar premixed flame stabilized on a slot burner. For certain operating conditions, the system exhibits an unstable mode locked on the Helmholtz mode of the burner. It is shown that the instability can be controlled and even suppressed by changing solely the temperature of the burner rim. A theoretical model accounting for this parameter in the flame transfer function is devised and the physical mechanisms for the temperature dependence of the flame response are investigated.

Many low- and middle-income countries are experiencing a rapid increase of overweight and obesity rates. Nonetheless, there are some concerns not only about the pace of the increase in overweight and obesity, but also about inequalities in their distribution across social groups. The main aims of this thesis were to: i) examine socioeconomic differences in overweight and obesity over the last decades among women of childbearing age in low- and middle- income countries; ii) determine the contribution of reproductive variables (e.g., parity, age at first birth, breastfeeding) to socioeconomic inequalities in overweight and obesity in low- and middle-income countries; and iii) assess the impact of recently adopted poverty reduction policies, namely conditional cash transfer programs (CCT) on determinants of child health and children´s nutritional status. Overall, the prevalence of overweight and obesity among women has increased in most low- and middle-income countries across all educational groups and occupational classes in the last two decade. Nonetheless, overweight and obesity trends have rapidly increased among less educated and lower occupational classes especially in North Africa/West and Central Asia (NWA), Sub-Saharan (SS) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. For example, women working in agriculture and production sector had an annual increase in the prevalence of overweight/obesity ranged from 2.8% in LAC region to 3.7% in the SS region. In addition, women with lower age at first birth, high parity, and shorter duration of breastfeeding had an increased odds of overweight. Nonetheless, those reproductive factors did not play a key role in explaining differences in overweight by socioeconomic status and related trends. Finally, the CCT Familias en Accion was associated with significant higher BMI z-scores among children beneficiaries of this program; BMI-for-age z-scores (β=0.14, 95%CI 0.00, 0.27, p <0.05). These results suggest that in future years, the unequal distribution of body weight between and within societies likely contributes to perpetuate poverty and poor health as in high-income countries. In addition, poverty reduction policies such as CCT programs in a middle- income country such as Colombia have not been very successful in preventing overweight and obesity. Therefore, additional efforts specifically focused on preventing an increase in inequalities in overweight and obesity are needed, targeting mothers and children from low income households.

Many central banks, particularly in the developing world, aim for exchange rate stability as a macroeconomic goal. However, most are reluctant to relinquish monetary policy autonomy, so they end up operating through both interest rate and foreign exchange interventions. But the use of multiple policy instruments does not necessarily equip monetary authorities with better tools to achieve their targets. On the contrary, their effects can potentially offset each other. Using daily data from the Central Bank of Colombia during the period of 1999–2012, I study the effects of simultaneous policies by first deriving new measures of monetary shocks and then determining their impact on economic activity. The main findings indicate that (a) while interest rate interventions have a significant impact on real and nominal variables, foreign exchange interventions tend to have limited effects; and (b) empirical anomalies, such as the positive relationship between output growth, inflation, and the policy rate are eliminated when properly accounting for the systematic responses of policy.

Institutional investors are crucial for the successful operation of speculative companies listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), and it is therefore critical that their relationship is strong. However, there is limited research on this topic. The purpose of this research is to critically evaluate how institutional investors affect the decision making process of corporate managers in these companies, and how corporate governance can be affected. The study used a qualitative research design through a case study based on a biotechnology company. Interviews with company directors and secondary resources were implemented to enhance the understanding of the research and tested through empirical research. Moreover, review of the literature was explored as a framework to support the analysis of this thesis. The findings indicate that even though corporate governance is not compulsory for AIM listed companies, it is highly encouraged and has a positive impact in establishing trust and credibility. Furthermore, in a speculative business, institutional investors revealed a limited interest towards intervening in company governance because of their long-term investment orientation, in addition, they have confidence in the company strategy and management. The findings indicate that corporate managers are not concerned with maximizing the short-term value of institutional investors. The decision making process is focused on maximizing the long-term value of its shareholder. The research suggests that corporate governance is a channel to create ‘intangible value’ and ‘add value’ to shareholders, enhancing confidence and trust in the board of directors. Moreover, by effectively managing the investor relations process, corporate managers are capable of managing market expectations. From managerial perspective, this work demonstrates the importance of corporate managers in setting and communicating a clear business strategy by effectively managing investor relations and by incorporating good practices such as corporate governance.

IEEE 802.15.4e is emerging as a robust standard for industrial Internet of Things. This standard is particularly effective for low power, multi-hop networks, and typically supports applications with low throughput. However, with the advances in energy harvesting, the need for supporting better performing solutions is also gaining momentum. This paper presents and analyses a modified link scheduling algorithm for IEEE 802.15.4e based solutions. Three approaches are considered. With the first approach, only the gateway node is equipped with multiple radios. With the second approach, non-gateway nodes are equipped with multiple radios as well. With the third approach, multiple single radio gateways are considered. Results from simulations have been presented to demonstrate the improvement in performance compared to the typical single radio, single gateway deployments.

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.

This paper considers nineteenth Century British travel accounts of Colombia. By analysing how those travellers represented the country, it aims to explore the different ways in which “the tropics” were imagined, experienced and constructed. On the one hand, it is suggested that those representations helped to forge an image of the country as a promising nature inhabited by backward races, underpinning a widespread vision of the tropic: that of a vacant space abounding of exploitable natural resources waiting to be transformed by Europeans’ ‘civilized’ hands and endeavour. On the other hand, contested and often contradictory ideas that those travellers harboured about climate and European acclimatization are explored, suggesting that Europeans’ perceptions of the tropic resulted from a permanent negotiation between images brought from home and the landscapes they encountered. To conclude, it is argued that those constructions are revealing of how travel writing was above all a cultural practice, where the traveller’s vision is not exclusively determined by established paradigms, but transformed by the landscapes he encounters and interacts with.