We analyse the problem of creating didactic material for teaching and evaluating mathematics in the first year of a School of Architecture. By using visual programming, science professor used codes (formulae) to represent in a software their proposals, instead of drawing them themselves. Through this experience we create a database of codes with computational solutions that allows faculty to modify, reuse, visualise and print in the same platform that she students will use while developing their designs. In this way we aim to maximise the link between mathematics and design as fundamental base for the control of complex shapes.

Venezuela experienced one of the most dramatic political transformations of the twentieth century. After initially developing a system of representative democracy hailed among the most resilient in the Western Hemisphere in the 1950s, the country endured wave after wave of economic turmoil until, in 1998, Hugo Chávez was elected to the office of the Venezuelan presidency, fundamentally altering the governmental structure of the country and contributing to the desperate economic conditions Venezuela finds itself in today. This thesis attempts to explain the societal factors that led to Chávez’s election through an examination of Venezuelan economic policy in the final decades of the twentieth century. By charting the attempts made by specific Venezuelan political actors to address the unique conditions and dilemmas generated by the country’s largely oil-based economy during this period, it is argued that the economic policies enacted by Venezuela’s representative democracy systematically failed to address the needs and concerns of the country’s poor and working classes. As a result, political disillusionment among these social groups became increasingly more pervasive, finally reaching its full expression in the election of Chávez as an outsider candidate pledging to overhaul the Venezuelan political system in favor of poor and working class social sectors. Moreover, this text attempts to situate Chávez’s election as the result of a broader trend of inadequate economic policy beyond the commonly examined neoliberal reforms of the 1990s and ultimately serves to caution against an economic worldview that overlooks potential repercussions for society’s most vulnerable sectors.

We have read and analyzed the article entitled “Prevalence of marijuana use among university students in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru”. We propose some objective points which could enhance the internal validity of the study (i.e., we suggest to report participation proportions).

Global water depletion and unsustainable food production systems represent two iconic crises of our time. These two crises have important themes in common, referring to basic human needs and the way we interact with landscapes in order to satisfy them. But they are also closely related to the way we produce and dispose wastes in our current societal organization. Insufficient, or inadequate, sanitation and waste management practices continue to undermine not only human well-being, but the entire planet’s ecological integrity, on which humans depend. An ecological design approach to manage human waste invites to learn how to participate more harmoniously within the planet’s recycling of matter, using renewable energy sources and mimicking nature’s low entropic states to maintain the life-support systems that we and our economies are part of. This thesis is an in-depth exploration of such an approach, and an attempt to integrate several elements from ecology, engineering, economics, and community development, around issues of water quality, sanitation and waste management in Latin America. As a whole, the thesis explores how can this transdisciplinary approach translate into coherent, feasible, and concrete action, providing appropriate solutions for sanitation, in ways that are effective and viable on a long term, for Latin American rural communities. Three different papers address different dimensions of the problem, focusing on domestic wastewater and human excreta, as a type of waste of major importance to ecological integrity, public health and economic development. Two of the papers are case studies, carried out at two different rural communities in South West Colombia; one of them focuses on technological and ecological aspects, and the other focuses on social and economic considerations, for a multifunctional-ecological waste management. In the first paper I present an overview of the sanitation problem in Latin America, and the opportunities and challenges of managing waste with an ecological and multifunctional perspective. More specifically, this papers attempts to provide a sound conceptual framework for managing wastewater (sewage) as a valuable resource, in a way that: 1) is affordable –or even profitable– by small communities in developing countries; 2) is safe to the environment and to public health; and 3) provides opportunities for recycling nutrients and organic matter (available in wastewaters), to restore and protect water and soil resources, while enhancing rural livelihoods in tropical agroecosystems. The second paper evaluates the performance and feasibility of an experimental, solar-energy-based, wetland mesocosm, as a complementary aerobic unit to enhance anaerobic wastewater treatment, in a rural locality of the Cauca Valley in Colombia. In the third paper I explore the integration between ecological design and community-based solutions to sanitation, and discuss opportunities and challenges of implementing ecological waste management in the particular bioregional and socioeconomic context of a proposed ecological-low-income co-housing project, in another rural community of Colombia. In doing this, several arguments are presented to support the idea that assuming the responsibility of managing its own waste can be a powerful and transformative experience for a community to fundamentally change its perspective and understanding of its place within the planet. Furthermore, managing waste can be an integrative force linking economic, social and environmental considerations, and favoring human-scale development, genuine progress, and self-reliance in a community. In its broadest level my research aims at reviewing and questioning the very notion of “waste” and the articulation between humans, nature, and technology within that context.

This thesis investigates the degree to which our everyday conceptions of 'place' have changed in contemporary society, especially in relation to the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs). The empirical evidence is a case study of 20 low-income families who live in Santiago, Chile. These families had just moved to a new social housing estate from the shantytowns and/or situations of extreme overcrowding. The first section of the thesis examines how their conceptions of 'place' have changed as a result of the move. On the one hand, it is difficult for them to perceive the housing estate as a 'place' with the same characteristics as their former home environments (close social networks, common history, etc.) due to a difficult and still incomplete adaptation. On the other hand, their social exclusion, especially demonstrated in terms of their limited spatial mobility, means that their everyday life still unfolds in a limited and relatively static number of places. In these circumstances they develop a minimal concept of place based not on an emotional attachment to a space, but rather on particular practices located in certain time and space. This concept of place is labelled here as 'localities of practices'. The second part of the thesis examines how these 'localities of practices' are becoming increasingly 'mediated,' or the increasing degree to which the use of ICTs permeates the conceptions of place of the members of these families through an analysis of practices related to the use of three particular technologies. The first study shows how the home is a project that has to be constructed in a constant competitive interplay with the place created by television use. The second analyses how the noise produced by hi-fi technologies at very high volumes is used to redefine the spaces of the housing estate against the background of their quite limited material surroundings. The third shows how the use of mobile phones, and the 'media space' created by them, reconstitutes and gives a new meaning to the limitations that these families face when moving through the urban environment of Santiago. As a result of these continual processes of mediation the thesis concludes that along with the physical environment of the housing estate, the spatial environments created by the use of media technologies are key to the construction of 'place' to such a degree that is almost impossible to consider one without the other. They, together, are their "machines for living in"; the setting in which their everyday lives unfold.

The aim of this research is to understand how corruption affects the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Studies of corruption and its relationship with FDI have yielded mixed results; some have found that corruption deters FDI others have found no relation between the two factors, while others have found a positive one. In order to further the knowledge of how corruption affects FDI this study argues that it is not only the level of corruption what might affect FDI but also the distance between host and home countries. This study presents two sections, the first one concentrates on a macroeconomic level analysis of corruption and how it affects FDI to Latin America. The second section analyses how corruption affects the decision-making process of allocating FDI to a highly corrupt host country at the firm-level. After controlling for institutional and transaction cost variables, results show that corruption distance has an asymmetrical impact. Host countries enjoying “positive” corruption distance compared with home countries as sources of FDI experience no significant increases or reductions in levels of inward FDI. However, “negative” corruption distance suffered by host countries is associated with significantly lower levels of inward FDI. Conversely, firms from home countries with high corruption are undeterred by high corruption in host countries. This study also analysed how corruption affected foreign investors at the firm level. To do so, this study researched the decision making process of allocating FDI into a highly corrupt host country. The results of the analysis show that corruption amongst bureaucrats, judges, and members of the government elite do not seem to have an impact on the decision making process of allocating FDI in the country because foreign investors are aware of the problem. However, firms from more corrupt countries seem to have an advantage when operating in a highly corrupt foreign location because they may possess knowledge of how to cope with the arbitrariness dimension of corruption. High corruption levels in the host country seem to have an effect on the entry mode utilised by firms from countries with lower levels of corruption. Based on the results presented on this study, MNEs from less corrupt countries might opt to enter a highly corrupt host country via wholly owned subsidiaries (WOS) rather than joint ventures (JVs). This might be explained by the fact that these investors prefer to have more control over their firms’ operations in a highly corrupt country. Also, these managers need to protect their image and not to be associated with local partners that are perceived as corrupt. Finally, even though this study found evidence that all firms operating in Guatemala might participate in corrupt deals, those headquartered in highly corrupt countries are more willing to do so. This claim is based on the fact that firms from less corrupt countries might face stronger pressures from their headquarters to not engage in corrupt deals, whereas firms from more corrupt countries might not encounter such pressures.

This thesis presents an history of extreme climate events in Antigua, a former British colony in the Lesser Antilles, spanning the years 1770-1890. It employs a range of documentary sources from that period, including government, plantation, missionary and scholarly papers. Two major empirical elements are addressed: (1) reconstruction of the timing and magnitude of precipitation variability and tropical cyclone activity and (2) investigation of the implications of climatic hazards—principally droughts and hurricanes—for Antiguan society. On the basis of these analyses, temporal and social patterns of human vulnerability to hydrological extremes and storms are explored. Established methodologies for analysing documentary climate evidence are used to reconstruct two major chronologies covering the study period, one of relative annual precipitation variations and one of tropical cyclones. The former, which is the first of its kind in the Caribbean, captures nine major phases of drought and six of precipitation excess and corresponds well with two series of instrumental data from the 1870s and 1880s. The latter records 42 tropical cyclones—including ten currently not listed in published storm datasets—with several peaks in event frequencies matching those in other reconstructions of North Atlantic cyclones. Connections between findings and known oceanic-atmospheric drivers of regional climate variability are considered. Assessment of the societal consequences of extreme events centres upon three case studies of climate-related disaster in the periods 1775-1783, 1834-1838 and 1860-1880. Each corresponds with historical developments of regional importance—respectively, the American War of Independence, the abolition of slavery in the British Empire and major deceleration of the colonial sugar economy. The ways in which precipitation extremes and tropical cyclones affected human livelihoods in these distinctive socio-economic contexts, as well as how different groups reacted to them, are examined in detail. Evidence from the full study period is also used to highlight longer-term trends of impact and response, as well as the possible linkages between extreme weather, disease outbreaks and social unrest. Diverse structural factors shaping Antiguans’ vulnerability are explored, ranging from local topography to economic dependence on plantation agriculture. Three broad thematic divisions of the study period are then proposed: (1) the late 1700s through early 1800s, when recurrent international warfare heightened vulnerability by disrupting maritime commerce; (2) the mid-1810s through 1840s, when relative geopolitical stability and economic success reduced vulnerability; and (3) the mid to late 1800s, when vulnerability was again amplified, this time by the rise of laissez-faire imperial policy in the midst of burgeoning competition in the global sugar market. Within the Antiguan populace, the distribution of socio-economic losses resulting from climatic stresses is shown to mirror patterns of material inequality inherent in the race- and class-based colonial hierarchy. Though failing to radically alter these relationships of power and vulnerability, slave emancipation is argued to have altered their finer dynamics in important ways.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of the 2010 Chile earthquake and tsunami on community resilience. Specifically, the thesis examines the role of community resilience in coping with and recovery from natural disasters, and the capacities and external factors that enhance or undermine the levels of community resilience. Furthermore, this study focuses on developing a model suitable for analysing community resilience in the context of natural disasters in Chile. In 2010, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake and tsunami struck Chile. Coastal areas were particularly affected by the disaster; fishing villages were completely destroyed and many people were injured and killed by the tsunami. However, exceptionally, only one fishing village entirely survived the tsunami impact in Talcahuano, one of the worst affected regions by the disaster. This is the case of the ‘El Morro’ community where, despite their boats and houses being swept away by the destructive waves, no one died. This community, considered the most successful experience in coping effectively with the disaster in the country, is the case analysed in this thesis. The results of a primary research conducted in the ‘El Morro’ case study (through methods of semi-structured interviews, observation, informal conversations, documentary review and social media) show that communities have the power to activate internal resources and capacities to cope with and recover from natural disasters. The research highlights that communities are not simply passive victims of disasters; rather, they are active agents. Furthermore, it shows that external factors, specifically political ones can have a detrimental effect on community resilience. Additionally, an integrated model of community resilience was developed which provides new insights into measuring community resilience in the context of natural disasters. Finally, these findings could be useful for designing effective disaster risk reduction programmes and promoting community resilience in Chile and in other developing countries.

This thesis examines the roles played by Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) in addressing the broad issue of poverty and development by focusing on the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region. A new and intricate interplay of the profit, public, and non-profit sectors has arisen as the importance of NGOs has grown throughout the Global South. NGOs, now at the heart of economic development in LAC, are actors in what has been called a global civil society and have demonstrated an immense breadth of specified knowledge and adaptability. The main objective of the paper is to explore whether, and to what extent, NGOs can strengthen the capacity of states to effectively and fairly govern, and promote sustainable development. What can NGOs do to improve states in Latin America and the Caribbean? NGOs are placed within the progressive spectrum of development, while uncovering the need for a balanced approach to the complex topic of development. Consequently, NGOs carrying out capacity building objectives can be seen to support the involvement of local actors and communities while serving as interlocutors between the state and civil society. Haiti is used as a case study because it provides a unique and extreme example of the role that NGOs can play in promoting the public sector.

First chapter contains geographical and political characteristics of Peru and its history. Second part of the thesis includes economic characteristics of Peru and structure of foreign trade. Next chapter focuses on future development of Peru. Last chapter contains key characteristics of role of Peru within the latinamerican region.