abstract: Tucked peacefully into mountains just north of the City of São Paulo, the largest metropolitan area in South America, sits the Cantareira Reservoir System. This massive water catchment network received worldwide coverage in 2014 and 2015 as one of the worst droughts in a century hit the region, threatening to collapse the system. In the years since the peak of the drought, the media has changed its focus, the reservoirs have begun a slow recovery, but the people of the region have had to live with the consequences of this difficult period. Faced with an uncertain future, the people continue to grapple with the historic struggles of rural life, while being faced by new threats to the social, environmental, and technological order that has for a long time stabilized the region. My thesis explores the narrative imaginaries that individuals have pertaining to their personal future and that of the region. It delves into the identity of the Rural Producer, the battle to conserve and preserve native forest, issues surrounding the governance of common resources, and what actors perceive to be the biggest advantages and threats to the sustainable future of the region. Utilizing a set of twenty expert elicitation interviews, data was collected from a variety of actors representing a number of roles and positions within the system. My analysis connects disparate individual narratives, illuminating how they connect together with the narratives of other respondents, creating a regional narrative that illustrates a set of desired outcomes for the region. This paper does not attempt to operationalize solutions for the issues that face the region, it does however serve to provide a context for the historical and contemporary issues that exist, a means by which to consider how they may be approached, and ultimately as a tool for policy makers to make more informed decisions going forward. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Global Technology and Development 2019

The thesis deals with the analysis focusedm on the nature of financial derivatives based on the analysis of documents such as mainly academic literature and the relevant legal regulations. This thesis is focused on the Czech legal regulation of derivatives and also includes the relevant European legislation. Firstly, attention is aimed at derivatives in general, the first chapter is focused on a brief historical development in the field of derivatives, and than on the term derivatives itself, as explained by various authors and, for comparison, some international organizations. Subsequent chapter acquaints with the basic properties of derivatives, where the individual types are characterized - especially forwards, futures, swaps and options. The chapter concludes with the current state of the derivatives market. The following chapter deals with the regulation of derivatives and derivatives markets under the Czech and the European law. Firstly, the role and competence of the Czech National Bank as the central administrative authority with the powers of the regulatory body and the financial market supervisory authority in the Czech Republic is mentioned here for the purpose of underlying the complexity of the topic. Subsequently, it is followed by description of regulatory steps made by the European...

Recipe for the Future is a toolkit for change-making through speculative design and food. It is a guide for a workshop to help participants imagine what the future of food could look like. It introduces the method of speculative cooking, where speculative objects and food-related future scans allow the imagination of a different world, a different future. This tool is used to allow minds to let go of the constraints of the present reality and see how else things could be. Question the social imaginaries and understand that it is not the only way we can live. As a future scenario is created, the engagement with the complexities of sustainability and climate change is unavoidable.

This research contributes to the field of land use planning by examining the effects of demographic trends--also known as demographic futures--on growth and development projections for seven communities in the Mojave Desert region of San Bernardino County, California. Demographic trends based on California Department of Finance projections and land development data supplied by the Southern California Association of Governments were obtained for each of the communities for the period between 1990 and 2001. By using a spatially explicit urban growth model, these trends and data were then used to allocate community-specific future growth for Adelanto, Apple Valley, Barstow, Hesperia, Twentynine Palms, Victorville, and Yucca Valley. The research compared three projected settlement densities for each community. These three densities were based on settlement trends between 1990 and 2001, on existing densities as of 2001, and on densities that had been derived from prior research in the Mojave Desert region as a whole. The overall effect of using demographic trends to estimate settlement densities results in less development of open space and undeveloped lands than under existing densities or densities derived from prior research. Indeed, using demographic trend-derived densities in place of existing densities resulted in nearly 3,900 more acres of vacant land in the seven communities remaining undeveloped by the year 2020. Similarly, using demographic trend-derived densities in place of densities developed by prior research resulted in nearly 22,000 more acres of vacant land in the seven communities remaining undeveloped by the year 2020. Differences in projected land use patterns based on demographic trends are a key point for land use planners to consider when determining future development in each of the communities. Accounting for these demographic trends provides a way of "fine tuning" projections to ensure that they are more representative of the needs and expectations of future populations.

Cutting down carbon dioxide emissions produced by our current way of life will not be enough to stop climate change. By aligning myself with the Collaborative economy scenario of a Sweden in 2050 produced by The Beyond GDP-growth program i have tried to understand how we could live in another (economical) paradigm. I propose rebuilding the existing building Lågskär 1 in the suburb of Kärrtorp south of Stockholm. Adapting existing buildings is in line with the scenario, as is “docking around nodes in the public transport system”The house was built in 1949 and of consists of a ground floor with shop premises and two floors of apartments. To turn it into a building of the scenario i located core home functions (sleeping, some storage) to the apartment floors and extended home functions (hygiene, cooking, eating, social contact, workshop) to the ground floor. Placing common functions in the ground floor is also mentioned in the scenario text.The number of inhabitants of the house is more than doubled compared with today, and consumption and use of resources is reduced by sharing spaces and commodities used in everyday life.

This paper investigates differences in returns between the ETF price, Net Asset Value, and Benchmark Asset Baskets for five popular futures-backed ETFs. We decompose tracking difference to examine the relative size of tracking differences attributable to managers versus the arbitrage process. Tracking differences attributable to managers is found to be significantly smaller than that attributable to the arbitrage process. We then test for average Tracking Differences using the Mincer-Zarnowitz Equation. We find evidence of bias in returns for multiple ETFs and demonstrate the usefulness of the decomposition. Furthermore, we investigate the dynamics of Tracking Error using a GARCH methodology. We find support that the volatility of the ETF effects Tracking Error but find no evidence that rolling futures contracts influences Tracking Error. / Master of Science / This research focuses on futures-backed commodity ETFs. ETFs are exchange-traded instruments and are a convenient way for investors to gain commodity exposure without having to have access to a margin account, deal with futures contract expiration, or the large size of futures contracts. We investigate the ability of these instruments to achieve their investment goals: namely to perfectly replicate the exposure of a benchmark of futures contracts. We find that differences in the returns of the benchmark and ETF exist on average and that the bulk of these differences are attributable to the Creation and Redemption process rather than the ETF manager. Finally, we find that market volatility effects the volatility of these differences, but roll dates have no effect.

Virginia's regional grain prices exhibit high volatility due to the state's unique spatial variability and supply and demand fundamentals. This study explains Virginia's basis patterns for corn, soybeans, and wheat. Discussion of times when there were outstanding economic or fundamental market movers that affected basis in Virginia is also offered. The feasibility and process of hedging using futures is explained and evaluated in a case study. Possible marketing decisions based on the findings are presented in an easy and accessible manner, so that producers and extension agents can use this information to make real-time grain marketing decisions. / Master of Science / Virginia's regional grain prices exhibit high volatility due to the state's unique spatial variability and supply and demand fundamentals. This study explains Virginia's basis patterns for corn, soybeans, and wheat. Discussion of times when there were outstanding economic or fundamental market movers that affected basis in Virginia is also offered. The feasibility and process of hedging using futures is explained and evaluated in a case study. Possible marketing decisions based on the findings are presented in an easy and accessible manner, so that producers and extension agents can use this information to make real-time grain marketing decisions.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.