Människans relation till natur är problematisk och leder till en alltmer separerad tillvaro från natur och mekanisk syn på andra-än-människor. Studien befinner sig i fältet Design för framtiden i den antropocena tidsåldern och använder sig av design för att uppmärksamma människans relation till natur och sten genom Spekulativ och Posthumanist Design. Resultatet är en Provotype och utställning som belyser problematiken i människans relation till natur och sten genom att spekulera i ett framtidsscenario som tagits fram av forskare inom biologisk mångfald och relaterande forskningsområden. Genom explorativa metoder utforskas ämnet människa och natur. Teori som behandlar Posthumanist Design, Natureculture och Ontologi och människans relation till de mer-än-mänskliga leder studien i en utforskning om hur Spekulativ Design kan besvara frågeställningen om att uppmärksamma människans problematiska relation till natur. / The human relationship with nature is problematic and leads to an increasingly separated existence from nature and a mechanistic view of non-humans. The study is situated in the field of Design for the Future in the Anthropocene and utilizes design to raise awareness on the human relationship with nature and stone through Speculative and Posthumanist Design. The result is a Provtotype and exhibition highlighting the issues in the human relationship with nature and stone by speculating on a future scenario developed by researchers in biodiversity and related research areas. Through exploratory methods, the subject of human and nature is explored. Theory addressing Posthumanist Design, Natureculture, and Ontology, and the human relationship with the more-than-humans, guide the study in an exploration of how Speculative Design can address the question of raising awareness of the problematic human relationship with nature.

NOTE FROM THE LIBRARY: PLEASE CONTACT THE AUTHOR AT indisunflower@yahoo.com OR CONSULT THE LIBRARY FOR THE FULL TEXT OF THIS THESIS.... This thesis investigates the trajectory traced from Sarah Baartman, a Khoisan woman exploited in Europe during the nineteenth century, to a contemporary writing workshop with circumcised, immigrant West African women in Harlem New York by way of a selection of African women's memoirs. The selected African women's texts used in this work create a new testimony of speech, fragmenting a historically dominant Euro-American gaze on African women's bodies. The excerpts form a discursive space for reclaiming self and as well as a defiant challenge to Western porno-erotic voyeurism. The central premise of this thesis is that while investigating Eurocentric (a)historical narratives of Baartman, one finds an implicitly racist and sexist development of European language employed not solely with Baartman, but contemporaneously upon the bodies of Black women of Africa and its Diaspora, focusing predominantly on the "anomaly of their hypersexual" genitals. This particular language applied to the bodies of Black women extends into the discourse of Western feminist movements against African female circumcision in the 21st century. Nawal el Saadawi, Egyptian writer and activist and Aman, a Somali exile, write autobiographical texts which implode a western "silent/uninformed circumcised African woman" stereotype. It is through their documented life stories that these African women claim their bodies and articulate nationalist and cultural solidarity. This work shows that Western perceptions of Female Circumcision and African women will be juxtaposed with African women's perceptions of themselves. Ultimately, with the Nitiandika Writers Workshop in Harlem New York, the politicized outcome of the women who not only write their memoirs but claim a vibrant sexual (not mutilated or deficient) identity in partnership with their husbands, ask why Westerners are more interested in their genitals than how they are able to provide food, shelter and education for the their families, as immigrants to New York. The works of Saadawi, Aman and the Nitandika writers disrupt and ultimately destroy this trajectory of dehumanization through a direct movement from an assumed silence (about their bodies, their circumcisions and their status as women in Africa) to a directed, historically and culturally grounded "alter" speech of celebration and liberation. / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil.(English)

Water Quality Management is one of the critical challenges currently facing South Africa. The triad of water resource management, socio- economic development and environmental sustainability are key issues that require balance and compromise. The effects of anthropogenic activities on the Blesbokspruit catchment were examined. Water samples were collected from nine strategically selected sites along the stream for a period of ten months in six weekly intervals and analysed for physio-chemical, selected trace metals and microbial entities. Results revealed that variables of concern were Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Nitrates, Phosphates, Sulphates and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). Mean levels of these parameters in this order ranged from 93.0-146.63mS/m; 11.25-39mg/L; 0.16-2.01mg/L; 0.5-0.96mg/L; 118.63-379.5mg/L and 15.0-34.0mg/L respectively. Levels of E. coli and F. coliforms also ranged from 19.13- 43999.125 cfu/100mL and 20.63-16878.5 cfu/100mL respectively which were of concern. Levels of analysed trace metals were tolerable except for Fe with a range of 0.04- 0.73mg/L. Generally, the results from this study indicate that the river is contaminated and therefore not suitable for direct human consumption as well as for irrigation purposes.

Thesis (DPhil (Geography and Environmental Studies))—University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Background The Disaster Management Act (Act 57 of 2002) instructs a paradigm shift from preparedness, response and recovery towards risk reduction. In order to plan for and mitigate risks, all spheres of government must firstly assess their hazards, vulnerabilities, capacity to cope and therefore risks. Studies in this regard, in South Africa, have however only focussed on current risks. Climate Change has now been accepted by leading international studies as a reality. Climate change can impact upon many aspects of life on earth. Studies to quantify the impact of climate change on water resources, biodiversity, agriculture and sustainable development are steadily increasing, but human health seem to have been neglected. Only general predictions, mostly regarding vector-borne disease and injury related to natural disasters are found in literature. Studies in South Africa have only focussed on malaria distribution. Most studies, internationally and the few in South Africa, were based on determining empirical relationships between weather parameters and disease incidence, therefore assessing only the hazard, and not the disaster risk. Methodology This study examines the impact of climate change on human health in the Western Cape, within the context of disaster management. A qualitative approach is followed and includes: · A literature overview examining predicted changes in climate on a global and regional scale, · A discussion on the known relationships and possible impacts climate change might have on human health, · A disaster risk assessment based on the status quo for a case study area, the Cape Winelands District Municipality, · An investigation into the future risks in terms of health, taking into account vulnerabilities and secondary impacts of climate change, resulting in the prioritisation of future risks. · Suggestions towards mitigation within the South African context. Results The secondary impacts of climate change were found to have the larger qualitative impact. The impact of climate change on agriculture, supporting 38% of the population can potentially destroy the livelihoods of the workforce, resulting in poverty-related disease. Other impacts identified were injuries and disease relating to temperature, floods, fire and water quality. Conclusion Risk is a function of hazard, vulnerability and capacity to cope. The impact of an external factor on a ‘spatial system’ should be a function of the impacts on all these factors. Disasters are not increasing because of the increase in the frequency of hazards, but because of the increasing vulnerability to hazards. This study illustrated that the major impacts of the external factor could actually be on the vulnerabilities and the indirect impacts, and not on the hazard itself. Climate change poses a threat to many aspects of the causative links that should be addressed by disaster management, and its impacts should be researched further to determine links and vulnerabilities. This research also illustrates that slow onset disasters hold the potential to destroy just as much as extreme events such as Katrina, Rita or a tsunami. It also reiterates that secondary impacts may not be as obvious, but are certainly not of secondary importance.

Water Quality Management is one of the critical challenges currently facing South Africa. The triad of water resource management, socio- economic development and environmental sustainability are key issues that require balance and compromise. The effects of anthropogenic activities on the Blesbokspruit catchment were examined. Water samples were collected from nine strategically selected sites along the stream for a period of ten months in six weekly intervals and analysed for physio-chemical, selected trace metals and microbial entities. Results revealed that variables of concern were Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Nitrates, Phosphates, Sulphates and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). Mean levels of these parameters in this order ranged from 93.0-146.63mS/m; 11.25-39mg/L; 0.16-2.01mg/L; 0.5-0.96mg/L; 118.63-379.5mg/L and 15.0-34.0mg/L respectively. Levels of E. coli and F. coliforms also ranged from 19.13- 43999.125 cfu/100mL and 20.63-16878.5 cfu/100mL respectively which were of concern. Levels of analysed trace metals were tolerable except for Fe with a range of 0.04- 0.73mg/L. Generally, the results from this study indicate that the river is contaminated and therefore not suitable for direct human consumption as well as for irrigation purposes.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 575-607) Pt. A. Ecological cityscapes: theory & practice -- pt. B. Urban ecology Australia &ecopolis: ecocity projects in South Australia -- pt. C. Towards a theoretical synthesis of ecopolis About creating and maintaining 'ecological cities' and the necessary conditions for making ecocities. Sets the creation of human settlement in an ecological context and demonstrates through case study analyses that practical approaches to urbanism can be made within a theory of city-making grounded in principles of direct democracy and cooperative community processes.

Thesis (MA (Geography and Environmental Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / The Okavango river along the panhandle of the Delta, in Botswana, is home to many wildlife species as well as to many large village communities. Local communities rely on the riverine system and its resources for subsistence and commerce. Activities associated with the utilization of these resources are governed by the fluctuating water levels of the river, which inhibit access during high water levels and allow access during low water levels. The high intensity of activities, such as reed harvesting, fishing and increased tourism, during low water periods coincides with the breeding season of many wildlife species in the system, including the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus). Over 90% of crocodile breeding areas in the Delta are found only in the panhandle region. The association between the intensity of human activities in the floodplains and crocodile nesting activity means that much of the habitat required for nesting is vulnerable to human disturbance and this could have severe negative impacts on the future of the Okavango crocodile population. The study evaluated habitat vulnerability by mapping and spatially comparing habitat suitability, based on optimum environmental requirements for crocodile nesting, and human disturbance factors. A detailed crocodile nesting survey was carried out to locate and test all nesting sites according to criteria selected by species experts. The results from the survey were used to locate suitable nesting habitat in the study area by analysis in a Geographic Information System (GIS). Disturbance factors were visually identified and their locations in the study area spatially mapped. Their spatial influences on crocodile nesting were used as factors in a Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) that evaluated the combined effect of the disturbances on the area defined as suitable crocodile habitat. The results indicate the extent of habitat vulnerable to human disturbances. The results from the study show that 59% of once suitable crocodile habitat is currently disturbed by human activities. Most of the remaining 41% of undisturbed habitat is located along the Moremi/Phillipa side channel, which represents a core area for protection measures to be instated. The study recommends the declaration of a crocodile nesting sanctuary in this side channel to ensure the breeding success of this keystone species.

NOTE FROM THE LIBRARY: PLEASE CONTACT THE AUTHOR AT indisunflower@yahoo.com OR CONSULT THE LIBRARY FOR THE FULL TEXT OF THIS THESIS.... This thesis investigates the trajectory traced from Sarah Baartman, a Khoisan woman exploited in Europe during the nineteenth century, to a contemporary writing workshop with circumcised, immigrant West African women in Harlem New York by way of a selection of African women's memoirs. The selected African women's texts used in this work create a new testimony of speech, fragmenting a historically dominant Euro-American gaze on African women's bodies. The excerpts form a discursive space for reclaiming self and as well as a defiant challenge to Western porno-erotic voyeurism. The central premise of this thesis is that while investigating Eurocentric (a)historical narratives of Baartman, one finds an implicitly racist and sexist development of European language employed not solely with Baartman, but contemporaneously upon the bodies of Black women of Africa and its Diaspora, focusing predominantly on the "anomaly of their hypersexual" genitals. This particular language applied to the bodies of Black women extends into the discourse of Western feminist movements against African female circumcision in the 21st century. Nawal el Saadawi, Egyptian writer and activist and Aman, a Somali exile, write autobiographical texts which implode a western "silent/uninformed circumcised African woman" stereotype. It is through their documented life stories that these African women claim their bodies and articulate nationalist and cultural solidarity. This work shows that Western perceptions of Female Circumcision and African women will be juxtaposed with African women's perceptions of themselves. Ultimately, with the Nitiandika Writers Workshop in Harlem New York, the politicized outcome of the women who not only write their memoirs but claim a vibrant sexual (not mutilated or deficient) identity in partnership with their husbands, ask why Westerners are more interested in their genitals than how they are able to provide food, shelter and education for the their families, as immigrants to New York. The works of Saadawi, Aman and the Nitandika writers disrupt and ultimately destroy this trajectory of dehumanization through a direct movement from an assumed silence (about their bodies, their circumcisions and their status as women in Africa) to a directed, historically and culturally grounded "alter" speech of celebration and liberation. / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil.(English)

This thesis examines the role of Melodi Ya Tshwane Christian Youth Ministry (MyT CYM) in the context of what is increasingly observable environmental crisis with a view of developing a contextual approach to ecological mission. The research does not focus primarily on the environmental crisis itself except to note that its scope incorporates not only environmental issues, but has some important implications for social justice as well. The research recognises the role that MyT CYM must play as part of their contribution towards addressing the environmental crisis. Such a role is based not on a pragmatic response to the situation, but flows from the missional nature and theology of the church. Therefore, the missional church has an obligation to address this issue, through Christian mission that takes seriously the biblical call to care and preserve the integrity of creation. Finally, this research aims to assist MyT CYM to understand the theological basis for contextual action towards developing an appropriate ecological mission. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology with Specialisation in Urban Ministry)

This thesis presents a history of the landscape of Nqabara, an administrative area in a rural and coastal area of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. In the process of investigating landscape history, the inquiry engages with a range of data sources from diverging discursive contexts, including data from ethnographic fieldwork, from the consultation of archival documents and historical reports as well as from comparative historic and ethnographic research, necessitating a critical consideration of the epistemological contexts of data production and the dialogue between researcher and data. Furthermore, in its aim to move beyond historical description towards explanation, the study interrogates the dualist ontological conceptualisations of nature and culture, society and ecology, object and meaning upon which are built three dominant conceptual frameworks concerned with human-environment relationships: social-ecological systems theory, transdisciplinary landscape studies and political ecology. Drawing primarily upon the works of James Gibson, Anthony Giddens and Tim Ingold, an ontological foundation is developed to guide the enquiry and move towards an alternative understanding of the relationship of people’s livelihoods with respect to the landscape in which it is lived, which I call here the praxisembodiment perspective. This ontology takes the situated patterns of action of a situated agent-in-its-environment as its point of departure and proceeds to develop a framework explaining how relations among the patterns of action of different agents-in-their-environment, emerge in structures that simultaneously enable and constrain future action. The foundation is thereby provided for a monist understanding of how landscape and social structure emerge simultaneously from the complex intersection of patterns of actions and interactions of agents in their environment. This framework calls for an understanding of time, space and scale, not as independent variables influencing process and action, but as emergent properties arising from the patterns of actions of situated agents. Finally the alternative ontology is applied to the history of landscape and livelihoods of people of Nqabara. It is concluded that an appropriate understanding and explanation of the critical transformations in the landscape as well as in social institutions, should be sought through analysis of the complex ways in which patterns of action of multiple spatial and temporal rhythms and between multiple agents in an environment, intersect and resonate.